Eco-Terrorism

[Ryan Ruck]

Animal Welfare Activists More Aggressive

By Frank Eltman, Associated Press Writer
Wed May 18, 8:46 AM ET

COMMACK, N.Y. - Last month, animal rights extremists followed the wife of a pharmaceutical company executive to her job, rifled through her car and stole a credit card. They used it buy $20,000 in travelers checks, which they then donated to four charities.

A Web site announcement boasting of the act included a more sinister threat:

"If we find out a dime of that money granted to those charities was taken back we will strip you bear (sic) and burn your (expletive). This is OUR insurance policy."

The actions by the radical Animal Liberation Front appear to be the latest salvo in an ongoing battle pitting scientists, businesses and labs involved in animal research against those intent on stopping them — at almost any cost.

The president of the Foundation for Biomedical Research, a group backed by institutions that rely on animal research, said ALF members operate like terrorists.

"These are unbelievably mean-spirited people who operate under this delusion that they are on a higher moral ground than the rest of us," president Frankie Trull said. "They operate in a classic terrorist organization mode. There are individual cells, and, as we understand it, one doesn't know what another is doing. Regrettably, I think this is actually a growing industry."

ALF's credo on its Web site claims the group "carries out direct action against animal abuse in the form of rescuing animals and causing financial loss to animal exploiters, usually through the damage and destruction of property."

The FBI is investigating a number of incidents over the past year that ALF claims its members committed against Manhattan-based Forest Laboratories and its executives. Forest, which employs 3,000 people in several Long Island communities, specializes in medicines for depression, anxiety, Alzheimer's disease and hypertension.

ALF wants Forest to end ties with the British company Huntingdon Life Sciences, which it says kills animals in testing. A Huntingdon spokesman did not respond to requests for comment, but the company has said it does not violate laws in its experiments. Forest officials also did not return requests for comment.

Jerry Vlasak, a physician and ALF sympathizer who operates a Web site in California that posts the group's communiqués, said some of its members claimed responsibility for making the $20,000 donations with the stolen credit card of a Forest executive's wife.

Vlasak — who said he is not an ALF member, although he supports many animal welfare initiatives — said the group also has claimed responsibility for vandalizing a Forest plant in Inwood, on Long Island, last June.

ALF also claims it used a bullhorn at night for a week last October to harass a Forest Laboratories executive, glued the locks on the homes of other company executives in Nassau and Suffolk counties and spray-painted their homes and cars with words like "puppy killer" and "murderer."

The Foundation for Biomedical Research on its Web site has a 44-page spreadsheet detailing incidents of vandalism and other crimes across the country allegedly committed over the past several decades by ALF and other groups, including Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty.

"The Internet has been a huge boon for their kinds of activities," Trull said. "You can get people to promote their messages above ground, and it's easier to coordinate tactics via e-mail."

The targets don't even need to be directly involved in animal testing or research, said Tim Horner, managing director of the international security firm Kroll Inc.

"Their tactics don't just target a CEO or chairman of the board," he said. "They go after assistants, engineers, lab technicians ... it could be anybody."

Seven people are scheduled to go on trial next month in federal court in Trenton, N.J., for operating another Web site that encouraged the terrorizing of Huntingdon Life Sciences and businesses associated with it.

Prosecutors say the defendants encouraged vandalism in July 2002 at the Meadowbrook Golf Club in Jericho, on Long Island. One of the players in a charity tournament scheduled there was an executive of a company that insured Huntingdon.

"There is no question that the fringes of the animal welfare and environmental rights movements have become increasingly radicalized," said Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project. "These sectors see themselves in a war against the entire government and industrial democracy itself."

Although ALF says it dissociates itself from actions that harm people, Potok said it's "fairly miraculous" no one has been injured, noting that some ALF members have allegedly set fire to homes and factories.

Trull was not optimistic the situation will change soon.

"My fear is that in this climate they have managed to drive away really brilliant minds from this endeavor," she said. "Is the next lab they target the one that is about to find a cure for Alzheimer's or cancer?"

[Ryan Ruck]

'Eco-Terrorism' Advocate's Speech Sponsored by University

By Nathan Burchfiel
CNSNews.com Correspondent
September 30, 2005

(CNSNews.com) - An Ohio taxpayers' group is appealing to the publicly funded Ohio University to repeal its sponsorship of an environmental activism conference that is hosting an outspoken supporter of "eco-terrorism."

Two departments at the university are co-sponsoring the Buckeye Forest Council's conference, "Defending the Earth in Times of War." The keynote speaker on Saturday is Derrick Jensen, an author and activist who has advocated the tactics used by groups like the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) to disrupt industries that profit from the environment.

"Our problem is that Ohio University, which is funded with public dollars, taxpayer dollars, is a sponsor of this program," said Ohio Taxpayers Association Director Scott Pullins. "We don't think our taxpayer dollars should be used to subsidize folks that advocate violence."

Connie Pollard, administrator of the Department of Environmental and Plant Biology at Ohio University, told Cybercast News Service that her department made a "modest" contribution to the conference but declined to give the exact amount. The university's Environmental Studies department is also listed as a co-sponsor.

In exchange for the donation, Pollard said, the department sent a student to the conference free of charge. Ohio University students will also be able to attend Saturday's keynote address without registering for the conference, which normally costs $25.

Buckeye Forest Council Executive Director Susan Heitker also declined to give the exact amount of the sponsorship but told Cybercast News Service that sponsors must donate at least $250 in order to send a representative to the conference for free.

Jensen explained his feelings in a 1998 essay titled "Actions Speak Louder than Words."

"Every morning when I awake, I ask myself whether I should write or blow up a dam. I tell myself I should keep writing, though I'm not sure that's right," Jensen wrote.

He compared the unwillingness of environmentalists to act violently to the "striking blindness" of German resistance to Hitler from 1933 to 1945 and compared acts of violence to "the honeybee stinging to defend her hive; it's the mother grizzly charging a train to defend her cubs."

In an undated interview with the militant animal liberation magazine, No Compromise, Jensen said his goal was "to bring down civilization."

He said he "fully support[s]" groups like the ELF that blow up dams, set fire to SUV dealerships and hack computer systems.

