FBI Targeting Animal Rights Extremists

[struggle4progress]

POSTED: 10:27 am PDT June 21, 2005

PHILADELPHIA -- Violence by environmental and animal rights extremists against U.S. drug makers has increased so much in recent years that it's currently the FBI's top domestic terrorism issue, a top agency official says.

"There has been an increase in the use of incendiary devices as well as explosive devices," said John Lewis, FBI deputy assistant director in charge of counterterrorism. "There's a very clear indication that there's no move to slow down or stop — in fact, just the opposite is true."

The agency has about 150 open cases of arson, bombings and other violent crimes associated with militant environmental and animal rights activists protesting the experimental use of animals in medical research, he said.

Lewis made the comments Monday in an address to some of the 18,000 biotechnology executives gathered here at the four-day Biotechnology Industry Organization's annual convention. <snip>

http://www.ktvu.com/news/4634640/detail.html


Fer some reason, Ah'm havin trouble beleivin thi 'un ...

[MisterP]

1. heck, they said that's now their primary focus, even though the

militias and fundies actually kill people and plan to (that's what the FBI said).

[struggle4progress]

2. Arrests made as conference protests pick up steam

Inquirer Staff Report


About a half dozen demonstrators were arrested by Philadelphia police today as a march by a few hundred protestors reached the front of the Pennsylvania Convention Center where the BIO 2005 bio-technology convention is in its last day.

The marchers, far smaller in numbers than the protestors during the 2000 Republican National Convention here, carried signs bearing peace signs and protesting genetic engineering of tomatoes.

Police and protestors met on Arch Street between 12th and 13th when a line of officers blocked the marchers, who had just arrived in front of the convention center. About 18,000 people are in Philadelphia for the event, and a few dozen were watching the arrests from convention center windows. <snip>

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/business/special_packages/bio2005/11947990.htm

[gaia_gardener]

3. One of my friends is a small-time attorney in Tulsa

and he said one of his friends was arrested under the Patriot Act for demonstrating outside of a testing facility. I didn't get all the details, but apparently he was being non-violent, non-intrusive. Just holding up signs and protesting peacefully. I didn't hear what happened with his case, if it was dismissed or what. My friend covered the beginning parts of the case until his friend could get PETA (I think) to pony up an attorney for him.

This was late 2002, early 2003.

[NoKillShelterGuy]

4. I wonder if they are using the same PETA attorney

that they're using for the two PETA employees that just got charged with 62 felony counts of animal cruelty and 18 misdemeanor counts of illegally dumping dead animals in dumpsters...

What did those 7 puppies and 2 kittens do to deserve to die? They certainly were adoptable, but PETA in it's quest to annihilate all companion animals by any means necessary could not be bothered to put them up for adoption.

[Vektor]

6. Do you have a link to that?

It sounds horrible, and I'd like to know what's going on. What do you mean by "annihilate companion animals"? What have they been doing?

[egadsbrain]

9. PETA doesn't "approve" of TNR either...

http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/story.cfm?story=87909&ran=70111&tref=po

[Vektor]

11. What a terrible, sad story.

What were these people thinking?!

Thanks for the link, and WELCOME TO DU!!
:hi:

[NoKillShelterGuy]

10. they have been going around to animal shelters and vets

taking animals that they say they can find homes for, and then immediately killing them in vans. This last batch included 7 puppies and 2 kittens, all which were healthy and "very adoptable".

[Vektor]

12. I read the article egadsbrain linked to.

It was dreadful. I realize all of these folks are not doing that, but these two bad apples really were out of line, if what this article says is accurate. Jesus. I have no idea what the hell they could have been thinking to do such a thing.

[NoKillShelterGuy]

13. the problem is that Ingrid made a statement after the story broke

and the only part of it she said was wrong was the throwing of the bodies into the dumpster. She confirmed that they were PETA employees, and that mass euthanasia is standard operating procedure at PETA.

[shockra]

15. PETA statement at News Conference

http://www.craigslist.com/sfc/pet/79476003.html

[Vektor]

16. Not cool.

Not cool at all. That's horrible. You said in another post that they wanted to annihilate companion animals. Why? What have they said about that?

[livinginphotographs]

19. They do not want to "annihilate companion animals."

That's complete and utter BS. I wonder if NoKillShelterGuy is being paid to threadjack by Center for Consumer Freedom or something.

