Possibly of interest to people who followed our discussion on eco-terrorism
last fall. . . . The article below includes speculation that Eugene and
Portland Oregon environmental activists may have been involved in the
violence at the World Trade Organization talks last year.
Jim T.
>
>Eco-Terrorists Wreak Havoc
>
>.c The Associated Press
>
> By AMALIE YOUNG
>
>PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Using darkness for cover, activists smashed a window
>in a Wisconsin warehouse, crawled inside and placed incendiary devices on
>a propane tank. They set the timers and fled.
>
>That same day, March 13, a group calling itself the Animal Liberation
>Front boasted that they'd burned the warehouse down - even though they
>hadn't. The devices had malfunctioned and last week's attack on the
>refrigerated warehouse containing gourmet dog food had failed.
>
>Acting solo or side by side, the ALF and its sister group - the Earth
>Liberation Front - have claimed credit for a string of costly arson
>attacks and other acts of sabotage across the country.
>
>In their communiques, the so-called eco-terrorists say they're on a
>crusade to protect animals and the environment. They also say their
>intentions are non-violent.
>
>It's little comfort to the people who own property that has been destroyed
>or damaged in the attacks. Dana Watkins, whose dog food warehouse in
>Viraquo, Wisc., was apparently the latest target, used to provide food to
>fur farms - favorite targets of the vandals.
>
>Watkins worries the radicals may return and try to finish the job. ``Every
>night we go to bed scared, wondering what will happen,'' he said.
>
>During the past three years, damage from acts of eco-vandalism has
>amounted to millions of dollars. Since December 1997, the two groups have
>taken responsibility for at least 10 arson attacks, including a $12
>million fire that destroyed a ski lodge in Vail, Colo.
>
>No lives have been lost, but some fear it's only a matter of time.
>
>``Until fairly recently, they have been more of a nuisance than a real
>problem,'' said Gary Perlstein, co-author of ``Perspectives on
>Terrorism,'' a book about radical American fringe groups.
>
>``Somebody is going to die, even if it is accidentally,'' he said. ``When
>they find that their present activities don't work, they'll have to get
>more aggressive.''
>
>Though their histories are murky, ELF and ALF trace their origins to the
>late 1970s with the founding of Earth First!, a group energized by Utah
>anarchist Edward Abbey's novel ``The Monkey Wrench Gang.''
>
>Serious environmental terrorism started to mount in the 1980s as
>conservationists fought to prevent loggers from cutting ancient trees and
>new concerns were sparked about endangered animals.
>
>By the late 1980s, an increasing number of animal-rights activists had
>joined radical environmentalists in bids to save both wilderness and
>animals. Some believe there is a link between eco-terrorists and
>Eugene-based anarchists who were blamed for some of the violence during
>the World Trade Organization talks in Seattle last year.
>
>Mainstream environmentalists say they know little if anything about the
>radical groups and disown violence, worrying that the fanatics may harm
>their cause.
>
>``They discredit people who might otherwise speak out in our democracy,''
>said Wendell Wood, a conservationist with the Oregon Natural Resources
>Council.
>
>AFL and ELF have no official headquarters or Web site. The only faces
>attached to the two groups are self-proclaimed ``spokesmen'' who alert the
>media each time the groups strike.
>
>Both spokesmen say they are merely sympathetic mouthpieces for the two
>groups, passing on anonymous communiques after the groups strike.
>
>``The public has a right to know that these are not just random acts,''
>said Craig Rosebraugh, the 27-year-old spokesman for the ELF.
>
>In February, the FBI raided Rosebraugh's Portland home and seized
>computers, papers and other items. Later that month, Rosebraugh was called
>before a federal grand jury to answer questions about the ELF and ALF.
>
>Rosebraugh, who runs a Portland vegan bakery, says he refused to answer
>the grand jury's questions.
>
>Gordon Compton, an FBI spokesman in Portland, declined to comment on
>Rosebraugh's status or investigations into attacks linked to the groups.
>
>David Barbarash, who acts as ALF spokesman from his home in British
>Columbia, served four months in jail for taking part in an ALF action -
>the release of cats used in medical research at a Canadian university in
>1992.
>
>Barbarash also faces charges in Canada for mailing letters booby-trapped
>with razor blades to more than 20 hunting guides in 1996.
>
>``Sending razor blades to people is a violent activity,'' he said. ``I
>have never taken any violent action against people.''
>
>Perlstein speculates that the ELF and ALF are a single, loosely knit
>network whose members don't all know each other. That way, they can't
>inform on the others if caught.
>
>``It's a classic shell network that's been used in guerrilla warfare,'' he
>said. ``Unless the FBI can arrest someone with information, they're going
>to have difficulty catching them.''
>
>On the Net:
>
>For more information on ALF and ELF: http://www.envirolink.org and
>http://www.enviroweb.org/ALFIS/index2.shtml
>
>Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, an organization that tracks
>crimes committed to save nature: http://www.cdfe.org
>
>AP-NY-03-23-00 0248EST
>
> Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. The information contained in the
>AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
>distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.
>
>
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