The FBI's domestic terrorism section chief, James Jarboe, called the ELF "a serious terrorist threat" in 2002 congressional testimony. He told the House Resources Committee that the ELF and its animal rights counterpart, the Animal Liberation Front, were responsible for more than 600 criminal acts since 1996, amounting to more than $43 million in damage.

"Free speech only extends until someone's hurt," Pullins said. "We can't yell 'fire' in a crowded theatre, we can't encourage crowds to beat and maim people, and we can't advocate the blowing up of dams and other things."

Pullins added that college campuses are "a hotbed of liberal activism and that's fine, but in cases of where they're supporting the advocacy of violence, we're going to try to prevent that."

Pullins told Cybercast News Service that the university was aware of his group's concerns, but Pollard said she had not heard of any concerns and seemed to be unaware of Jensen's connections to eco-terrorists.

"I will look into this," she said. "I don't feel comfortable saying anything more. I think I'll just look into it on my end because this is the first I've heard of it."

Heitker, of the Buckeye Forest Council, said she sees no problem with the university departments co-sponsoring the conference because it is "an educational event." She said taxpayers fund universities because they are educational institutions, and "part of being an educational institution is about learning and discussion."

She told Cybercast News Service that Jensen will be addressing how environmentalists can protect the environment when much of the nation's focus is on international affairs such as the war in Iraq. "That is what we presented to the university, and that is what these departments at the university are co-sponsoring," Heitker said.

Jensen will not be talking about blowing up dams and setting fires to SUV dealerships, Heitker insisted. "As far as the Buckeye Forest Council, we don't condone violence, but we do believe in free speech," she said.

[Ryan Ruck]

Animal Rights Activist: 'Kill The Researchers'

Senate committee shocked by testimony of ALF spokesman

WASHINGTON – A radical animal rights activist shocked members of the U.S. Senate this week by advocating the murder of those conducting medical research.

Jerry Vlasak, spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front, told the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works that killing medical researchers was "morally justified" to save laboratory animals.

Vlasak compared the life of lab animals to African American slaves and the Jewish victims of Nazi concentration camps.

He made his comments while defending a similar statement, made to the news media last year: "I don't think you'd have to kill – assassinate – too many vivisectors before you would see a marked decrease in the amount of vivisection going on. And I think for five lives, 10 lives, 15 human lives, we could save a million, 2 million, 10 million non-human lives."

"It is so revolting to hear what you say about murder – these aren't extermination camps," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ. "What's being done, whether you like it or not, is to try and improve the quality of life for human beings. I believe that laboratory tests involving animals can be necessary and important for the advancement of science and medicine and the protection of public health."

The hearing was called to investigate the animal rights group SHAC, whose mission is to force the closure of one of America's largest independent contract research organizations, Huntongton Life Sciences. Recently, the New York Stock Exchange abruptly postponed its long-planned listing of HLS's holding company, Life Sciences Research Inc. following threats against the exchange made by SHAC.

Sen. James Inhofe, R-OK, told the FBI's counterterrorism Deputy Assistant Director John E. Lewis, who also testified, that he plans to introduce legislation that will grant law enforcement greater flexibility in tracking and prosecuting those who break the law.

"That's not a maybe," he vowed after hearing Vlasak. "That's a definite."

Another witness, Mark Bibi, general counsel for LSRI, recounted how his private property was vandalized by SHAC.

"The car was covered with animal rights graffiti," he said. "Warning messages were spray painted all over my house."

Witness Skip Boruchin of NASDAQ, who was targeted by SHAC for having a business relationship with HLS, reported the group slandered him as a sex offender and harassed his elderly mother while she was residing in an assisted living home.

LSRI reportedly lost millions of dollars in business and spent over $1 million on legal costs. Its share price was battered.

Vlasak described himself as a "former vivisector" and the press officer of the North American Liberation Front.

"The actions of underground activists who care enough about animals to speak out in no uncertain terms, and at times to risk their own lives and freedom, have a message that is most urgent and one that deserves to be heard and understood," he said. "Often underground animal liberation speech and actions either go unreported in the media or are uncritically vilified as 'violent' or 'terrorist,' with no attention paid to the needless and senseless suffering that industries and individuals gratuitously inflict on animals."

He claimed HLS kills 500 animals a day and "will test anything for anybody. They carry out experiments which involve poisoning animals with household products, pesticides, drugs, herbicides, food colorings and additives, sweeteners and genetically modified organisms, oven cleaner and make up."

Vlasak said the company was infiltrated in 1997 by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and found information that forced HLS to plead guilty to animal cruelty violations and pay a $50,000 fine.

He said it was important to realize "SHAC is not one group, or hierarchical entity, but an ideologically aligned group consisting on thousands of people who gather in various groups to protest the atrocities perpetrated by HLS."

Vlasak celebrated the fact that HLS has been brought to the brink of financial ruin.

[Ryan Ruck]

Vandals Target Timber Company Again

Vandals targeted a timber company that has proposed a controversial development in Maine's North Woods, using paint, feces and even animal guts to deface the company's offices and the homes of two employees, police said Tuesday.

Jim Lehner, Plum Creek Timber Co.'s regional general manager, was awakened at midnight to find that his Oakland home was under attack. Rocks and small containers filled with paint were thrown at the house, breaking four windows, said Police Chief Michael Tracy.

In Greenville, meanwhile, project manager Luke Muzzy's home was defaced with animal feces, police said. Muzzy's two children were home at the time.

"It's one thing to have a company targeted, but it's quite different when families are targeted. That takes it to a different level," Lehner said after spending the morning cleaning up broken glass. "My wife was terrified."

Plum Creek's offices in Fairfield and a real estate office formerly owned by Muzzy in Greenville also were targeted with paint, and animal parts were left on the door knobs at each location, police said.

In Oakland, Tracy said the damage went far beyond typical Halloween mischief. He said the damage to Lehner's home was "thousands of dollars."

It was not the first time vandals targeted Seattle-based Plum Creek after it proposed rezoning about 10,000 acres of timberlands around Moosehead Lake to make way for two resorts, 975 house lots, campgrounds and other uses.

Someone defaced Plum Creek's Fairfield office in July and someone broke into the Greenville office a month later, police said. Lehner said someone targeted his company vehicle as well, scraping the words "Leave Maine" in the paint.

