Eco-terrorism

godpt3

Aug 3, 9:57 PM EDT

FBI investigates new attacks on Calif. scientists

By MARCUS WOHLSEN
Associated Press Writer


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The FBI is investigating two firebombings targeting scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, as the latest in a rash of attacks against biomedical researchers who experiment on animals, authorities said.

One scientist and his family, including two small children, were forced to flee from a second-story window Saturday after a firebomb was lit on their front porch, filling the off-campus house with smoke, Santa Cruz police said. An adult was treated for minor injuries at a hospital and released.

Police were investigating the attack as attempted murder, said Santa Cruz police Capt. Steve Clark.

"That device had a real potential to put that family in jeopardy," Clark said. He described the bomb as a "Molotov cocktail on steroids."

A sprinkler system and a neighbor with a garden hose helped keep the fire from spreading before firefighters arrived to extinguish it, Clark said.

Also Saturday morning, a firebomb destroyed a car belonging to another researcher parked at faculty housing on campus. Investigators said they were treating the attacks as "domestic terrorism."

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."

Molecular biologist David Feldheim, whose front door was charred, was among the researchers on the list, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. According to his Web site, Feldheim's lab uses mice to study the development of brain functions involved in eyesight.

Authorities would not identify the researcher whose car was destroyed but said that person's name was not listed in the pamphlet.

A spokesman for the North American Animal Liberation press office, which commonly posts messages from groups taking credit for animal rights violence, issued a statement Sunday saying it had not received any claims of responsibility for the attacks.

"It's regrettable that certain scientists are willing to put their families at risk by choosing to do wasteful animal experiments," press office spokesman Jerry Vlasak said in the statement.

Police said they have no suspects in Saturday's attacks, the first against UC Santa Cruz scientists since February, when animal rights activists showed up at the house of a 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 still investigating that case.

In recent years, three UCLA researchers who use non-human primates have been targeted with firebombs, though two failed to ignite. Animal rights groups claimed responsibility for all three attacks.

More recently, masked protesters targeting the University of California, Berkeley, have scrawled graffiti and broken windows at scientists' homes.

FBI investigators say the incidents at different universities are probably not centrally coordinated. But authorities said the attacks do share tactics, including the public posting of researchers' personal information and the type of firebomb used.

"These are odious assaults on individuals and on the principles of free inquiry by which we live," UC Santa Cruz Chancellor George Blumenthal said in a statement Saturday.

Police said they were offering stepped-up security to the 13 UC Santa Cruz researchers whose names appeared in the pamphlets discovered last week.

FiveB247x

ELF in da house.

jeffbr

I hope they find those eco-fascists and try them for attempted murder. Assholes.

godpt3

FiveB247x wrote:

ELF in da house.

Why did they try to eat my cat??? I thought they were vegans.


Oh, wait, that's ALF.

godpt3

jeffbr wrote:

I hope they find those eco-fascists and try them for attempted murder. Assholes.

the problem right now is that the fascists are infiltrating legitimate organizations such as the Humane Society and World Wildlife Foundation.

failedpersephone

there are multiple sides to every story.

Urban Hiker

ALF not ELF
*Edit: I see it's been distinguished.

I don't condone acts of violence. Then again, when I think about what researches do to animals I feel a wave of vengefulnes come over me - probably like what most people feel when they hear about a child being tortured to death.

Urban Hiker

jeffbr wrote:

I hope they find those eco-fascists and try them for attempted murder. Assholes.

I'd like to see animal researchers tried for animal cruelty.


- Signing off for now, must get back to work.

CityMouse

Urban Hiker wrote:

ALF not ELF
*Edit: I see it's been distinguished.

I don't condone acts of violence. Then again, when I think about what researches do to animals I feel a wave of vengefulnes come over me - probably like what most people feel when they hear about a child being tortured to death.

however you feel, it doesn't seem like violence against humans is the answer.

godpt3

Urban Hiker wrote:

I don't condone acts of violence. Then again, when I think about what researches do to animals I feel a wave of vengefulnes come over me - probably like what most people feel when they hear about a child being tortured to death.

