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The Animal Libera�on Front

The Animal Libera�on Front was first established in the 1976. The ALF is probably the prominent and well-known Eco-Terrorist movement and group in the United States. Some of the tac�cs u�lized by the ALF include but are not limited to arson, fire bombing, and violent a�acks on animal-based business and laboratories. To date there is not one related death from the violence perpetrated by the ALF. Experts agree that although they have not killed anyone to date, it is only a ma�er of �me un�l someone dies as a result of ELF and ALF criminal ac�vity (U.S. Senate, 2005). However, one of the main issues from the tac�cs employed include the devasta�ng financial damage the ALF has le� in its wake of violence.

Environmental and Animal Rights Extremists This week focuses on Environmental and Animal Rights Extremists. “During the late 1980s, there was a resurgence in ac�vity corresponding to single-issue’ groups aligned with le�-wing ideology, specifically environmental and animal rights extremism. Individuals and organiza�ons connected to environmental rights issues contributed to criminal and terrorist acts against corpora�ons and government agencies involved in ac�vi�es such as animal research and defores�ng. These acts o�en damaged property but very rarely caused injury. The Earth Libera�on Front and Animal Libera�on Front, two of the main ‘groups’ associated with this wave of far-le� extremism, engaged in hundreds of arsons and bombings, two-thirds of which occurred in the western United States” (Duran, 2021, pp. 3- 4). These two groups of single-issue extremists can be labeled as Eco-Terrorists.

References

Deshpande, N. & Ernest, H. (2012). Countering Eco-Terrorism in the United States: The Case of 'Opera�on Backfire'. Na�onal Consor�um of the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. h�p://www.start.umd.edu/sites/default/files/files/publica�ons/Countermeasures_Opera�onBackfire.pdf

Duran, C. (2021). Far-le� versus Far-right Fatal Violence: An Empirical Assessment of the Prevalence of Ideologically Mo�vated Homicides in the United States. Criminology, Criminal Jus�ce, Law & Society, 22(2), 1–17. h�ps://ccjls.scholas�cahq.com/ar�cle/26973

PBS (2011). If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Libera�on Front. h�p://www.pbs.org/pov/ifatreefalls/photo-gallery-in-context/

U.S. Senate, Commi�ee on Environment and Public Works (2005). Eco-Terrorism Specially Examining the Earth Libera�on Front and the Animal Libera�on Front. h�ps://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CHRG-109shrg32209/html/CHRG-109shrg32209.htm

The Earth Libera�on Front

The Earth Libera�on Front first began its roots in 1972. The ELF movement and extreme organiza�on is what is some�mes referred to as an underground movement. Many of the individuals that support the ELF and the cause u�lize secrecy as one of their main tac�cs in which to employ violence in the United States. The ELF is basically no leader in which to follow but has more of an autonomous makeup that allows for secre�ve cells across the United States. Designed to reduce risk of infiltra�on by law enforcement, leaderless resistance eschews centralized authority and chain of command (PBS, 2011). You could formulate an a more understanding of ELF members by thinking of the term lone wolf terrorist. The cause and reasoning for the ELF and violence is to deter any harm to humans and hon- humans alike. Providing for the ideology that there is no concept of "top of the food chain" theory in the world. Humans and non-humans are equal. Watch this 9-minute news report on video about the Rise and Fall of an Eco-Terrorist Cell.

Film Chronicles Rise and Fall of Eco-Terrorist CellFilm Chronicles Rise and Fall of Eco-Terrorist Cell

Historical Background of Eco-Terrorism

To first understand the aspects that around the ideology of Eco-Terrorists we must acknowledge the defini�on of Eco-Terrorism. As in previous units in this class we will use the Federal Bureau of Inves�ga�on's (2002) defini�on which states "The use or threatened use of violence of a criminal nature against innocent vic�ms or property by an environmentally oriented, sub-na�onal group for environmental- poli�cal reasons, or aimed at an audience beyond the target, o�en of a symbolic nature." The main premise and ideology beyond the focus and cause of Eco-Terrorist movement is to protect the environment and some�mes this requires violent ac�on as it relates to philosophy the movement. While many extremist groups have a long historical root the Eco-Terrorism movement is quite new on the na�onal stage of extremism.

The first Eco-Terrorists groups started to spring up on the early 1970's. Let's start to understand some of the prominent Eco-Terrorists groups opera�ng in the United States. According to a 2005 U.S. Senate, Commi�ee Environmental and Public Works, The Department of Jus�ce and the Department of Homeland Security agree that Eco-terrorism is a severe problem, naming the serious domes�c terrorist threat in the United States today as the Earth Libera�on Front (ELF) and the Animal Libera�on Front (ALF) which, by all accounts, is a converging movement with similar ideologies in common personnel.