[Ryan Ruck]

U.S. Accuses 7 Of Eco-Sabotage

Agents link suspects in Oregon and elsewhere to a three-year string of crimes

The government Thursday announced the most extensive bust of eco-saboteurs in U.S. history, charging seven people with a series of arsons and vandalism that plagued the Pacific Northwest for nearly three years.

Those arrested include a Portland woman accused of taking part in the nation's only act of sabotage on the eve of the 2000 millennium celebration, the toppling of a high-voltage tower near Bend.

Federal agents took six men and women into custody from Oregon to New York on Wednesday, tying them to nearly $5 million in arson and vandalism damage from 1998 to 2001.

The crimes turned Oregon at that time into the epicenter of an underground assault on timber companies, research scientists and meat processors. Federal agents say the saboteurs, operating in small units called cells, have burned, vandalized and sometimes bombed enterprises that they accuse of profiting from the destruction of the planet and its living creatures.

Members of the Oregon FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force worked the cases for the better part of nine years, though they developed suspects early in the investigation.

Members of the task force told The Oregonian in July 2001 that they had tied five Northwest arsons -- including two connected to Wednesday's arrests -- to "signature" firebombs made of cheap digital timers and large containers of fuel. The task force then reported that it was closing in on at least three suspects and several compatriots. But no arrests were made until Wednesday.

The government declined to comment Thursday about why arrests were so long in coming. However, a federal prosecutor in Portland, Kent Robinson, noted that Wednesday's coast-to-coast roundup was coordinated to avoid suspects fleeing after learning of other arrests.

"These indictments prove that we're going to pursue these arsons until we solve them," said Robinson, who leads the criminal division for Oregon U.S. Attorney Karen J. Immergut. "And we're still investigating."

Authorities arrested Chelsea D. Gerlach, 28, Wednesday in Portland. Also arrested, according to prosecutors, was Kevin M. Tubbs, 36, in Springfield; Stanislas G. Meyerhoff, 28, in Charlottesville, Va., where he attended Piedmont Community College; and Sarah K. Harvey, 28, in Flagstaff, where she was a student at Northern Arizona University. The government also arrested Daniel G. McGowan, 31, of New York, and William C. Rodgers, 40, of Prescott, Ariz.

Robinson acknowledged that federal authorities employed a provision of the USA Patriot Act to close in on the alleged saboteurs. The law allowed them to obtain search warrants from U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Coffin in Eugene and search in other states for evidence.

According to the indictments, the accused saboteurs first struck on June 21, 1998, with simultaneous fires at two U.S. Department of Agriculture research facilities in the Olympia area. The Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front, groups that the FBI later described as America's greatest domestic terrorist threat, claimed responsibility for the fires:

"The arrogant humans who make money by killing and destroying nature would have the public believe that beaver, deer and other wildlife are responsible for the decimation of our public lands -- not clearcutting!"

Tubbs and Rodgers were charged with setting fire to one of the USDA buildings.

The next arson came two days after Christmas in 1998, when U.S. Forest Industries in Medford was firebombed, causing at least $500,000 in damage. ELF claimed responsibility. The government has charged Harvey with arson in that case.

Saboteurs struck again on Mother's Day 1999 in Eugene, when Childers Meat Co. went up in flames. A criminal complaint filed Thursday accuses Gerlach, who went by the name "Country Girl," of serving as a lookout in that arson.

The indictment quotes a confidential source as saying that Gerlach used a handheld radio to communicate with fellow saboteurs. The source told an FBI agent, John Ferreira, that the informant was a participant in the conspiracy to commit the arson.

"The source said these persons used (four) five-gallon plastic containers and each triggered by a mechanical timing device," according to the complaint. "One incendiary device was set near the front door in a porch area and the other incendiary device was set next to a natural gas main."

The Animal Liberation Front later claimed responsibility for the Childers fire, which caused $1.2 million in damage, according to the government.

On Dec. 30, 1999, an electrical transmission tower owned by the Bonneville Power Administration was toppled about 25 miles southeast of Bend. No group took responsibility.

Gerlach and Meyerhoff, along with another woman, Josephine Sunshine Overaker, were indicted on charges of conspiring to destroy the tower. Overaker has not been arrested. Gerlach pleaded not guilty Thursday to the tower charges, which were filed in December 2004.

The Earth Liberation Front would later claim responsibility for setting fire to Superior Lumber Co. of Glendale on Jan. 2, 2001. A note passed to news media from the anonymous saboteurs declared, "This year, 2001, we hope to see an escalation in tactics against capitalism and industry."

Meyerhoff and McGowan were both charged with the Superior Lumber arson and one other blaze, also believed to be the work of the ELF, near Clatskanie. The two face life imprisonment if convicted of using destructive devices to perform both arsons.

"These are not misguided college students who are performing a protest in front of the student union," said Steve Swanson, president of the Swanson Group, formerly Superior Lumber Co. "These are serious crimes. Frankly, they're just criminals and they need to be treated as such."

Meyerhoff and McGowan also were charged with taking part in at least one of two simultaneous arsons on May 21, 2001, the torchings of Clatskanie's Jefferson Poplar Farm and Seattle's University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture. The blazes marked the first time that eco-saboteurs had committed simultaneous fires in two states.

At a hearing in federal court in Portland on Thursday, Pat Ehlers, the public defender representing Gerlach, fought for his client's release. But Robinson successfully argued that Gerlach should remain in custody.

"We believe she is involved in other arsons and is a member of a loosely affiliated group responsible for a string of arsons," he said.

[Ryan Ruck]

Woman Suspected in Several Ecoterror Cases

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) - A woman charged with damaging a transmission tower also is suspected in half a dozen other ecoterror crimes, including a firebombing at a Colorado ski resort, one of the costliest such crimes in the U.S.

Chelsea Gerlach was ordered held without bail after Assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk Engdahl made the allegations against her.

Federal public defender Craig Weinerman argued that the evidence against Gerlach was meager.

Gerlach, 28, was among six people arrested in five states last week on indictments alleging they set fires and damaged property between 1998 and 2001 in Oregon and Washington. The Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front took responsibility for most of the crimes.

Gerlach, of Portland, is charged with helping two others topple a Bonneville Power Administration high-tension line 25 miles east of Bend in 1999.

Engdahl said he will present evidence to a grand jury Wednesday seeking indictments against Gerlach in a 1999 meatpacking fire in Eugene and a 2001 firebombing at a tree farm in Clatskanie.

