America's Most Dangerous Domestic Terrorist Group

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) as the most dangerous domestic terrorist organization. By their own propaganda, ELF’s goal is to protect undeveloped lands and other environmental resources from human encroachment. This loose-knit, self-funded array of saboteurs and arsonists is responsible for hundreds of attacks on laboratories, logging operations, new home construction and car dealerships. Total damages over the past 30 years easily run into the tens of millions of dollars and may top $100 million.*

ELF is not an “organization” but rather an idea. Terrorist acts carried out in its name garner publicity which motivates others to perpetrate new crimes. While these individuals may (or may not) be sympathetic to other nominally “left wing” and putatively “anti-American” causes such as the Palestinians, Zapatistas, etc., the focus of ELF actions is a domestic American agenda. Their felonies are defined as terrorism specifically because they are intended to coerce the government and the people of the United States in favor of political goals. ELF cannot be stopped by the arrest (and conviction) of perpetrators after the fact. ELF is a social artifact of popular culture and might only be defeated by a paradigm shift, if at all.

The Earth Liberation Front was formed in 1992 in Brighton, England, by members of the Earth First! environmental action group. (Denson and Long 1999; Jarboe 2002; Carroll 2005) Earth First! was created by Dave Foreman, a former Eagle scout and at that time a registered Republican (Denson and Long 1999). Foreman was working for the Wilderness Society as a lobbyist in Washington, D.C. when he read The Monkey Wrench Gang, a novel by Edward Abbey that advocated acts of sabotage to protect wilderness areas from development. (Connors 2006) These bare facts hide the mantle of respectability bestowed on ELF.

The New York Times and the Washington Post are not alone in glorifying these terrorists. When The Monkey Wrench Gang was published, the New York Times Book Review (January 28, 1968) called Abbey “a voice crying in the wilderness, for the wilderness.” In its obituary for Abbey, the Washington Post called him “the Thoreau of the American West.” The influential online magazine Salon.Com compared The Monkey Wrench Gang with Uncle Tom’s Cabin and The Jungle as a book that gave impetus to social change.

Over the years, the group extended its social network and engaged in minor acts of vandalism and hooliganism. It would be 20 years before the FBI came to see the pattern.

"The FBI has traditionally applied a conservative interpretation of the U.S. Code when designating acts as either terrorist incidents or suspected terrorist incidents. While the uniform application of this standard has provided an accurate and consistent picture of the terrorist threat confronting the United States throughout the past several decades, it has also meant that some activities committed by extremists and investigated by the FBI have not been formally designated as terrorism.” (FBI 1999: 20).

The pattern was also teased out by two reporters for The Oregonian who conducted a 10-month investigation. Bryan Denson and James Long “evaluated hundreds of incidents … used the Federal Bureau of Investigation's definition of terrorism … and considered only those crimes in which damage totaled at least $50,000 or that potentially put human lives at risk.” (Denson and Long 1999) Until then, the acts of sabotage were typically regarded as “vandalism” lacking any political agenda, or as labor-related, or having other causes unattached to the environmentalist cause.

• “From the 1981 torching of an herbicide-spraying helicopter on Oregon's central coast, to the 1993 pipe-bombing of a federal predator-control office in Portland, to the 1998 arson of a timber company headquarters in Medford, damage here has exceeded $13 million - more than California's $8.5 million in 30 incidents and more than in any other Western state. May 1999 arson destroyed a $65,000 log loader at a chip mill near Cle Elum, Wash., that draws from the Wenatchee National Forest, and arson struck a Eugene meat processor, causing $350,000 in damages.” (Denson and Long 1999)

• Destruction of three 345,000-volt power poles on July 4, 1981, near Moab, Utah. (Denson and Long 1999)

• Between November 1989 and December 1990, in Northern California nine crimes including fires in six stores that sold fur clothing, downing of power lines at Watsonville and $1.9 million damage logging equipment in Boonville. (Denson and Long 1999)

• In June 1991, activist Rod Coronado and his comrades begin a five-state arson spree running nine months. They broke into Oregon State University's experimental mink farm and set a fire that caused $62,000 damage (June 10). They torched a mink-food warehouse in Edmonds, Washington, (June 15; $500,000 damage); a coyote research station in Millville, Utah; a mink-food manufacturing plant in Yamhill, Oregon, (December; $96,000) a research lab at Washington State University in Pullman, concluding with the February 28, 1992 fire at Michigan State Univerity. (Dettmer and Verhey 1995; Denson and Long 1999)

• Memorial Day weekend in 1993, a pipe bomb exploded in the window of an unoccupied U.S. Department of Agriculture predator-control office in Southeast Portland. (Denson and Long 1999)

• From 1996 to 2001, “Avalon” (nome de guerre of Vail arsonist William Rodgers) operates a cell accused of setting at least fifteen arsons across the West. Targets include meatpacking plants, forest ranger stations, animal research facilities, university bioengineering labs, logging company headquarters and two wild-horse corrals. This cell, called “The Family” is deemed responsible for $45 million of the $110 million in ALF/ELF destruction in this period. (Grigoriadis 2006)