[Ignis]

33. It's all a bit like Windandsea or whatnot.

I think the one-issue disinfo plants just cycle between the anti-PETA and the anti-Chavez details. Can't let the spooks get too lazy on a single assignment, you know? :)

[livinginphotographs]

20. Seriously, I'd be more than happy to help you with your profile.

All you have to do is ask.

[Bridget Burke]

22. But the FBI would not be concerned with this matter.

Local governments euthanize thousands of animals every day.

They're more concerned about damage to property. And corporate stooges who might be annoyed by protests.

[livinginphotographs]

25. Nail. Meet head.

Exactly.

[leveymg]

23. What is this crap re: PETA wants to "annihilate all companion animals"?

Please see my post below. Your comment has more than a whiff of disinformation about it.

BTW - I'm not a PETA person. But, I can smell propaganda. Tell me if I'm wrong.

[smbolisnch]

24. What does that have to do with this?

You don't seem concerned about this guy who is only trying to peacefully protest, only threadjacking to bash PETA.

[MisterP]

7. some owners turned hoses on protesters

live fire by '07?

[Vektor]

5. "it's currently the FBI's top domestic terrorism issue..."

How about Osama? Maybe we ought to make him a priority, ya know, maybe SOMEWHERE on the list.

150 cases? They failed to mention over what time period. The attack on the WTC was far more serious than all 150 of these "incidents" combined, (or else we'd have heard more about them don't ya think?) yet the mastermind behind THAT act of terrorism (which apparently takes a backseat to this pressing issue of "animal rights extremists") is still roaming free while we go after the wrong country and capture it's leader and photograph him in his tighty-whities eating Doritos and call it "mission accomplished."

The article failed to mention if anyone was killed in these "attacks." I suspect they would mention it if so. All they mentioned was how much money the drug companies lost. Because that's really the bottom line isn't it? The money.

For FUCK'S SAKE.

I really have no sympathy for these drug companies that torture animals. Seriously. While I do not encourage violent extremism, and understand that it is wrong, I have a hard time siding with the drug companies regardless. I respect the law that says arson and bombings are illegal, but still don't give a flying fuck what happens to the companies that commit such atrocities against defenseless creatures on such a grand scale for profit.

[struggle4progress]

14. I think he meant "topless domestic terrorism issue"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1569986

[Vektor]

17. Tee-hee..

That must have been quite a sight!

[leesa]

8. Where are the anthrax terrorists...or is it bad form to arrest your own.

[leveymg]

18. On the one hand you have a multi-billion $ industry, and on the other

a ragtag band of activists. Gee, who's going to win? Add into the mix some mentally unstable individuals who have likely been cultivated by the industry's private security dirty-tricks shop. Where have we seen this before?

Well, there were the crazy Anarchist bombers that set off the Red Scare of 1919-21. That one has been traced to Military Intelligence. In the'50s, CPUSA was mostly FBI informants, during the Vietnam War era most of the real violence carried out by the Weather Underground and Panthers was the work of agents provocateur -- crazed MFs who played with guns and dynamite (given to them under the FBI COINTELPRO operation), who usually blew themselves up. Then, the local police Red Squads made mincemeat of the leadership of the radical movement. More recently, there was the dirty tricks operation run by the timber industry and FBI against Earth First.

Now, vague threats are made against Pharma industry conventioneers. Some small fires and 4th of July type fireworks go off. We see the FBI declare PETA to be the greatest domestic terrorist threat to national security. A couple is charged with outrageous acts of cruelty. Why does this have an all-too-familiar smell to it?

:eyes: :bounce:

[MisterP]

26. heck, when the EF! woman with the temerity to disagree with Georgia-

Pacific was nearly blown up, they arrested HER

[livinginphotographs]

21. Where's the white supremacists on that list?

'Nuff said.

