Bomb attack on Chiron Corp. by "Revolutionary Cells"
Same scenario, new name
September 3, 2003
Emeryville, California -- The FBI has opened a domestic terrorism investigation of a group of self-styled animal-rights activists that claimed responsibility for two small bombs that damaged the headquarters of biotechnology company Chiron Corp.
The bombs exploded at 2:55 a.m. and 4 a.m. Thursday, August 28, 2003, at the company's Emeryville campus. No one was injured and damage was limited to a few broken windows. The next day, an animal-rights group calling itself the "Animal Liberation Brigade — Revolutionary Cells" claimed blame for the bombs. The name has not been seen before in ecoterrorist attacks, but probably reflects an escalation of revolutionary rhetoric in radical circles.
The group cited Chiron's ties to Franklin-N.J.-based Huntingdon Life Sciences, a lab that tests drugs on animals for the pharmaceutical industry. FBI spokeswoman LaRae Quy said the bureau has not verified the claims, first posted on the Web site of the animal rights-supporting Bite Back Magazine.
The post quoted a email from the perpetrators: "There will be no quarter given, no more half measures taken. You might be able to protect your buildings, but can you protect the homes of every employee?"
"We will definitely take a look at them" as part of the domestic terrorism
probe, Quy said.
Chiron and its executives have been confronted in recent weeks by activists
protesting the company's relationship with Huntingdon Life Sciences.
Activists have noisily protested in front of employees' San Francisco Bay
area homes in the early morning, harassed their neighbors and vandalized at
least one Chiron executive's car, authorities said. Chiron has increased
security since the periodic protests began in May.
Chiron said it does not plan to break off the relationship with Huntingdon,
though they have no current contracts. Huntingdon's enemies said they will
continue to attack Chiron and its employees.
Three Oregonians are wanted for questioning by the FBI about the Chiron bombings. The three people are Bjorn Einertsen, 25, a convicted felon, of Portland, Sweet Mensoff, 28, of Eugene and Joani Ruppel, 22, authorities said. Law enforcement officials said the three are not suspects and won't say what information they have that ties the three together.
However, an animal-rights Web site posted a warning to possible perpetrators, stating:
An APB has been issued looking for two people traveling in a dodge van from Oregon (license plate number WJD 978). A man with the last name of Bjorn and a women named Joni (last name sounding like 'Rupple.' She has a nose ring and was born in 1981) who are being sought as suspects. The ABP is being picked up by California press and more details on the "suspects" will shortly become available.
The message was posted on the Web site of a group called Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, which has waged a four-year campaign against Huntingdon. SHAC posts home addresses, phone numbers and other personal information of vendors, customers, investors and others connected to Huntingdon, urging violence against any who support the firm.
Kevin Jonas, a spokesman for SHAC, said the Chiron explosions were the type of protest the group supports. The bombings didn't hurt anyone or cause major damage, Jonas pointed out. But Jonas said SHAC doesn't support the violent tone of the "no quarter given" message, although skeptics believe Jonas was merely whitewashing SHAC's true intent. SHAC has been implicated in a number of physical attacks against persons in the United Kingdom.
But Mensoff, reached at her home in Eugene by
The San Francisco Chronicle, denied any involvement in the bombing or the animal
rights movement, said she didn't know Einertsen or Ruppel, and said she hadn't
been to California or anywhere else outside Oregon this year.
After a newspaper reporter told her she was wanted for questioning, Mensoff set
up an interview with the FBI's field office in Eugene. "I'd rather just go
settle it," she told the reporter.
Einertsen is a convicted felon believed to be the owner of a 1986 brown van that
was spotted near the scene. The FBI asked the California Highway Patrol to be on
the lookout for the van during the Labor Day weekend, but it has not been
stopped anywhere in the state.
Newspapers tried to reach Einertsen, who splits his time between Eugene and
Portland, but could not make contact to obtain comment.
In 2001, Einertsen pleaded guilty to felony assault charges stemming from a
run-in with officers summoned to a complaint of noise at a Portland house party,
according to the prosecutor who handled the case.
The FBI believes that the Revolutionary Cells may be a newly formed front or
offshoot of the Animal Liberation Front, which has become notorious for
campaigns that involve raids on fur companies, mink farms, restaurants and
animal research laboratories.
The ALF and its sister group, the Earth Liberation Front, are thought to have
committed more than 600 criminal acts in the United States since 1996, according
to the FBI.
Recent incidents include the vandalizing of sport-utility vehicles in Santa Cruz
and the Los Angeles area, the torching of an apartment complex in San Diego and
the harassing of a Bay Area chef who specializes in foie gras, which is fattened
goose or duck liver.
"There had been a calm period over the past few years, and there has been a
cluster of activity in the past month or so," FBI spokeswoman LuRae Quy said.
"We're analyzing bomb fragments and are looking at tracing some of the e-mails
that have been sent."
Executives at Chiron have received spam from
animal rights activists in recent days, but the emails haven't affected
operations, a company spokesman said.
"There was some spam that was sent to a small number of employees but nothing
that was in any way disruptive," said Chiron spokesman John Gallagher.
He said "it's business as usual here" and noted that Chiron's stock hit a
52-week high a few days after the bomb attack, apparently signaling that
investors aren't concerned about the explosions.
FAIR USE NOTE: In accordance with U.S. Copyright Law as codified in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted material herein is displayed without profit or payment for non-profit research and educational purposes only. It is posted here only after the commercial purpose of any copyright holder has been satisfied, and complies with fair use clauses of the U.S. Copyright Act. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
RETURN TO ECOTERRORISM TOP STORIES TOP PAGE
RETURN TO ECOTERRORISM TOP PAGE
RETURN TO CENTER FOR THE DEFENSE OF FREE ENTERPRISE HOME PAGE
RETURN TO CENTER FOR THE DEFENSE OF FREE ENTERPRISE HOME PAGE