The prosecutor also said Gerlach is suspected in the 1998 firebombing of the ski resort at Vail, Colo. Four buildings and four chairlifts at the top of the mountain were damaged or destroyed, and damages were set at $12 million.

No one has been arrested in the case, despite a reward offer of $50,000.

Engdahl said she is suspected as well in a 1998 attempted arson at Bureau of Land Management wild horse corrals in Rock Springs, Wyo.; a 1999 the arson at a Boise Cascade office in Monmouth, Ore.; and a 2001 firebombing of a University of Washington horticultural research center in Seattle.

Weinerman said the evidence against Gerlach so far amounted only to statements from two informants involved in the meatpacking plant arson.

In a statement, Gerlach's family said they believe she is innocent.

"The person we know and love is incapable of such acts," the statement said. "We are all dedicated to keeping a constant watch to make sure that she is treated fairly and with respect, so that her innocence will not be clouded by the fear-inspiring and unfounded labels of 'terrorist.'"

[Brian Baldwin]

Even the media tacks on Terrorist to these jokers. Under our new laws concerning Terrorism we need to pursue and persecute these nut jobs rather than sit around wondering why a demonstration group is rabid.

Brian

[Ryan Ruck]

Man Indicted For Showing How To Make Firebomb

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - A radical environmental activist has been indicted by a federal grand jury for demonstrating how to build a firebomb in a speech just 15 hours after a fire that his group claimed responsibility for destroyed a large apartment complex being built nearby.

Rodney Adam Coronado, a 39-year-old member of the Earth Liberation Front, was indicted on a charge of giving instructions on how to build a destructive device, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison. The indictment was unsealed on Wednesday.

The law under which he was charged has been used just four other times since it was enacted in 1997, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Shane Harrigan. The law makes it illegal to tell others how to build destructive devices with the intent of having them commit crimes.

"In the speech, Coronado mentioned the fire that had just occurred," Harrigan said. "We have to prove his intent was to have others go out and commit arson."

No one has been charged in the August 1, 2003, early morning fire that did about $50 million in damage to the complex being built in University Town Center, a high technology and business center near the University of California San Diego.

Authorities say the case is still under investigation.

The Earth Liberation Front took responsibility for the fire, leaving a banner at the site and sending an e-mail to a local newspaper.

Coronado has told reporters he showed people how to build a firebomb, which he used to destroy an animal testing facility in Michigan in 1992. He served four years in prison for that arson.

He is in federal custody in Tucson, Arizona, awaiting sentencing after being convicted of going into a public recreation area to disrupt efforts to trap and move mountain lions there.

Three people who attended Coronado's speech were jailed for refusing to testify before the grand jury about the content of the speech. All have been released.

[catfish]

A few years back some wackjobs, it might have been ALF, broke into the UofM and liberated some lab rats. They said they were setting the rats free. A few days later the rats turned up in a field, dead. Seems mother nature can be more harsh than a lab some times.

Why dont these people ever break into a zoo and "liberate" some lions or bears?

[Ryan Ruck]

Fire Destroys Four Lincoln Navigators At Alex Karras Lincoln Mercury

Firefighters are estimating fire damage at $200,000 to four Lincoln Navigators at Alex Karras Lincoln Mercury. They are considered a total loss.

Cedar Hammock Fire Rescue responded to the fire at 6:27 a.m. today in the 6800 block of 14th Street West, according to a fire department press release.

Firefighters found several vehicles heavily involved in fire, but had the fires under control by 6:40 and out by 6:55.

The fire is considered suspicious and is under investigation. The Florida State Fire Marshal's Office is assisting with the investigation, the press release said.

Two Cedar Hammock engine companies, a battalion chief and investigators responded to the fire with 11 personnel. There were no injuries.

[Ryan Ruck]

Men In Black Vandalize SUVs On Santa Cruz's Westside

Vandals struck at least six sport utility vehicles Saturday night on the Westside, slashing tires and spray-painting politically charged messages such as "Oil equals blood" and "Guzzle" on the side of the vehicles, authorities said.

One of the victims, Andrea Muzzi, who lives in a house at King Street and Berkshire Avenue, said she saw a group of 30 to 40 young men on bicycles ride away after using a knife to slash the four tires on her brand-new GMC Yukon, which was parked in front of her house.

The incident happened about 10:30 p.m., she said.

"I heard a 'pop-pop' noise and came out of my house," Muzzi, 32, said. "They were all riding 10-speeds and wearing black trenchcoats."

Muzzi speculated, based on the ages of the riders, that they were UC Santa Cruz students.

Several other vehicles near Muzzi's house also were painted and vandalized.

Police said Sunday that the case is under investigation, but Sgt. Mike Pruger said he had few additional details to offer.

No arrests had been made as of Sunday night.

"The vandalism appears to be directed toward owners of SUVs," Pruger said. "We have no idea who the suspects are."

Three years ago, the radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front was accused of tagging 60 SUVs all over town, including brand-new vehicles at the North Bay Ford and Lincoln Mercury dealerships on Soquel Avenue.

Those vandals tagged SUVs with "No War," "SUVs suck" and "No blood for oil," among other messages, apparently to make a point that the vehicles burn more oil than cars and that America's dependence on oil was the impetus for the war in Iraq.

The group often calls for nonviolent property damage as a means of protest.

In August, a 19-year-old was prosecuted on 30 counts of vandalism, including the slashing of tires on several cars.

Muzzi said it could cost several hundred dollars to replace the tires on her Yukon.

"I've lived in this house for 12 years," she said. "I shouldn't feel nervous to park in front of my own house."

Muzzi did her best to wipe off the "Oil for Blood" message painted on her car Saturday night and replaced it with her own.

In white spray paint, she wrote: "Die UCSC."

[Sean Osborne]

May 1st 2006, Civil War Begins

On May 1st 2006 The "Great American Boycott" also known as the "Day without immigrants" is scheduled to occur. Participant's stated goals are a general strike, No Work, No School, No Sales, and No Buying. These people want to shut down individual cities, all across the nation, thereby impacting the country as a whole.

Make no mistake about it, this is not just simple protesting, protesting with the goal of causing financial harm is Economic Terrorism plain and simple - and those people who participate are economic terrorists.

