THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 129, June 18, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
DOMESTIC TERRORISTS: THE OTHER TERRORISTS
By Alan Caruba
FULL STORY:
Amidst the government warnings that al-Qa'ida has targeted America for further attacks, was a news story concerning another kind
of terrorism, some of whose perpetrators were indicted on May 26, 2004. They were members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty
(SHAC).
Federal authorities in New Jersey and three other states charged that the defendants, six men and one woman, belonged to SHAC
and had engaged in acts that included vandalism, sending threatening letters, making threatening phone calls, home invasions, and
physical assaults. “Their business, quite frankly, is thuggery and intimidation,” said US Attorney Christopher Christie, at a press
conference following the indictments.
The domestic terrorism perpetrated by groups like SHAC, the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), and Earth Liberation Front (ELF), has,
until now, involved 190 investigations into their activities, but, with the exception of one or two among them, has not resulted in the
kind of arrests that make headlines.
SHAC was formed in 1999 in England to put the parent company of Huntingdon out of business and this company’s business is the
vital testing of new life saving pharmaceuticals. Its U.S. laboratory in Somerset County, New Jersey, like its British counterpart, uses
thousands of animals, mostly rats, for such testing. The five-count indictment asserts that the defendants crossed the line from civil
demonstration to domestic terrorism, i.e., criminal acts.
Tracking down the members of ALF and ELF has taken on a new priority among federal law enforcement authorities. These and other
domestic terrorists have committed more than 1,100 criminal acts in the United States since 1976, resulting in damages that are
conservatively estimated at $110 million. In August, 2003, they burned to the ground a 206-unit apartment complex that was under
construction in San Diego, causing $50 million in damage. That same month, a bomb exploded at the biotech Chiron Corporation’s
Emeryville, California, business office. There were no casualties, but the bomb did a lot of property damage. In September, 2003, ALF
terrorists destroyed much of the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine’s office in Baton Rouge.
In April, 1999, ALF terrorists vandalized a cancer research center at the University of Minnesota, destroying the work of university
researchers seeking ways to treat brain tumors.
ALF, ELF, and SHAC do not care about humans who would benefit from medical research, nor do they care about the need for the
building of apartment complexes and new homes for a growing population. Nor should we be surprised to learn that People for the
Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has admitted to donating $1,500 to ELF in 2001. According to the Center for Consumer
Freedom, PETA also donated at least $70,000 to ALF.
A PETA spokesperson, following the arrests, referred to the defendants as “longtime activists” and asserted they were “well
respected.” There is a significant difference between activism and criminal behavior, or support for it. The PETA spokesperson said
they suspected “the government’s motives and wonder if the right of freedom of association and free expression is now being
stripped away in this country.” This is a mere smokescreen for the true nature of their activities.
The ability of PETA to manipulate the media is well known. Less well known, however, is the true agenda of these organizations or
their increasingly violent methods of achieving it. PETA should be considered an unindicted co-conspirator.
ALF and ELF are terrorists, no less than al-Qa'ida or any other organization that uses violence. In 2003, the groups claimed
responsibility for 75 actions, striking against fur farms, logging operations, Forest Service facilities, slaughterhouses, and other
targets throughout northwestern states. With few arrests, they were becoming more and more emboldened.
Even the Sierra Club, an environmental organization, felt compelled to disassociate themselves. “The ELF are not environmentalists.
They are arsonists,” said Carl Pope, the head of the Sierra Club. Not true. ELF and ALF are environmentalists and reflect the
fundamental objective of all environmental organizations to shut down every manner of business and economic activity deemed to
threaten the earth by their use of its natural resources. The Sierra Club and other socalled conservation groups are engaged in
efforts to put much of the U.S. landmass off limits to use for any purpose. In this, they are often aided by federal programs that
actually fund this effort.
One can only hope these indictments lead to many more. It is essential that Americans wake up to the threat the entire environmental
and animal rights movement poses to property rights and to research that would benefit those suffering from illnesses such as cancer
and Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington’s disease. Veterinary research, with considerable irony, has also been targeted.
So, while Americans worry about when or where the next Islamic Jihad attack may occur, we have been waiting since the late 1970s
for a long overdue crackdown on these other terrorists.
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Terrorism & U.S. Homeland Security
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, Communications Director of the American Policy Center,
and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly
column, "Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center
(www.anxietycenter.com). A compilation of his past columns, entitled Warning Signs, is published by Merril Press. In addition
to Warning Signs, Caruba is the author of A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam and The United Nations vs. the United States,
both of which are available from the National Anxiety Center, 9 Brookside Road, Maplewood, New Jersey, 07040.
Copyright 2004 Alan Caruba
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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