• March 1997: ALF declared an official alliance with ELF in a letter to the supervisor of the Willamette National Forest. In the wake: 12 arsons and nearly $17.9 million in damage. (Denson and Long 1999)

• 1998: Activists Jonathan Paul and Craig Rosebraugh supposedly speak at a 1998 National Animal Rights Conference allegedly held at the University of Oregon. They declare ELF and ALF solidarity. (Denson and Long 1999; Jarboe 2002)

• September 16, 1998, federal grand jury in the Western District of Wisconsin indicts Peter Young and Justin Samuel for Hobbs Act violations as well as for animal enterprise terrorism. (Jarboe 2002)

• December 25, 1999, Monmouth, Oregon, 8,000-sq. ft. offices of Boise Cascade destroyed by fire. ELF communiqué claims responsibility on December 30, 1999. (FBI 1999)

• December 31, 1999, fire on the East Lansing campus damages facilities and research records. (Terlep 2000; FBI 1999).

• 2001 ELF allegedly launches website (Denson and Long 1999; but see Appendix)

• In February 2001, teenagers Jared McIntyre, Matthew Rammelkamp, and George Mashkow all pleaded guilty, as adults, to arson, and arson conspiracy and attempted arsons of new home construction sites in Long Island, New York (Lewis 2004)

• March 18, 2002 to November 26, 2002, seven animal rights and eco-terrorist incidents in Pennsylvania attributed either solely ELF or jointly to ELF and ALF: Erie, Harbor Creek, and Warren. A large hydraulic crane set on fire ($500,000 damage), arson on U.S. Forestry Scientific Laboratory; 250 mink released; barn destroyed. (FBI 2006)

• August 2002 to November 2002, Aaron L. Linas, John B. Wade, and Adam V. Blackwell commit acts of vandalism and destruction in Virginia: 12 construction vehicles, sugar in gas tanks; two new construction homes vandalized; construction vehicles; SUVs at a Ford dealership; vandalism at two fast food restaurants; (FBI 2006)

• March 9, 2004 William Cottrell arrested by FBI (indicted March 16, 2004) for arsons and vandalisms of 120 SUVs on August 22, 2003 in West Covina, California ($2.5 million damages). (Jarboe 2002)

• January 21, 2006 indictments on 65 counts against eleven people including four members of “The Family”— Joseph Dibee, Chelsea Dawn Gerlach, Stanislas Meyerhoff, and William C. Rodgers – handed down in Portland, Oregon, for 17 arsons on behalf of ELF and ALF. (Bernton 2006)

• March 4, 2008. Three luxury show homes in a Seattle suburb destroyed by fire. (FBI 2008)

• March 11, 2008. Four arrested (Marie Mason, Frank Ambrose, Aren Burthwick, Stephanie Fultz) for December 31, 1999 arson at Michigan State University. (CNN 2008)

*This posting consists of out-takes from Marotta, Michael E. 2008. The Earth Liberation Front. School of Staff and Command, SSC 441: Foreign and Domestic Terrorism for First Responders, Prof. Gerald “Skip” Lawver. Eastern Michigan University, Winter 2008. Gaylord, Michigan. Works cited will be posted subsequently.

(Edited by Michael E. Marotta on 5/04, 6:05am)

Post 1

Sunday, May 4, 2008 - 5:22am

Part 2 of 3*

David Martosko is the director of research for the Center for Consumer Freedom. The CCF stands by your right to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol and wear fur. Not surprisingly, he and his organization feel threatened by radical environmentalists. In testimony before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Martosko singled out as especially dangerous Dr. Steven Best of the University of Texas at El Paso. Dr. Best’s own website (http://www.drstevebest.org) likens animal liberation to the anti-slavery abolitionists of the 19^th century. Professor Best himself says that he “seeks to emancipate animals from slavery to humans and from the ideology of human supremacy.” His books include Animal Liberation Front: Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? Reflections on the Liberation of Animals (Lantern Books, 2004) and Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth (AK Press, 2006). So, it is no surprise that Martosko perceives a shadow of threat – if not the Sword of Damocles – over him. He told the Senate committee:

The case of University of Texas El Paso Professor Steven Best, as a current ALF spokesperson, is very troubling. His academic position affords him a position of regrettable influence over young people, and he uses it in the classroom to promote and defend the ALF and the ELF. Dr. Best even wrote in a recent essay that the negative publicity arising from the assassination of someone from my own organization, the Center for Consumer Freedom, would not harm the reputation of the Animal Rights Movement, as a whole.(Martosko 2005)

At the same hearing, Martosko also drew attention to Dr. Jerry Vlasak who has said that killing researchers in order to stop animal cruelty is justifiable. The Senate committee held another hearing on October 26, 2005 and Dr. Vlasak was invited to speak. After his prepared statement, Vlasak answered questions from committee chair Sen. James N. Inhofe (D.-OK). Vlasak equated animal life with human life. He equated the cause of animal liberation with that of the Underground Railroad.

Dr. Vlasak. Non-human lives, non-human animal lives, are as precious as human lives. At one time, racism and sexism and homophobism were prominent in our society. Today speciesism is prominent in our society. It is just as wrong as racism.