By shutting down certain cities, or even portions of cities, these protestors will be :

Keeping children out of school,

Hampering the abilities of local law enforcement to enforce the law,

Hampering the abilities of first responders to respond to car accidents, fires, people having heart attacks, and hampering their ability to transport them to the hospital.

Hampering the abilities of local mass transit systems to operate properly.

Causing financial harm to local businesses iregardless of whether or not those businesses have harmed them, resulting in a nationwide economic impact.



Advocating the breaking of our laws by demanding, yes demanding, that illegal immigrants be given amnesty.


ter·ror·ism -"The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons." - American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

How can you fight back?

Ensure that your children go to school, and stay there on this day.
Purposely go and buy products and services in those cities affected by the protestors - gas up your car, go see a movie, go grocery shopping, buy a little more than you would have any other day. Counter their 'protest' with a positive economic impact in those areas affected.
Perhaps you might also consider making a donation to those organizations seeking to secure our borders on this day as well. Show these terrorists that you can and will fight back!

While the current situation is one of mass irresponsible action, causing financial harm across the nation, it will inevitably escalate into violence and deaths if these sorts of activities continue.
Does this constitute a civil war? Perhaps not yet, but its clearly heading in that direction, this may just be the first battle.
Feedback to the editor is welcome, but rest assured there will be no apologies to those seeking to harm our great nation. Feedback@terroristwarning.com


Related Articles:

[WorldNetDaily] USA - Muslims to join pro-illegals protest in L.A.
"Muslims in Los Angeles and elsewhere are being urged to join millions of Latino protesters in the streets May 1 to demonstrate in favor of leniency toward illegal aliens currently living in the United States unlawfully"
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=49947

[Tehachapi News] CALIFORNIA - School will be held on May 1, despite protests
"For the record, every parent in our community needs to know that all Kern County public schools will be open on Monday, May 1"
http://www.tehachapinews.com/home/viewarticle.php?cat_id=383&post=14936

[WOOD TV] USA - Pro-immigration boycott scheduled May 1
"The goal is to showcase the value of immigrants by crippling the U.S. economy"

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4834919&nav=0Rce
[HispanicBusiness.com] USA - Businesses Respond to Immigration Movement
"From huge factories to small hotels, restaurants and supermarkets, employers plan to give employees Monday off so they can join the national immigration rights protests that day"

http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=34065&cat=Headlines&more=/news/more-news.asp
[WQAD] ILLINOIS - Cargill's Beardstown plant to close for May 1 rally
"the central Illinois plan is one of seven U-S operations that will close"

http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=4820674&nav=1sW7
[AP] ILLINOIS - Business Owners Struggle With May 1 Protest
"Jose Torres worries about the several thousand dollars he'll lose Monday when he keeps his Mexican restaurant closed so his workers can attend an immigrant rights rally in downtown Chicago"

http://www.nbc5.com/news/9055210/detail.html
[AP] USA - Boycotting the boycott? Immigrants ponder May 1 walkout
"Sylvia Gonzalez-Castro plans to skip class at the University of Minnesota on Monday so she can join other students and workers in a walkout to highlight the importance of immigrant workers and students"

http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/state/minnesota/14453984.htm
[The New American] USA - United States of North America
"Elitists in the United States, Mexico, and Canada are plotting to merge these three nations into a single regional government similar to the European Union"

http://www.thenewamerican.com/artman/publish/article_3746.shtml

[Ryan Ruck]

New Movie Called 'Soft Core Eco-terrorism' for Kids

Three middle school children band together, sabotage a construction site, gag a land developer and take him hostage. But their criminal conduct, aimed at saving the habitat of burrowing owls from "greedy land developers," isn't reality-based.

It's the subject of a new movie that one entertainment reviewer labels "soft core eco-terrorism" for kids.

The movie, "Hoot," opens Friday, May 5. It features environmentally conscious teenage characters vandalizing heavy machines by stealing parts off of them and flattening tires in order to hinder a development project.

The teens, who ultimately succeed in halting the project, spray paint a police car that is providing security, trespass, rip up surveyors' stakes, place alligators in portable toilets, release poisonous Cottonmouth snakes at the construction site and evade the police. The teenagers also debate stealing the construction trailer and sinking it into a nearby canal to further delay the project.

The teenagers in the PG-rated movie face no repercussions for the illegal acts and instead are portrayed as heroically preventing the construction of a pancake house in South Florida to save the owls' habitat. There are consequences, however, for the pancake company.

In addition to facing construction delays and cost overruns because of the kids' actions, the company's project manager is arrested at the end of Hoot for violating environmental protection laws.

The film's trailer urges viewers to "break the rules" and features one of the lead characters saying, "You gotta start thinking like an outlaw."

Wil Shriner, the movie's director, dismissed the notion that the movie portrays eco-terrorism and instead called the teenagers' vigilante actions on behalf of the owls "mischievous." The teenagers in the film are merely reacting to the illegal behavior of adults, said Shriner, who hopes Hoot will inspire kids to take a stand to protect the earth from too much development.

Cybercast News Service attended an advance screening of the film on April 29 in Washington, D.C., where Hoot's portrayal of law-breaking for the greater environmental good seemed to find a receptive audience with those attending the preview.

"If it's a really, really good cause and you aren't like really hurting someone, it's sort of like it works out okay," responded 12-year-old Alex Kacher when asked by Cybercast News Service whether he was troubled by the kids' criminal behavior in the movie. See video.

A seven-year-old girl who identified herself as Dillon noted that "it was a fun movie" and said she learned that "it's not good to kill animals."

The New Line Cinema and Walden Media film was co-produced by singer Jimmy Buffett and is based on Miami Herald columnist and author Carl Hiaasen's 2002 award-winning novel. Hoot tells the story of newly relocated Florida middle school student Roy Eberhardt's battles with a bully. This conflict leads to his environmental awakening and his friendship with a runaway boy named Mullet Fingers and his half-sister, Beatrice Leep.

Hiaasen's environmentally themed novels have drawn critical praise and earned him fans like former Vice President Al Gore. Many members of the extremist group Earth First are also fans of Hiaasen's novels, according to the Palm Beach Post. Hiaasen's 2005 kids' novel "Flush" sympathetically portrays a man who sinks a casino boat that is illegally dumping sewage into the ocean.

