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ENVIRONMENTALIST-CLAIMED RESPONSIBILITY

Responsibility for many crimes has been claimed by environmentalists.

March 19, 1997. Montgomery Furs, a trapping supply store in Ogden, Utah, was torched while a night watchman was inside. The terrorists were interrupted by the watchman after dousing the outside of the building with several gallons of gasoline and attempting to rig a fuse to a gallon container. The Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade issued a news release claiming credit for the incident on behalf of the Animal Liberation Front. The news release claimed that ALF "did not actually set fire to the building because they discovered that someone was in the building. The fact that ALF aborted this mission shows just how strong the reverence for life is." The claim was false, as lights were on in the building when the terrorists doused it with gasoline and stopped their fuse-rigging only when confronted by the night watchman. The local sheriff called the incident an attempted murder. FBI, ATF, Utah Department of Investigations and local police are investigating the incident.

March 11, 1997. Animal Liberation Front terrorists bombed the Utah Fur Breeders Agricultural Cooperative in Sandy, Utah, in the early morning hours. The offices were fire bombed and pipe bombs blew up five feed trucks. The offices and the main computer system were destroyed. Damage was set at $1 million. The Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT) contacted the Salt Lake Tribune and Deseret News, stating that ALF had taken credit for the attack in retaliation for animal activists serving jail sentences in Minneapolis, Indianapolis and Syracuse. FBI, ATF, Utah Department of Investigations and local police are investigating the incident.

October 27, 1996. Detroit, Oregon. The Earth Liberation Front, a decoupling group linked to Earth First, set a government truck on fire and spray-painted "Earth Liberation Front," "Forest Rapers," and other anti-logging graffiti on U.S. Forest Service buildings and vehicles at the Detroit Ranger District Ranger Station. The E.L.F. took credit for the anti-government attack in Underground #6, Winter 1996, page 21. Underground is published by the North American Animal Liberation Front Support Group, Box 69597, 5845 Yonge Street, Willowdale, Ontario, Canada, M2M 4K3.

July 27, 94. Near Olympia, Washington. Log loader valued at more than $200,000 belonging to Dave Littlejohn Logging Company, torched at about 4 p.m.

July 31, 94. Near Olympia, Washington. Log skidder, two fire trucks and a bulldozer belonging to Littlejohn torched about 2:45 p.m. Damage, over $80,000. Final loss to Littlejohn, over $300,000. On August 9, the Washington Contract Loggers Association’s answering machine tape held a message spoken by a computer-generated robotic voice: “The recent destruction of logging equipment was retaliation by the Earth Firsters to protect the planet earth from logging.” “Two fires: A logging representative says the action looks typical of radical environmental groups,” The Olympian, Tuesday, August 2, 1994, by Brad Shannon, p. 1A.

March 1994. Olympia, Washington. Allan Wirkkala Logging, $8,000 damage. Earth First claims responsibility. Washington Contract Logging Association Insurance Loss Report.

March 1994. Quinault, Washington. Tobin Logging, $10,000 damage. Earth First claims responsibility. Washington Contract Logging Association Insurance Loss Report.

April 1994. Snoqualmie Pass, Washington. Bill Burgess Logging, arson fire, $50,000 loss. Earth First claims responsibility. Washington Contract Logging Association Insurance Loss Report.

5/2/93. Near Flagstaff, Arizona. Dump truck belonging to High Desert Investment Company of Flagstaff destroyed. Letter left behind said, “This letter is to inform you that your 1977 dump truck was not destroyed by young vandals, it was monkeywrenched.” It was signed, “Coconino Clyde and his merry band of eco-warriors.” Copy provided by Coconino County Sheriff’s Department.