Senator Inhofe. So you do put them in the same category, the animals of non-human and human lives? Is that correct?

Dr. Vlasak. They are morally equal.

Senator Inhofe. They are morally equal?

Dr. Vlasak. They are.

Senator Inhofe. One of the statements you made at the animal rights convention when you were defending assassinating people, murdering people, you said--let me put it up here to make sure I'm not misquoting you – “I don't think you'd have to kill, assassinate too many. I think for 5 lives, 10 lives, 15 human lives, we could save 1 million, 2 million, or 10 million non-human lives.” You're advocating the murder of individuals, isn't that correct?

Dr. Vlasak. I made that statement, and I stand by that statement. That statement is made in the context that the struggle for animal liberation is no different than struggles for liberation elsewhere, whether the struggle for liberation in South Africa against the apartheid regime, whether the liberation against the communists, whether it were the liberation struggles in Algeria, Vietnam or Iraq today, liberation struggles occasionally or usually, I should say, usually end up in violence.

[…]

Senator Inhofe. So you call for the murders of researchers and human life?

Dr. Vlasak. I said in that statement and I meant in that statement that people who are hurting animals and who will not stop when told to stop, one option would be to stop them using any means necessary and that was the context in which that statement was made.

Senator Inhofe. Including murdering them, is that correct?

Dr. Vlasak. Pardon?

Senator Inhofe. Including murdering them?

Dr. Vlasak. I said that would be a morally justifiable solution to the problem.

After the 1992 MSU blaze, [activist Rod] Coronado, (alias “Leonard Robideau”) sent FedEx packages to PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk and PETA activist Maria Blanton. Newkirk had asked Blanton to accept the package. (“Significantly, Newkirk had arranged to have the package delivered to her days before the MSU arson occurred.”) However, the FedEx account number for the package to Blanton had expired. FedEx did not deliver it, but turned it over to authorities. This resulted in the execution of a search warrant for Blanton’s home. (Dettmer and Verhey 1995)

Much has been made of a grant of $1500 from PETA to ELF. That came in 2001, after Vail and after the second MSU blaze and after the declaration by the FBI that ELF is a domestic terrorism organization. The Center for Consumer Freedom has tracked PETA’s filings with the IRS and other public documents and found inconsistencies in the line items and ledger entries. This money may have been intended to pay Craig Rosenbraugh’s legal fees, but may have been spent to bring two activists to a Congressional hearing, or might have paid for a publication, or perhaps was actually to the North American Earth Liberation Front for educational materials or was disbursed for habitat protection. Whatever that money was for, in all, over the last ten years, PETA has raised $70,000 for ELF/ALF activities. (CCF 2003; Martoskso 2005)

*This posting consists of out-takes from Marotta, Michael E. 2008. The Earth Liberation Front. School of Staff and Command, SSC 441: Foreign and Domestic Terrorism for First Responders, Prof. Gerald “Skip” Lawver. Eastern Michigan University, Winter 2008. Gaylord, Michigan. Works cited will be posted subsequently.

Post 2

Sunday, May 4, 2008 - 5:47am

Part 3 of 3

Today, David Schwendiman is Chief Prosecutor and Head of the Special Section for War Crimes in Bosnia. In 2002, he developed the guide to threat assessment for law enforcement for the Winter Games in Salt Lake City. In 1997, he was a federal prosecutor in Salt Lake City. He successfully brought two of the four “Straight Edge” eco-terrorists to justice for their firebombing of a mink food plant. (Sullivan 2006) Back then, Bryan Denson and James Long, reporters for The Oregonian, asked him about the challenge of that task.

“There's an ideology that makes it very difficult ... to get [suspects] to provide information. They operate in very small units. They operate only with people that they believe they can trust implicitly. They operate with people who are accomplices in the same crime -- who would be punished at the same level as anybody else involved in the crime.

“They're very practiced at deception. They wear shoes that are bigger than their feet. They wear gloves. They wear clothing that no one would be able to describe if they had to, it's so common. They dispose of the clothing. They wear ski masks. They switch license plates, borrow cars that can't be identified. They simply strive to leave no trace.” (Denson and Long 1999)

Using public information, eco-terrorist Jake Ferguson made a study of forensic DNA testing. He constructed his firebombs in a “clean room” built in a stolen tent. Everyone who entered wore surgical masks, hair covers (shower caps) and latex gloves. The goal was to leave no biometric evidence at the scene of an arson. (Grigoriadis 2006)

The technical expertise is only one challenge. ELF’s campaigns appeal to broad masses of people who have been told repeatedly about deforestation, global warming and endangered species. Fur coats are no longer popular. Medical students no longer practice surgery on live animals. (Denson and Long 1999)
To the extent that the eco-terrorists change public attitudes, their campaigns are successful. While victory can actually be the death-knell for a mass movement, repeated failures are equally problematic. Some successes are necessary and ELF has enjoyed them. “It's like good cop, bad cop," said Betty Denny Smith, a Los Angeles activist… “If it wasn't for the extremists,” Smith said, “everybody working for humane treatment would look like some kind of kook.” (Denson and Long 1999) Basically, ELF and ALF make PETA look good.