The burrowing owl featured in Hoot is not included on the national endangered or threatened species list, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Instead, the owls are listed as "species of special concern" by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

The birds have adapted to the development in South Florida, according to Brian Mealey, the president of the Institute of Wildlife Science in South Florida.

"These owls immediately started moving into the front yards of people's homes. And that was the first step in the urbanization of these owls," Mealey explained, according to the production notes provided to Cybercast News Service by the movie's publicity agency, Grace Hill Media.

"If we want to look at a positive story for development, these animals have been able to survive urbanization," he added.

'Sort of mischievous'

Hoot's portrayal of teenage law-breaking prompted entertainment columnist Jeanne Wolf to recently label the movie "a little soft-core eco-terrorism." But Shriner, who also wrote the film's screenplay, dismissed Wolf's characterization.

"I call it more mischief. Pulling some stakes out and slowing down construction, putting an alligator in a toilet -- that is sort of mischievous," Shriner told Cybercast News Service.

"The only time that he [Mullet Fingers] really breaks the law is when he takes -- when [the pancake executive] is starting to kill the owls and he then takes him captive. I mean that, you know, that is a desperate act. That's a law-breaking act brought on by the adult breaking the laws as well," Shriner said. Hear audio.

He insisted that the teen characters in the movie only break the law in response to the developers' violations of the environmental protection laws.

"There is basically law-breaking on the developers' side. So the kids decide to take matters into their own hands since nobody else is and do something about it. So the adults are the lawbreakers initially, and the kids are just responding to it," he explained.

Shriner acknowledged that the teenagers featured in the movie face no negative consequences for their law-breaking activities. "There's no punishment for the kids. They just -- they succeed," Shriner noted, while insisting that the movie "doesn't promote terrorism."

"This is not about setting Hummers on fire or doing any of that sort of thing," he added, referring to the large SUVs that have been targeted by eco-terrorists for their alleged damage of the environment.

Shriner sees Hoot as wholesome family entertainment with an environmental message. "This movie is a very family-friendly film. It has no smoking, no swearing, no indecent behavior. It is a film that is supposed to send a positive message," he explained. "This is not a movie with a lot of farting and sophomoric humor. This is a smart movie, with smart kids and a smart message."

'Step across the law'

The book's author, Hiaasen, has been defiant in defending the criminal acts committed by the movie's teen characters. "There are times when you have to step across the law to do something right. It's nothing new in literature, and it's nothing new in our history," Hiaasen told Jeanne Wolf in a recent interview.

"I think this country has a long and glorious history of civil disobedience. Without it, there would be no United States. How far do you go for a cause? Hollywood hasn't been ignoring the question," Hiaasen added.

He admitted to also having engaged in similar antics when he was a kid in Florida. "Since the statute of limitations has run out, I can tell you I did the same thing as a kid to try to save burrowing owls. And I would submit that any kids in the audience would make the same choice. It's about taking a stand," Hiaasen told Wolf.

Hiaasen, who estimates that 450 acres of undeveloped land disappear in Florida daily, is optimistic that his novel and the new movie on which it is based will help inspire a generation of kids.

"There are times when I think all is lost and I've just got to find a place which isn't all paved over. Then kids write me about fighting the fight. And I think they couldn't possibly grow up to be as greedy and self-centered as my generation was," he said.

Buffett also is hopeful that the movie will inspire today's generation. "The message of this movie is not only that our kids are smarter than adults, but it's our world that they're going to inherit, and it's great to see activism at that early age," Buffett said, according to the movie's production notes.

Hoot's characters echo Hiaasen's anti-development sentiment frequently during the film. "They put up these giant hotels and only goober tourists are allowed. The same thing is happening everywhere. There is nothing to stop [developers] from bulldozing from one coast [of Florida] to another," declares the character Mullet Fingers.

Hoot is already ruffling the feathers of at least one expert on eco-terrorism. "Hoot is not just pushing eco-terrorism. It's pushing social and political terrorism as well," Ron Arnold, author of "EcoTerror: The Violent Agenda to Save Nature: The World of the Unabomber," told Cybercast News Service.

"Hoot's so-called harmless 'mischief' is training a generation to look cute while burning homes and cars and stores. Eco-terrorism is serious. Eco-terrorism is arson and pipe bombs and hate that hurts people and destroys lives," Arnold said. He had not yet seen the film when interviewed by Cybercast News Service.

"Hoot's Hollywood producers wouldn't think it was so cute if it was their studio the kids destroyed," Arnold added.

But Shriner sees the movie inspiring kids to take positive action. "If you don't send a positive message to young people to care about the environment, then there is really no chance. Our ice caps are melting. Our cities are grossly over-polluted. We are way too dependent on oil. They're the ones that are gong to have to do something about ozone depletion and all these elements. The answers will come from the education and awareness of the generation that follows us," said Shriner.

[Brian Baldwin]

"You gotta start thinking like an outlaw."

That's enough for me not to allow my children to watch this movie. I really hadn't intended to anyway but that pretty much seals it.

[Fourth Horseman]

Re: the immigration boycott

How can you fight back?

Fight back? Heck! It was great day! They should do that all the time! All the troublemaker kids stayed home from school and those left were able to learn!

[Ryan Ruck]

Eco-Saboteurs Admit Guilt In Firebombings

Three members of a loosely knit underground movement of eco-saboteurs pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court for their roles in a conspiracy to set fire to U.S. Forest Service offices, lumber businesses, meat processing plants and a car dealership over six years.

Kevin Tubbs, Kendall Tankersley and Darren Todd Thurston appeared separately before U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken, admitting they participated in a variety of fires as members of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front.

The pleas signal a significant turning point in the government's ongoing investigation into a long stretch of coordinated firebombings by the radical groups whose members operated in independent cells, targeting government and private enterprises that they would later accuse of harming the planet and its creatures for profit.

The two groups have claimed responsibility or have been implicated in more than $100 million of destruction in the past decade, garnering the FBI's label of the country's leading domestic terrorist threat.

Reading the charges in open court, federal prosecutors detailed the actions of a Eugene-based cell that called itself "The Family." Members of the group met in what were dubbed "book club meetings," where they held seminars on lock picking, reconnaissance techniques, radio communications and manufacturing incendiary devices. The fires mostly were set with gasoline-filled plastic buckets rigged with timers.