[JackieO]

27. Showtrials and Scarecrows

Showtrials and Scarecrows: 'Ecoterrorism' and the War on Dissent

http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/best06172005/

...Prague has nothing on the US when it comes to the “Kafkaesque,” for, tragically, within the dark reign of Bush II, our nation has reverted to the witch hunts of the 1950s. Once again, the U-SS-A is in the frenzied throes of McCarthyism. The chilling atmosphere of the House Un-American Activities Committee (where citizens who expressed or were alleged to express dissenting or liberal views were vilified as “communists") has been revived in the Environment and Public Works Committee. Senator James Inhofe (R-Okla.) presides in place of Senator Joseph McCarthy, The bogeyman of “communism” has become that of “terrorism.” The Red Scare has morphed into a “Green Scare” where bands of radical environmental and animal rights activists, allegedly propped up by mainstream “front groups, are alleged to be the main threats to homeland security.

Throughout the spectacle, Agent Inhofe led the way. Inhofe has the proper credentials for the job, with a long record of zealous opposition to environmental causes. He opened with a bumbling, mumbling monologue as frightening as it was tedious. Throughout the hearing, Inhofe emphasized two chilling points. First, he assured all good Americans, no doubt lying awake at night in fear of an ALF strike on their homes and children, that the “investigation” is ongoing. Like Bush’s “war on terror,” Inhofe’s war on dissent has no end in sight, draws on unlimited (taxpayer) resources, deploys an unqualified and illegitimate exercise of power, and has zero accountability to citizens or to the truth. Second, Inhofe’s fervent goal is to destroy not only the illegal underground forces of the ALF and ELF, but also their aboveground supporters.

By “supporters” Inhofe means those who aid the underground in any way—whether through economic, financial, or legal assistance, or even through “rhetorical support.” “As with any other criminal enterprise,” Inhofe said during the hearing, “we can not allow individuals and organizations to, in effect, aid and abet criminal behavior or provide comfort to them after the fact.” According to Inhofe there is “a growing network of support for extremists like ELF and ALF,” and he singled out PETA for giving financial support to both groups, along with yours truly for lending a rhetorical hand. Clearly perturbed that both Ingrid Newkirk, President of PETA, and myself refused to dignify the show trial with our appearance, Inhofe threatened to subpoena both of us to star in a future episode.

More:

http://www.pressaction.com/news/weblog/full_article/best06172005/

[Scout1071]

28. Where is fucking Osama bin Laden?

I apologize for the vulgar language, but why isn't AQ the #1 priority?

[msanthrope]

32. Bush Ain't Bin Looking. n/t

[Catchawave]

29. The Fringe: You Too Might Be A Terrorist!

http://www.tompaine.com/feature.cfm/ID/5246

The War On The Greens
David Case is the executive editor of TomPaine.com.

If you've ever given money to an environmental organization, if you support the movement's agenda, then you're probably part of a grand conspiracy that's degrading life in America. Worse yet, you might even be a terrorist, or at least an accomplice. At least that's what Nick Nichols seems to think.

Nichols' views wouldn't matter if he were just another backwoods loser. On the contrary, environmental watchdogs fear he's at the vanguard of efforts to exploit the nation's post-September 11th mood by tarring the entire green movement as extremists. Nichols acts under the pretext that, "If environmental groups cost business money, then they're eco-terrorists," says Dan Barry, of the Clearinghouse for Environmental Advocacy and Research (CLEAR), which tracks anti-environmental groups.

Nichols is the CEO of "crisis communication" firm Nichols Dezenhall. The firm doesn't reveal its clients, but they have reportedly included business pillars such as Audi, Arco and the Society of the Plastics Industry. He's also popular on the nation's lecture circuit.

At a March 7, 2002 conference on "Eco Extremism" co-sponsored by Nichols Dezenhall and the Competitive Enterprise Institute (a "free market" think tank) Nichols delivered a thinly-veiled marketing pitch for his firm, in an assembly room overlooking the U.S. Capitol grounds. Among the well-heeled, attentive audience members were journalists, think tankers and executives from the paper, forestry and plastics industries.

Incidentally, while the conference was open to the public, Barry and other environmentalists were refused admission.

more.....

[Piperay]

30. Yeah, I am kept awake all night worrying

about a terrorist attack on my person from environmentalists and animal rights people. :eyes: :sarcasm: What about the Anthrax terrorists that was more of a threat to the public at large, geesh!:banghead:

[VegasWolf]

31. Gotta get control of the Green Party in case sizeable numbers of Dems

jump ship. The Republicans are being proactive and cuttting off that
escape route.

[JackieO]

34. fbiwitchhunt.com

http://fbiwitchhunt.com/