Fifty years ago, J. Edgar Hoover’s Master’s of Deceit explained how the Communist Party (USA) operated front groups, joined coalitions, insisted on their right to constitutional freedoms and liberties not known in any communist nation, and operated underground cells. ... Known as "the Family," the cell was a loose and shifting group of twenty or so activists, all living in the Pacific Northwest and most in their early twenties: a diverse collection of hippie true believers, bearded ascetics, self-styled anarchists and one self-confessed criminal—Jacob Ferguson. (Grigoriadias 2006)

Pursuing the eco-terrorists was good retribution, but not restorative justice. The arson spree had run its course. Nothing was changed. The hard-core activists were disheartened. Their bitter experience was communicated to others who might be tempted to try direct action. Even the Vail ski resort was quickly rebuilt, bigger and better than before. Now, the harsh prison sentences only rekindle the hearthfires of sympathy. For crimes committed 1996 through 2001 as members of “The Family” group of eco-terrorists:

Stanislas Gregory Meyerhoff (age 29) - 156 months
Kevin Tubbs (age 38) - 151 months
Chelsea Dawn Gerlach (age 30) - 108 months
Nathan Fraser Block (age 26) - 92 months
Joyanna L. Zacher (age 29) - 92 months
Suzanne Nichole Savoie (age 29) - 51 months
Kendall Tankersley (age 30) - 41 months
Darren Todd Thurston (age 37) - 37 months
Jonathan Mark Christopher Paul (age 41) - 51 months
Daniel Gerard McGowan (age 33) - 84 months

Care of the natural environment and concern for the well-being of animals is nothing new. In fact, it can be argued that these are, in truth, artifacts of the very capitalist industrialist culture that the radicals denounce. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was founded in 1866. Yellowstone became America’s first national park in 1872. John Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892. Hollywood studios mandated humane treatment of animals in 1940. On February 4, 1966, Life magazine ran an eight-page photo essay, “Concentration Camp for Dogs: Pets are up for sale cheap – and no questions asked,” photographed by Stan Wayman. The public response resulted in Public Law 89-544 - Animal Welfare Act of August 24, 1966. Over the last forty years, software databases and cell sampling have replaced live animals in laboratory testing for cosmetics. Robotic (“animatronic”) beasts, pioneered by Disneyland in the 1950s, now substitute for real animals in Hollywood movies.

The question was never ELF’s goals – arguable though they may be – but always the means they used to achieve them. They used their intelligence to evade the law and avoid capture for over 15 years. Unfortunately, they failed to think through all the consequences of their actions. That they will pay the price of their crimes is certain. What remains problematic is whether they will become symbols, martyrs to attract new perpetrators.

*This posting consists of out-takes from Marotta, Michael E. 2008. The Earth Liberation Front. School of Staff and Command, SSC 441: Foreign and Domestic Terrorism for First Responders, Prof. Gerald “Skip” Lawver. Eastern Michigan University, Winter 2008. Gaylord, Michigan. Works cited will be posted subsequently.

Post 3

Sunday, May 4, 2008 - 5:50am

References

ADL. 2003. “Radical Environmentalist Group suspected in San Diego Arson,” Posted: August 8, 2003, Extremism in the News, Anti-Defamation League, New York http://www.adl.org/learn/extremism_in_the_news/Other_Extremism/San_Diego_Arson.htm

ADL. 2004. “Rod Coronado Indicted in Arizona,” Extremism in the News, Anti-Defamation League, New York Posted: December 15, 2004. http://www.adl.org/learn/extremism_in_america_updates/movements/ecoterrorism/coronado_update_041215.htm. Accessed February 26, 2008.

ADL. 2005. “Ecoterrorism: Extremism in the Animal Rights and Environmentalist Movements.” Extremism in the News, Anti-Defamation League, New York http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/Ecoterrorism.asp#KevinKjonaasCraig Rosebraugh. Accessed February 26, 2008.

Bernton, Hal. 2008. "Prosecutors portray close-knit arson team," Seattle Times. Saturday, January 21, 2006 - Page updated at 12:00 AM http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002752813_ecoindictments21m.html?syndication=rss Accessed February 27, 2008

Carroll, Carson. 2005. “Eco-Terrorism Specifically Examining the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front, Hearing Before The Committee on Environment and Public Works United States Senate One Hundred Ninth Congress First Session,” May 18, 2005, Page 43-44 http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress.senate

Cassella, Kent. 2008.. "Four arrested in 1999 New Year's Eve Agriculture Hall arson," MSU Newsroom Special Report. East Lansing: Michigan State University. March 11, 2008. Accessed April 8, 2008.

CCF. 2003. “PETA's Latest Excuse For Funding Terrorists.” Center for Consumer Freedom, October 2, 2003. .http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm?headline=2151

CNN. 2008, "Officials: Earth Liberation Front members indicted in fire," http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/03/11/elf.indictments/index.html Updated 5:15 p.m. EDT, Tue March 11, 2008. Accessed March 12, 2008.