Once they picked a target for "direct action," they often would case it and sometimes hold a "dry run" before sneaking in and setting the firebombs, most of which were timed to go off after they had a chance to get away.

They wore dark clothing, ski masks and gloves and covered their shoes with socks to avoid detection. Some acted as lookouts, communicating with those who were setting the fires by two-way radio, often listening to police scanners.

They sometimes buried or burned their clothing with acid before returning home. Once they were safe, they sent communiqués to newspapers or through third parties claiming involvement.

Plea agreements

The guilty pleas are the first in the case that was originally filed last December after nearly 10 years of dogged but often frustrated investigation by the FBI, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Eugene police and other federal and state law enforcement and land management agencies. The indictment names 13 defendants, including three who remain fugitives and are believed to be in hiding outside the United States.

"It's incredibly important to the case that these individuals have accepted responsibility and have agreed to cooperate," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Peifer, the lead prosecutor in the case.

Each side has made promises as part of the plea agreements. The defendants have agreed to tell all they know about the crimes. In exchange, prosecutors have agreed to significantly reduce sentences and to grant the defendants immunity for other crimes they might have committed.

Thurston, Tubbs and Tankersley pleaded guilty to a vast criminal conspiracy to commit arsons from 1996 through 2001 in at least five Western states and to destroy an energy facility -- the Dec. 30, 1999, toppling of a Bonneville Power Administration transmission tower near Bend.

Alleged leader

Tubbs, 37, is looking at the toughest sentence -- a recommended 14 years in prison in addition to fines and restitution -- having actively participated in at least nine fires in Oregon.

Wearing glasses and a prison jumpsuit, a clean-shaven Tubbs told the judge he holds a bachelor's degree in fine arts and philosophy. During questioning he was visibly shaken, answering in a slow monotone.

Dubbed "a leader" by prosecutors for scouting out sites for the group to attack, Tubbs, nicknamed "Dog," pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and 55 counts of arson. He played a role in fires that leveled or damaged a U.S. Forest Service ranger station in Oakridge in October 1996, the Cavel West Inc. horse slaughterhouse in Redmond in July 1997, the Childers Meat Co. in Eugene in May 1999 and the Jefferson Poplar Farm in Clatskanie in May 2001, among others.

He also admitted that he participated in the June 21, 1998, fire that destroyed a wildlife research facility in Olympia. He did not plead guilty in that case, however.

Facing a maximum 20 years to 30 years for each arson count if he went to trial, Tubbs opted for the plea deal.

Thurston's guilty plea puts a significant dent in the underground movement. The 36-year-old Canadian is considered a luminary among eco-radicals. Dubbed "the mad bomber" in high school according to Canadian news accounts, Thurston was convicted of setting fire to fish trucks in 1991 in Edmonton, Alberta. In 1998, Canadian authorities charged him with mailing letters booby-trapped with razor blades to hunting guides and fur industry officials. Those charges were eventually dropped.

On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to the overarching conspiracy charge. He also acknowledged participating in the Oct. 15, 2001, arson at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's wild burro and horse facility near Susanville, Calif. He's expected to plead guilty to that case later this year and faces a recommended sentence of three years and one month in prison.

Tankersley, 29, pleaded guilty to the conspiracy and to separate counts of attempted arson and arson for the Dec. 27, 1998, fire at the U.S. Forest Industries building in Medford. She is facing a recommended sentence of four years and three months in prison.

"She was a minimal player in the group," said her lawyer, Lee Foreman. "She certainly has some information but her involvement with these people was for a very limited time."

Sentencing for all three defendants was set for Dec. 14. Three others charged in the case -- Chelsea Dawn Gerlach, Stanislas Gregory Meyerhoff and Suzanne Savoie, are expected to appear in the same courtroom today.

[American Patriot]

Animal extremist tried to bomb director's car ( ALF )
Times Online ^ | August 18, 2006 | Nicola Woolcock



AN EXTREMIST described as the Animal Liberation Front’s main bomber faces life in jail after admitting yesterday that he planted explosive devices outside the home of a company director.
Detectives are now linking Donald Currie to ten similar attacks under investigation in six police force areas.


Currie, 40, pleaded guilty at Reading Crown Court to arson and to possessing explosive substances with intent to endanger life and property.


A senior police source said that Currie was the Animal Liberation Front’s “main active bomber” and described his detention as “a significant blow to animal rights extremism”.
The unemployed psychiatric nurse was arrested days after the bombing incident in March, for which the ALF claimed responsibility on its website.


An improvised bomb made from weedkiller and sugar was left under a car at the house of Caroline Brooks, 45, sales and marketing director of the courier company PDP.
A second device was found in a nearby garden, where it appeared to have been discarded. Neither was detonated but both could have inflicted serious damage.

(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...

[Ryan Ruck]

Eco-Terrorism Suspects To Enter Pleas In Court

Two people accused of setting the 1998 fire at the Vail ski resort will be sentenced in December on eight counts of arson stemming from the blaze that caused some $12 million in damage.

Chelsea Gerlach and Stanislas Meyerhoff, both 29, were arraigned Wednesday in federal court in Eugene. They are to enter pleas and be sentenced on Dec. 14, when they are also to be sentenced for other arson-related crimes to which they pleaded guilty in July.

Under plea deals, both agreed to have the Colorado charges transferred to Oregon to be settled along with their other arson cases.

The Vail crimes focused national attention on radical environmentalists who credited their attacks to the secretive Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front. The Vail fires are one of 18 separate attacks charged to a group of 13 people between 1996 and 2001.

Meyerhoff, who renounced ELF, earlier pleaded guilty to 54 charges related to seven separate attacks in a plea deal for a recommendation from federal prosecutors that he be sentenced to 15 years and eight months, according to court records.

As part of his deal, authorities in Michigan, Arizona, Washington, Wyoming and California will not prosecute potential cases against him, court records showed.

Gerlach pleaded guilty to 18 charges in five separate attacks. She has apologized for the harm and fear created by her actions, which she said were motivated by "a deep sense of despair and anger at the deteriorating state of the global environment."

Prosecutors have recommended Gerlach get a 10-year sentence. Authorities in Wyoming, Washington and California agreed not to pursue potential cases against Gerlach, according to court records.