The KKK doesn't "condone" violence, either. At least, not officially.

cincybearcat

godpt3 wrote:

"It's regrettable that certain scientists are willing to put their families at risk by choosing to do wasteful animal experiments," press office spokesman Jerry Vlasak said in the statement.

Warped sense of reality and right vs. wrong.

Funny, these same people probably vilify the anti-abortion activists that do the same thing. When in reality, they are exactly the same.

godpt3

Urban Hiker wrote:

I'd like to see animal researchers tried for animal cruelty.

No. What you really want to do is impose your morality on someone else. Just like evangelical christians.

godpt3

cincybearcat wrote:

Funny, these same people probably vilify the anti-abortion activists that do the same thing. When in reality, they are exactly the same.

Yep. PETA's no different than Operation Rescue.

inmytree

failedpersephone wrote:

there are multiple sides to every story.

and...?

I'm getting the sense that you feel it's ok to fire bomb homes with children...

of course, I could be wrong...

chopitdown

Urban Hiker wrote:

ALF not ELF
*Edit: I see it's been distinguished.

I don't condone acts of violence. Then again, when I think about what researches do to animals I feel a wave of vengefulnes come over me - probably like what most people feel when they hear about a child being tortured to death.

when i think of the advancements that we've made medically b/c of animal research I feel great thanks...smallpox vaccine, organ transplantation, many surgical techniques, treatments for asthma, cancer, the list goes on here... http://www.njabr.org/programs/medical_milestones/.

FiveB247x

Actually not that I condone it per say, but these types of groups cause violence and destruction, but never target people.. just property. Obviously it's still illegal, but there's a big difference in trying to kill people compared to burning down a labratory when there's no one inside. And the one thing that really irks the FBI and others is they plan these things extremely well and typically aren't caught. But as others stated previously, there's two sides to every story.

cincybearcat

FiveB247x wrote:

Actually not that I condone it per say, but these types of groups cause violence and destruction, but never target people.. just property. Obviously it's still illegal, but there's a big difference in trying to kill people compared to burning down a labratory when there's no one inside. And the one thing that really irks the FBI and others is they plan these things extremely well and typically aren't caught. But as others stated previously, there's two sides to every story.

Do they walk through the building before hand to make sure no ones in there? Doubt it.

There is no 2-sides to this story. Only 1 side, the side where people firebomb public or private property and put people's lives at risk. That's it.

If you can't win people over to your side of the dabate without killing them, something is wrong with you.

godpt3

FiveB247x wrote:

Actually not that I condone it per say, but these types of groups cause violence and destruction, but never target people.. just property.

from the article, sure sounds like they're targeting people to me. Unless you don't consider scientists to be people.

dawng

CityMouse wrote:

however you feel, it doesn't seem like violence against humans is the answer.

ITA - there has to be other avenues these folks can use to get policies changed. All this does is give the animal rights groups a bad name. It's a shame.

musicismylife78

I am a resident of Eugene oregon, home of John Zerzan a figurehead of Green Anarchy. jeff Free Luers as well lives here or did. He was the kid who burned and bombed 3 suv's and got the "appropriate" sentence of 23 goddamn years!

The real eco terrorists arent those standing up for human and non humans alike and actually doing something other than pulling a stupid lever every 4 years. the real terrorists are those in power who stand silently by and do nothing as the world turns to hell.

godpt3

radiohead33 wrote:

I am a resident of Eugene oregon, home of John Zerzan a figurehead of Green Anarchy. jeff Free Luers as well lives here or did. He was the kid who burned and bombed 3 suv's and got the "appropriate" sentence of 23 goddamn years!

3 SUVs probably constitutes close to $100,000 worth of destruction of property. I'd say the sentence is pretty fair.