Connors, Philip. 2006. “Where have you gone, Edward Abbey?” San Francisco, Salon.Com, Oct. 22, 2006. http://www.salon.com/books/review/2006/10/22/abbey/index.html

Coronado, Rodney Adam. 2006. “Message from Rod Coronado in Prison, Friday, September 1st [2006]” http://www.supportrod.org/update.php?u=20060901, updated: 10/22/2006,Accessed April 13, 2008.

Denson, Bryan and James Long. 1999. “Eco-terrorism Sweeps the American West : Escalating sabotage to save the environment has inflicted tens of millions of dollars in damage and placed lives at risk, a 10-month review by The Oregonian shows,” (Four Parts). Portland, Oregon: The Oregonian, September 26-29, 1999. Accessed via http://www.furcommission.com/resource/pressSF.htm Accessed April 5, 2008.

Dettmer, Michael H. and Timothy P. Verhey. 1995. Government's Sentencing Memorandum, In The United States District Court for the Western District Of Michigan, Southern Div. United States of America (Plaintiff) versus Rodney Adam Coronado (Defendant), No. 1:97-CR-116. July 31, 1995. From http://www.eskimo.com/~rarnold/Sentencing%20Memo.pdf

DOJ. 2007. "Final Sentencing Hearing Held in Case of Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Animal Liberation Front for Acts of Eco-Terrorism in Five Western States," United States Attorney Karin J. Immergut, District of Oregon, August 3, 2007, http://portland.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/2007/elfsentencing080307.htm

Donnelly, Michael. 2005. “"Eco-Terrorism": Cui Bono?” Counter Punch, Looking Glass News, December 21, 2005, http://www.lookingglassnews.org/printerfriendly.php?storyid=4145

Ehrenfeld, Rachel. 2003. Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed – and how to stop it, Chicago and Los Angeles: Bonus Books.

ELF. 2006. “Vilified as ‘Terrorists,’ Eco-activists Face New Offensive by Business,” Earth Liberation Front News, February 7, 2006. http://www.earthliberationfront.com/elf_news.htm. Accessed April 6, 2008

FBI. n.d.a. “Investigative Programs: Critical Incident Response Group: Hostage Rescue Team,” http://www.fbi.gov/hq/isd/cirg/tact.htm#hrt. Accessed April 3, 2008.

FBI. 1996. “Terrorism in the United States: 1996.” Washington D.C., Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Division, Counterterrorism Threat Assessment and Warning Unit. http://www.fbi.gov/publications/terror/terroris.pdf

FBI. 1998. Terrorism in the United States 1998. Washington, DC. Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Division, Counterterrorism Threat Assessment and Warning Unit. http://www.fbi.gov/publications/terror/terror98.pdf. Accessed April 5, 2008.

FBI. 1999. Terrorism in the United States 1999: (30 Years of Terrorism: A Special Retrospective Edition), Washington D.C., Federal Bureau of Investigation, Counterterrorism Unit, http://www.fbi.gov/publications/terror/terror99.pdf Accessed April 5. 2008.

FBI. 2005. Terrorism 2002-2005. Washington D.C, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Counterterrorism Division, http://www.fbi.gov/publications/terror/terrorism2002_2005.pdf Accessed April 6. 2008.

FBI. 2008. "Seattle Eco-Terrorism Investigation,” March 4, 2008, http://www.fbi.gov/page2/march08/seattlearson_030408.html Accessed April 5, 2008.

Garner, Joe. 2005. “Vail fire suspect kills self:: Accused eco-terror figure found dead in Arizona jail cell.” Rocky Mountain News Friday, December 23, 2005 http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4337222,00.html Accessed April 12, 2008

Grigoriadis Vanessa. 2006. “The Rise & Fall of the Eco-Radical Underground.” Rolling Stone, August 10, 2006.. Posted Jul 28, 2006 2:32 PM. www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/11035255/the_rise__fall_of_the_ecoradical_undergroundRollingstone.com Accessed March 16, 2008.

Hoover, J. Edgar. 1958. Masters Of Deceit; The Story of Communism in America and How to Fight it. New York: Holt.

Imhofe, Senator James M. 2005. ”Opening Remarks” Eco-Terrorism Specifically Examining the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front, Hearing Before the Committee on Environment and Public Works United States Senate One Hundred Ninth Congress First Session. May 18, 2005, Washington, D.C. Pages 1-3. http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress.senate. Accessed April 4, 2008.

Jarboe, James F. 2002. “Testimony Before the House Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health, February 12, 2002: The Threat of Eco-Terrorism.” http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress02/jarbow021202.htm. Accessed March 18, 2008.

Kuipers, Dean. 2007. “The Green Scare: Rod Coronado gave a talk in San Diego and the feds called his words ‘terrorism.’”Los Angeles City Beat, May 6, 2007. http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/?id=5450&IssueNum=204. Accessed February 26, 2008.

Lewis, John E. 2004. “Statement Before the Senate Judiciary Committee, May 18, 2004,” http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress04/lewis051804.htm. Accessed March 28, 2008

Martosko, David. 2005. “Statement for the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.” Eco-Terrorism Specifically Examining the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front, Hearing Before the Committee on Environment and Public Works United States Senate One Hundred Ninth Congress First Session. May 18, 2005, Washington, D.C. Pages 21-23. http://www.access.gpo.gov/congress.senate. Accessed April 5, 2008.