Eco-Terrorism and the Internet

It should come as no surprise to you at this point in the class that the Internet has provided a pla�orm in which all extremist groups can use a recruitment tool in which to discuss and provide propaganda and rhetoric. The Eco-Terrorism movement and extremist groups are no excep�on to this rule. Just as with any other terrorist organiza�on whether domes�c or interna�onal the ability to maintain its influence and exposure cannot be done without funds and finances. The Internet offers an avenue of unlimited resources for Eco-Terrorist groups and movements. According to the U.S. Senate, Commi�ee Environmental and Public Works (2005) ELF and ALF are engaged in substan�al intelligence gatherings against animal or environmental businesses and share this informa�on on the Internet.

The Internet is a double edge sword as the World-Wide Internet does provide for the ability to exercise the right of Freedom of Speech (1st Amendment to the U.S. Cons�tu�on) which is so valuable and important to many Americans. Freedom of Speech allows for Americans to voice their concerns about the state of their life, government and many other aspects of our lives. At the same �me Freedom of Speech can also open the door to extreme rhetoric to individuals with willing ears who feel their voice and grievances are and were not heard by government and mainstream America. According to Dr. Tamara Mouras (2016) in her publica�on �tled Media, Disinforma�on and Radical Propaganda Influencing Terrorist Ac�vity:

Internet Social Media outlets operate on the legality of protec�on by U.S. Cons�tu�onal Rights. Freedom of Speech is a double edge sword as this U.S. Cons�tu�onal Right is one of the compelling aspects of the United States freedoms in which this country’s civil liber�es are built upon. Censorship may produce feelings of a perceived wrong ini�ated by the government possibly crea�ng even more radical groups to spring up across the United States. At the other end of the sword is the issue of whether Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Press is allowing for extreme rhetoric and speech to influence human psychological behavior. Words have meaning, words inspire and words influence. This concept can be used at both edges of the sword. Words can inform, educate, inspire crea�vity and provide for construc�ve debate genera�ng new and innova�ve ideas. However, words can inspire extreme views and influence violent behavior in humans that may lead to domes�c terrorist ac�vity.

Conclusion

So, as we make our way through understanding of these two Eco-Terrorist extremist groups you will start to formulate an understanding of the overall landscape of how extremist groups and individuals operate. Each type of extremist group has an important agenda and cause that is important to them and gives them reasoning to commit acts of violence. Some�mes these acts of violence are defined at domes�c terrorism. As we move into Week Seven of this class and start to discuss lone wolf terrorism it is important to understand how some of these groups and members of these extremist groups can be coined under the concept and defini�on of lone wolf terrorism.

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ED BRADLEY: When they first emerged in the mid-1990s, the environmental extremists calling themselves the Earth Liberation Front announced they were the burning rage of a dying planet. Ever since, the ELF, along with its sister group, the Animal Liberation Front, has been burning everything from research labs to housing developments. In the last decade, these so-called ecoterrorists have been responsible for more than $100 million in damages, and their tactics are beginning to escalate. Some splinter groups have set off homemade bombs and threatened to kill people. As we reported last November, things have gotten so bad, the FBI now considers them the country's biggest domestic terrorist threat.

00:00

BRADLEY: This is the biggest act of ecoterrorism in US history, a fire deliberately set on the night of August 1st, 2003, that destroyed this nearly completed $23 million apartment complex just outside San Diego, a fire set to protest urban sprawl.

00:50

MR. JEFF CARLE: It's the biggest fire I have ever responded to as a firefighter.01:05

BRADLEY: Jeff Carle is a division chief for the San Diego Fire Department.01:10

MR. CARLE: That fire was not stoppable.01:15

MR. CARLE: At the stage that the fire was in when we arrived, there were problems in the adjacent occupied apartment complexes: pine trees were starting to catch fire, items on patios were starting to light up, and we had to direct our activity toward saving life before we could do anything about the property.

BRADLEY: Hundreds were roused from their beds and evacuated. Luckily, nobody, including firefighters, was injured. By the time the fire burned itself out the next morning, all that remained was a 12-foot-long banner that read, "If you build it, we will burn it." Also on the banner was the acronym "ELF."

01:35

BRADLEY: When you saw that banner, what went through your mind?01:55

MR. CARLE: I knew I had a problem.02:00

60 Minutes, Burning Rage produced by Graham Messick, fl. 2000-2016, Columbia Broadcasting System; interview by Ed Bradley, 1941-2006, in 60 Minutes (New York, NY:

Columbia Broadcasting System, 2005), 12 mins

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BRADLEY: A problem, because he knew what "ELF" stood for, the Earth Liberation Front, the most radical fringe of the environmental movement. It's the same group that set nine simultaneous fires across the Vail Mountain Ski Resort in 1998 to protest its expansion, causing $12 million in damage. And the same group that left SUV dealerships across America looking

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