Of the 13 defendants, six have pleaded guilty, four face trial and three are fugitives.

[American Patriot]

How I fell for PETA's gay ram scam

Barbara Kay
National Post
Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Hell hath no fury like one journalist bamboozled by another. This journalist was furious when she learned that the Dec. 31 British Sunday Times article "Science told: Hands off Gay Sheep" -- upon whose "facts" she relied for last Wednesday's column, "When feminism and gay rights butt heads" -- was a farrago of misleading data mixed with statements cut from whole cloth. One looks out for this sort of deception when surfing Blogs and obscure news sites; but it is highly unusual to see it happen at a respected, world-class newspaper such as the Times of London.

The Times article declared "Scientists are conducting experiments to change the sexuality of 'gay' sheep in a programme that critics fear could pave the way for breeding out homosexuality in humans." The paper then pointed to research at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU), and how it could lead to fetal forecasting in humans, and that in utero alteration of sexual orientation, possibly by means of a nicotine-style "patch," was feasible in the not too distant future. From this putative scenario, I speculated about a future ideological impasse between feminists and gay rights advocates.

I was on a fool's errand, along with other Sunday Times-reading commentators. According to OHSU chief researcher Dr. Charles Roselli, the ability to forecast sexual preference is "so remote that it is in the realm of science fiction." A thoroughly documented debunking of almost every single statement in the Sunday Times article can be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/badsc...989465,00.html.

Furthermore, the research that provided the few fragile strands of fact in the Sunday Times article had been done years before and found "inconclusive" at best. How then, did the Sunday Times get the story so wrong -- and who was behind the sudden surge of interest in such an old story?

Dr. Roselli lays the blame squarely on People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), who post the same falsehoods on their Web site: http://getactive.peta.org/campaign/p...eepexperiments. PETA initiated a propaganda campaign against OHSU's Portland, Oregon, facility six months ago. Ever since, instead of doing scientific work, Dr. Roselli and his colleagues have been putting out media brush fires -- including the one I inadvertently started. The real agenda of the "extremely irresponsible" animal rights organization, Roselli declared by e-mail, "is to stop all use of animals for research and [PETA] will do whatever it takes [including supplying false information to the media] to advance their cause."

OHSU is by no means the first research institution to feel the sting of PETA's powerful lash. The largest animal rights organization in the world, PETA claims a million members, boasting annual revenues of about US$25-million. Harassing animal-based research scientists, livestock processors and fast food giants such as KFC and McDonald's, PETA is influential in the militant crusade to end "speciesism." In spite of its signature anti-social stunts --pieing, manure- dumping on public officials' doorsteps, throwing paint on fur-clad women -- PETA h as attracted high-profile celebrities like Paul McCartney, Martina Navratilovna and Dolly Parton to its cause.

Most people are -- and all should be -- advocates for "animal welfare," that is the humane treatment of animals. But "animal rights" groups go far beyond this SPCA template. Supported by such legal heavyweights as Alan Dershowitz and Laurence Tribe, they lobby for the legal "personhood" of nonhuman animals. With animal-law courses now taught in 69 of 180 U.S. law schools, serious judicial challenges are a near-certainty -- with any success resulting in cascading consequences to research, animal husbandry and the food industry.

Rational animal lovers gravitate to animal-welfare organizations. Animal rights groups, however, tend to attract extremists. PETA isn't the worst of animal- rights groups -- that dubious distinction belongs to FBI-named "terrorists" such as Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front, who torment individual scientists and torch research facilities. But most of PETA's activities, apart from a few positive educational initiatives, range from silly to misleading to truly offensive. To wit:

- The director of PETA asked Yasser Arafat to spare animals when conducting suicide bombings (no mention of humans);

- PETA's "milk sucks" campaign falsely claimed "dairy products are linked to allergies, constipation, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and other diseases;"

- The 2005 "Are Animals the new Slaves?" campaign juxtaposed images of black slaves and child labourers with chained elephants and dead cows;

- The 2003 "Holocaust on Your Plate" campaign equated six million exterminated Jews with six billion broiler chickens.

Being duped by the Sunday Times is professionally embarrassing, but serving PETA's ends in the process is morally revolting. I hope this column will serve to neutralize the negative effect on the real victim here, honourable scientific research.

Bkay@videotron.ca

© National Post 2007

[Ryan Ruck]

Activists Topple Towers, Claim Dangers Of AM Radio Waves

A group cited by U.S. officials as a domestic terrorism threat claimed responsibility Friday for knocking down two radio station towers in Snohomish County, Washington.

The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) issued a statement saying opponents of the towers argue that "AM radio waves cause adverse health effects including a higher rate of cancer, harm to wildlife, and that the signals have been interfering with home phone and intercom lines."

"When all legal channels of opposition have been exhausted, concerned citizens have to take action into their own hands to protect life and the planet," Jason Crawford, a spokesman for the group, said in a news release.

Members of ELF have been sentenced for acts of domestic terrorism in the past.

Though no one is known to have been killed in ELF attacks, the government defines domestic terrorism as use or threatened use of violence by a domestic group "against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives," the FBI's then-domestic terrorism chief, James F. Jarboe, explained in congressional testimony in 2002.

The towers belong to radio station KRKO. "There's quite a bit of destruction to the antenna system and it will probably take at least three months to get it back up and operational again," station manager Andy Skotdal told CNN affiliate KIRO, adding that much of it was "flattened like a pancake."

The station remained on the air by using a backup transmitter site, he said.

KRKO is working with authorities to find those responsible, Skotdal said, adding, "We'll use our own airwaves to do it."

The perpetrators stole an excavating machine out of a yard in order to knock down the towers, Skotdal said. Video Watch the aftermath of the scene »

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said the Seattle office of the FBI is the lead investigative agency in the incident. Officials at the FBI office did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
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Snohomish County is just north of Seattle. The attack took place in an unincorporated part of the county, officials said.

In its news release, the ELF describes itself as "an international underground organization that uses direct action in the form of economic sabotage to stop the systematic exploitation and destruction of the planet. Since its inception in North America in 1996, the ELF has inflicted well over $150 million in damages to corporations and governmental agencies that are profiting from the destruction of the Earth."

What a coincidence that it is AM radio where conservative talk shows just so happen to be most popular...