Sprig (2003) “Living the Truth: An Interview with Rod Coronado” Earth First! Journal Eostar 2003 (March-April 2003) http://www.earthfirstjournal.org/article.php?id=159 Accessed February 26, 2008

Stoner, Edward. 2007. “Two Elk: Running the ridge, setting fires,” Vail Daily, May 9. 2007, http://www.vaildaily.com/article/20070509/NEWS/70509005&SearchID=7331044423560 Accessed April 13, 2008

Sullivan, Randall. 2006. “Hunting America's Most Wanted Eco-Terrorist : The Flight of Tre Arrow: How the green movement's poster boy became the target of a manhunt,” Rolling Stone, December 12, 2002. Posted Jul 27, 2006 8:13 AM http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/11034035/hunting_americas_most_wanted_ecoterrorist/print Accessed March 16, 2008.

Terlep, Sharon, (2000) “MSU fire damage put at $400,000,” The Lansing State Journal, January 2, 2000, page 1B.

Vidal, John. 2008. “The Green Scare,” The Guardian. April 3, 2008, page 4. http://www.guardian.co.uk Updated 15:30, April 3, 2008. Accessed April 5, 2008.

Vlasak, Dr. Jerry (2005) “Testimony Before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.Eco-Terrorism Specifically Examining Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (‘SHAC’),” 109^th Congress First Session, October 26, 2005. S. Hrg. 109-1005, http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_senate_hearings&docid=f:39521.wais Accessed April 13, 2008.

Post 4

Sunday, May 4, 2008 - 8:28am

Gov -

Do you really think that smearing this site with these threads makes you right? You look insane doing this.

Hey, I just thought of something. The oil fields in Iraq need plenty of security. Why not find a job doing that there? I mean, the threats aren't any worse than here, right? And the pay has got to be much better.

Post 5

Sunday, May 4, 2008 - 8:47am

Actually I agree that in the long term, these kinds of organizations (ELF, ALF, etc) do in fact pose a larger threat than even Al Qaida. Right Now Al Qaida and islamic fundamentalist terrorism is the biggest threat, but the extreme of the ALF/ELF guys actually despise the very existence of humanity. While their abilities are limited now, in the future they may be able to engineer a synthetic life form or new virus to wipe out most of humanity, and they would actually desire to do that.

Post 6

Sunday, May 4, 2008 - 1:28pm

I concurr.....

Sunday, May 4, 2008 - 1:41pm

In synergy with MEM and MFD, I want to voice my own agreement with the notion that radical environmentalism has the current top ranking by government protection agencies as a domestic terror threat. A coworker who applied to work for the FBI as a criminal lab worker corroborated this statement last summer. She and I agreed that the environmentalist radicals are, well, deadly wackos.

Post 8

Monday, May 5, 2008 - 10:34pm

For information about the connection between Senator Barack Obama and the leftwing terrorists of the 1970s, google "Barack Obama Bill Ayres" and among the many links will be this:
http://capoliticalnews.com/s/spip.php?article628

The threat of communism did not evaporate with the demise of the USSR.

There are many threats.

In the 1990s, right-wing extremism overtook left-wing terrorism as the most dangerous domestic terrorist threat to the country. During the past several years, special interest extremism, as characterized by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), has emerged as a serious terrorist threat. Generally, extremist groups engage in much activity that is protected by constitutional guarantees of free speech and assembly. Law enforcement becomes involved when the volatile talk of these groups transgresses into unlawful action. The FBI estimates that the ALF/ELF have committed more than 600 criminal acts in the United States since 1996, resulting in damages in excess of 43 million dollars.

Testimony of James F. Jarboe, Domestic Terrorism Section Chief, Counterterrorism Division, FBI
Before the House Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health
February 12, 2002
"The Threat of Eco-Terrorism"
http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress02/jarboe021202.htm

Also cited in "Statement of John E. Lewis, Deputy Assistant Director Counterterrorism Division Federal Bureau of Investigation Before the Senate Judiciary Committee May 18, 2004"
http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress04/lewis051804.htm

Post 9

Tuesday, May 6, 2008 - 8:44pm

The ELF people are usually pretty quiet - the dangerous ones, anyway - about their agendas. In the past, I've hung out at the local coffee houses and overheard some of the real ELF nut jobs discussing how they pose as being Mr. or Ms. Amerika, all the while looking for targets of opportunity. Unfortunately, the FBI doesn't seem to be very good at distinguishing real threats from non-aggressive Green party members - not that the Greens don't have their share of crypto ELF, I'm sure, but most of them are simply environmentalists, not man-hating jerks.

A few years ago, a local (Riverside) youth environmental group was busted by the FBI, one of their members - Josh Canole - accused of being one of the perps who torched the new Humvees at a dealership, a case that got nationwide coverage. Everything about the bust smelled to high heaven of "fishing expedition." I visited their house, where all these college students lived, called the "Regen" house (for "regeneration") and spoke with Josh and other Regen members to try to make an assessment of the liklihood that the bust was actually based on any real evidence. I concluded probably not. The FBI was clueless, literally, and arrested Josh because one of the perps was described by a possible witness as "being tall." And Josh is in fact tall. Case solved!

