U.S. Indicts 11 for Acts of Domestic Terrorism

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From the New York Times

WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 - Eleven people have been indicted on charges of carrying out a years-long spree of arson, bombings and other acts of domestic terrorism throughout five Western states, the Justice Department said today.

The 65-count indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in Eugene, Ore., accuses the 11 of charges that include arson, conspiracy and use and possession of destructive devices arising from crimes in Oregon, Wyoming, Washington, California and Colorado from 1996 through 2001, the authorities said. Working on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front, the defendants committed arson with improvised incendiary devices fashioned from milk jugs, petroleum products and homemade timers, causing damage in the millions of dollars, Justice Department officials said.

"The trail of destruction left by these defendants across the Western United States caused millions of dollars in damage to public and private facilities," Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales said at a news conference.

Director Robert S. Mueller III of the F.B.I., who appeared at the session with Mr. Gonzales, said one of the bureau's "highest domestic terrorism priorities" is catching and prosecuting "those who commit crime and terrorism in the name of animal rights or environmental issues."

The indictments announced today follow a series of arrests on Dec. 7 in Oregon, Arizona, New York and Virginia, the Justice Department said. Several of the defendants whose indictments were announced today were arrested at that time, while three people named in the indictment are believed to be outside the United States, the officials said. Jerry Vlasak, a spokesman for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, said none of the people named in the indictment had anything to do with the incidents cited, "and we feel they will be exonerated." The authorities "simply have no idea" who belongs to the animal-rights groups, "so they round up people they do know and squeeze them for information on other people," he said.

The Justice Department did not say when the defendants would appear in court to answer the charges against them. Relatives of one defendant, Chelsea Gerlach, issued a statement after her arrest in December expressing disbelief over the charges and confidence that she would be vindicated in court. Federal authorities say the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front have boasted of burning and bombing research facilities, timber operations, meatpackers and sport-utility vehicle dealers, among other targets. The two groups have maintained Web sites where they discuss operating as independent cells and share letters from colleagues already in prison, the authorities say.

The Animal Liberation Front has stated on its Web site that it "carries out direct action against animal abuse in the form of releasing animals and causing financial loss to animal exploiters, usually through the damage and destruction of property." Most of those implicated in the attacks are in their 20's or 30's, investigators have said. No one is believed to have been injured in the attacks, but some incidents resulted in heavy financial losses. For instance, a 2001 fire at a timber company in Glendale, Ore., caused about $500,000 in damage. And in 1997, a blaze caused $450,000 in damage to a corral holding several hundred wild horses and burros scheduled to be sold after their capture by the Bureau of Land Management.

The Justice Department identified those indicted as Joseph Dibee, Ms. Gerlach, Sarah Harvey, Daniel McGowan, Stanislas Meyerhoff, Josephine Overaker, Jonathan Paul, Rebecca Rubin, Suzanne Savoie, Darren Thurston and Kevin Tubbs. The department said Mr. Dibee, Ms. Overaker and Ms. Rubin are believed to be outside the United States.

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I think groups that do this kind of things are doing it wrong, and should be doing it in the political system. They are doing a disservice to themselves. They should see this as a beginning that what they are doing is wrong. Two wrongs do not make a right.

For the most part, I agree with you, however, these people are not being called Vandals, (Which they most certainly are) but are instead being branded as 'Terrorists' because what they are doing is no longer 'Aggrevated Damage of Property', or 'Malcious Destruction of Property', but 'Economic Terrorists' instead.

The PLO, IRA, UDA/UDF, Baader-Meinhof/RAF, Al Qaida, Hezbolla, Al Fatah, etc, are all paramilitary organistions that kill people to spread terror in the name of their cause. Their actions strike fear into the hearts of people they oppose. --They are Terrorists

ALF/ELF, on the other hand cause temporary economic hardship, and generally inconvienence most of the people that their actions are conducted against, and cause financial burden to the insurance companies that have to pay out property damages. Their actions cause great inconvenience to the people that they oppose. --Their actions disrupt, and cause temporary hardship for people, but nobody is actually 'Terrified' of them in the way that people are terrified of the actions of Al-Quaida, or the IRA, orUDA.

Granted, they should be prosecuted for property damage in Federal Court, due not only to the severity of what they're doing, but because they developed an Interstate network to conduct their actions. The FBI is right to investigate and hunt these people down, but not under the guise of 'Domestic Terrorism', but as an 'Interstate Vandalism Organisation' instead.

People branded as Terrorists in the eyes of American Justice can now be denied Due Legal Process, as well as their Civil Rights because they are no longer regarded as 'Vandals', but are 'Terrorists' instead.

Think about it. The ALF/ELF are 'Domestic Terrorists', and members are subject to suspension of their Civil Rights and Due Legal process, while street gangs like the Bloods and the Crips face no such obstacles.

There is no warm spot in my heart for arsonists. What I dont get, honestly, is why are these so called "earth friendly" eco terrorists torching cardealerships and other things that when BURNED create MORE toxic stuff in the air!! Uh, duh.... like a person screaming "right to life" and shooting or otherwise killing someone in the prosess of "making a point".

Accually that isnt entirely correct. If you are arrested, AT ANY AGE, as a gang member, or as a suspected gang member your name goes into a database and its there FOREVER. If you are 12 or 40, and its by arrest not conviction. That goes on your record, and can show up later down the line on a criminal check. The FBI gets that info, as does local juristictions.

And if you are arrested and have any "gang related markings" those are photo documented and your name gets into that database. its really quite remarkable how many people are in that. Oh and if you are convicted of an offence and its "gang related" many states have stricter penilities that cover that, verses say a random person committing a crime.