As it turned out, it was three econuts who had no connection with Josh or Regan who were convicted finally of the torchings. Of course, the Regen House kids laid themselves open to be busted by affiliating with "Food, not bombs," a completely voluntary, utterly decentralized bunch of people who simply find food and give it to people who need it, such as the homeless in the parks. The Regen kids were collecting out of date food from supermarkets and restaurants every day and distributing it, after cleaning or cooking it, as needed. That's about all that "Food, not bombs" does.

Because some of these independent groups have had members who were also radicals affiliated with less innocent groups, however, "Food, not bombs" is now listed as a terrorist organization, I believe. Not that I personally am into these kind of altruistic endeavors, but to confuse them with real threats is a waste and a potential hazard, as the really dangerous people don't likely put themselves in those kinds of groups anyway.

Post 10

Friday, May 9, 2008 - 10:07pm

To echo post #4, Is there some reason why this had to be started as a new thread, rather than continuing in its original context here?

This seems like an argument ex silentio, a rhetorical trick.

Post 11

Saturday, May 10, 2008 - 5:44am

Ted, I am sure that you appreciate the fact at ELF/ALF do not fit within the White Nationalist, Christian Conservative spectrum. ALF/ELF are leftwing. You get that, of course.

Also, as dangerous as the right is, currently, the FBI considers eco-terrorism to be the premier domestic threat.

Myself, I like nice neat boxes of things all of the same class. I hate clutter.

(The opening posts are outtakes from a paper I wrote for a class in domestic terrorism for first responders. The paper ran 40 pages. I got an A+.)

Post 12

Saturday, May 10, 2008 - 2:48pm

There was a guy by the name, Ron Tobin, who ran a libertarian group in the OC in the late '80's and promoted animal rights through the group as well as through their newsletter, "The Thought." I attended one meeting, not realizing that they were animal rights advocates going in. Searching on Google, I find the same - as far as I can tell - Ron Tobin, hosting the Arizona Objectivists group a decade later, and the address for "The Thought" has moved to Arizona as well.

I was startled to begin with that any group calling itself libertarian would be promoting animal rights, and even more startled to find the main instigator later promoting objectivism - or his version thereof. At the time, my inclination was to conclude that these people were basically just animal rights nuts, and that libertarianism was a convenient cover and/or a path of infiltration and gaining members because of the then credibility of libertarianism. If they could have infiltrated the Catholic Church, then they likely would have gone that route instead. There is precedent within the libertarian movement for enemy infiltration, as in the "Pro-Life" libertarians, who strangely seem capable of only talking about one subject.

Someone shoved a couple of copies of "The Thought" into my hands at the meeting in the '80's, as best I recall, and I read enough to realize that it was complete garbage. Aside from the animal rights nonsense, the argumentation in the various articles gave the impression of a clever 10 year old cutting and pasting words and ideas without having any coherent understanding of what he was creating.

There was another really odd note. Months after that one meeting that I attended, I received an anonymous letter containing a single sheet of paper which appeared to be on the official letterhead of the OC Sheriff's Dept., and which indicated that an R. Tobin was one of their paid agents. Of course the paper was a copy, not the original, and could fairly easilly have been manufactured. However, whoever sent it to me specifically would have certainly known that I would be aware of that fact. So, what was it that I was supposed to do??? ... Still wondering.

Perhaps Mr. Tobin is exactly who he purports. I certainly have no direct evidence otherwise. I do note that when the FBI goes after an organization seriously, such as the "Minutemen" in the '60's, they will thoroughly infiltrate it if at all possible, and then pose as a surviving splinter group of the original organization after they bust it, in order to locate stray members.

And, in the City of Los Angeles, according to a huge special section article by the L.A. Times, about a decade ago, there were then some 17,000 paid informants of the police dept. Most of these informants were also career criminals and spent a lot of time in prison as part of their job, mingling with other criminals and establishing the contacts necessary to provide sellable information.

Of course, one of the other points of the Times article was just how often the information, which resulted in thousands of convictions, actually turned out to be completely manufactured by the informant. I.e., a high proportion of the convictions were complete rail jobs.

During the '60's, when I was in college and active in the Anti-Vietnam War movement as a libertarian, I noted how the authorities used drug busts and the planting of drugs to go after anti-war activists. They also engaged in the promotion and sale of the very drugs that they later used to bust people. A few years after the war ended, I recall listening to a private conversation involving Timothy Leary at a libertaian conference where he was speaking. Some idiot was spouting off about guns and bombs and how vulnerable the authorities were - without getting any encouragement. After he left, Leary quietly made a remark to the effect that the guy sounded exactly like a typical federal undercover agent.

I would be curious to know if there is any information, Michael, that you are aware of, that indicates just how much of the "terrorism" in ELF and elsewhere is actually generated by agent provocateurs? I know that it was common in the '60's for such agents to either sell or promote drugs as well as to push for illegal protest activity, bombing of recruiting stations or ROTC buildings, etc. And I'm getting a whole lot of hits on the subject in google, such as:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1568/is_6_38/ai_n17093164

(Edited by Phil Osborn on 5/10, 2:51pm)

Post 13

Saturday, May 10, 2008 - 9:52pm

"Anna" is a well-known case. She did not make her way into my paper, or I would still be writing it. If I recall correctly, she was a criminal justice major in college in Florida. She went to an Earth Day event and was appalled and then made herself available to the FBI.

Some of the group’s plans — such as bombing the Nimbus Dam — seem idealistic and far beyond what it could possibly achieve with its rudimentary capabilities and limited resources. Members had also discussed fantastical plans such as attacking a ball bearing factory in an effort to halt the production of automobiles, spilling a tractor-trailer of jam on a highway to interrupt the transportation of goods and storming into a bank and burning all the money instead of robbing it. That said, the testimony of Weiner, Jenson and Anna in this case illustrates a couple of emerging trends in the radical environmental and animal rights movements: the increasing use of violence — specifically the use of explosives and timed incendiary devices — and the growing disregard for human life.
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/informants_bombs_and_lessons
(Stratfor is the world’s leading private intelligence service. Our global team of intelligence professionals provides our Members with insights into political, economic, and military developments to reduce risks, to identify opportunities, and to stay aware of happenings around the globe.)

According to this, the May 2008 issue of Elle has a story about ELF and Anna.

Once you get into this, the truth just disappears. As an informant, Anna has an incentive to report things of value to her employers. This is known. Guidelines are supposed to support experienced agents in handling this information. However, they, too, have an interest in finding a need for their services. So, did Anna really push hard for other people to plan bombings, or did she just passively record what they were doing on their own? In a case like this, does the truth actually exist, or actually matter?

I am currently reading It's Your Ship by D. Michael Abrashoff. Capt. Abrashoff instilled a sense of pride in his crew such that when shore leave fights broke out in bars, his guys were the ones huddled in the corner: they would do nothing to disgrace the ship. The point is that when someone says, "Let's bomb the dam." and you don't report them to the FBI, what does that say about you?

Post 14

Sunday, May 11, 2008 - 2:40pm

Another famous case was the McMartin Preschool case:

http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mcmartin/mcmartinaccount.html

I note that Ray Bucky, the only defendant left to try after all the other charges were finally thrown out in what was the costliest case in California history prior to OJ, was framed by an informant, and it was when the jury discovered that the only witness had witnessed in scores of prior trials, each of which was won by prosecution after the "witness" proclaimed that the defendant had confessed to him, that they threw it out as well...

Post 15

Wednesday, August 6, 2008 - 2:23pm

August 6, 2008
Police: University researchers targeted by activists' firebombs
By Seda Terzyan, Daily Bruin
Two University of California, Santa Cruz faculty members and their families were targeted in what local authorities are calling attacks by animal liberationists.

Story Highlights

University of California, Santa Cruz researchers targeted with firebombs
Police say animal liberationists are behind acts
Faculty member and children forced to escape smoke-filled home
Vehicle of another researcher firebombed and destroyed

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/06/researchers.firebombing/index.html

My comment:
ALF and ELF have always been connected. While destructive of property and potentially dangerous, especially to responders to fires, the ELF activists have been careful not to harm people. On the other hand, see the top at Post 1 about animal rights activist Dr. Jerry Vlasak and Prof. Steven Best who have said that killing researchers in order to stop animal cruelty is justifiable. Best has a website, http://www.drstevebest.org/ You may find it compelling in an Elm Street kind of way.

Post 16

Sunday, August 10, 2008 - 9:43am

An addendum to the UCSD arsons:

The attacks came four days after police obtained threatening animal rights pamphlets left at a Santa Cruz coffeehouse containing the names and home addresses of UC Santa Cruz scientists.
“Animal abusers everywhere beware,” the pamphlets read. “We know where you live.”
Among those listed was molecular biologist David Feldheim, whose home was firebombed Saturday. According to his Web site, Feldheim's lab uses mice to study the development of brain functions involved in eyesight.
Police would not identify the researcher whose car was destroyed but said that person's name was not listed in the pamphlet.
The attacks were the first major incidents against UC Santa Cruz scientists since February, when animal rights activists descended on the home of a UC Santa Cruz breast cancer researcher during her young daughter's birthday party.
The masked protesters pounded on the front door, and one threw a punch at the researcher's husband as he tried to chase them away, according to police. The FBI is also involved in that investigation.

"FBI investigates firebombings targeting scientists "
ASSOCIATED PRESS, 11:39 a.m. August 3, 2008
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20080803-1139-ca-researcherstargeted.html

Post 17

Monday, August 11, 2008 - 6:05am

These guys should arm themselves - nothing I would like to hear more than "animal rights activist(s) slain during attempt to attack scientist"

They deserve nothing less.

Post 18

Monday, August 11, 2008 - 7:53pm

More creatively, it would be fun to set out some lures and see who bites. I'm sure that there are some experiments that would work even better if the "lab animals" had actual human DNA. Just a thought...

Post 19

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 - 9:14am