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FUR COMMISSION USA COMMENTARY, MAY 18, 2004

Vermont Brings Fear of "T" Word to Eco-terrorism Hearing

By Teresa Platt, Executive Director, FCUSA

WASHINGTON, D.C.: The U.S. Senate full Judiciary Committee held a
hearing this morning focusing on "Animal Rights: Activism vs.
Criminality."(1)

As always, Senator Hatch (R-Utah) was tough on eco/animal
rights-related crimes and terrorism, a true champion who truly
understands these issues. And the FBI noted that it was committed to
battling this type of crime even though challenged by a lack of
strong federal laws.

Stated FBI Deputy Assistant Director John Lewis, "[A]s a result of
the Supreme Court's 2003 decision in Scheidler v. National
Organization for Women, the use of the Hobbs Act in prosecuting
[criminal] was removed as an option. In the Scheidler decision, the
Supreme Court held that, while activists may be found to illegally
interfere with, disrupt or even deprive victims of the free exercise
of their property rights or their right to conduct business, this
activity does not constitute extortion as defined under the Hobbs Act
unless the activists seek to obtain or convert the victims' property
for their own use.(2)

So, under current federal law, eco-terrorists can burn property to
the ground, even kill people, in all fifty states, and not be covered
under the federal Hobbs Act. The FBI can investigate - and is doing
so, with 190 cases in 34 states - but prosecution will have to be
done piecemeal at the state level, a daunting task. In spite of this,
the FBI reaffirmed its commitment to securing the safety of U.S.
citizens against such criminals.

The testimony of a food company executive relating to a crime-filled
intimidation campaign was sobering. He detailed one illegal action
after another. Call it what you will, it's unacceptable.(3)

The Committee's ranking Democrat, Senator Leahy (D-VT), had a
completely different world view. The hearing was originally entitled,
"The Threat of Animal and Eco-Terrorism," referring to the
FBI-defined category within "special interest domestic terrorism"
from Clinton administration days. Predictably, in an election year,
Senator Leahy saw a Bush administration conspiracy in the title,
railing that, "This Administration aggressively stamps everything
with a 'terrorism' label." Leahy then declared the obvious, that
protestors are not terrorists.(4)

There was, of course, no focus on hindering lawful protest in the
hearings, which instead focused on arson, bombs, death threats,
murder and other frightening crimes, well removed from peaceful
protest and free speech.

Beyond the fact that Leahy is uncomfortable with the "T" word, it
appears he does not see politically motivated, coordinated and
dangerous attacks on U.S. citizens and their property (homes,
offices, research facilities, farms, etc.) as "terrorism".

After deriding the focus of the hearing, Leahy did not bother to sit
through it, stating he had a conflicting obligation as "the Ranking
Democrat on the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Appropriations
Committee to work on critical HIV/AIDS funding at our hearing that is
taking place this morning."

Leahy missed the irony. HIV/AIDS research is dependent on animals,
primates in fact, and primate research facilities are regular targets
of legal protest and illegal actions, some of which can easily be
termed terrorism. In fact, the 2005 Primate Freedom Tour is being
planned right now and if it follows the patterns of the previous
"tours" in 1998/99, it will be a multi-state organized extravaganza
of legal protests juxtaposed with crimes such as illegal actions
during protests, arson, bombs, death threats, and attacks on people
in their homes. And since the participants of the last few Primate
Freedom Tours are opposed to any ownership of, or benefit from,
animals, the ALF/ELF members among them branched out, while on the
road, attacking with bombs and arsons, targeting circuses, chicken
farms, livestock feed mills and more. Millions of dollars in damages
were incurred and taxpayers paid the policing costs.(5)

With or without Leahy's input, law enforcement in 2005 will be tasked
with addressing this very predictable crime spree without the proper
tools. Without strong laws on the books, primate research (AIDS/HIV
research) in the U.S. will go the way of primate research in the UK -
downhill.(6)

To add insult to injury, Leahy's Vermont is home to the Institute for
Social Ecology, a hot bed of anarchists, and the same "school" where
former ELF spokesman Craig Rosebraugh completed his "thesis" on the
"need" for violence in politics. This thesis is now being sold as a
book, "The Logic of Political Violence," and features the 9-11
bombings on the front cover while advocating the violent overthrow of
the U.S. government inside.(7)

Notes:

(1) The hearing and all testimony, statements are at
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=1196

(2) The FBI statement is at
http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=1196&wit_id=3460. For
information on the legal issues, visit
http://www.furcommission.com/resource/perspect999bk.htm

(3) The testimony regarding PeTA's attack campaign relating to KFC is
at http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=1196&wit_id=3463 and
calls for revocation of PeTA's tax exempt charitable status. Oddly
enough, PeTA claims it wants poultry farmers to utilize the same
methods used by mink farmers to kill mink, even though veterinarians
agree that the methods used to kill mink are appropriate for mink but
not for poultry. Of course, this doesn't make any sense and PeTA
doesn't support such methods when used by mink farmers so we must
assume they won't support the poultry farmers no matter what method
is used. PeTa's agenda is not to advance animal welfare but to harass
poultry producers and cause them additional costs as they attempt to
push everyone from using animal protein to only using plant protein,
primarily soybeans.

(4) Senator Leahy's statement is at
http://judiciary.senate.gov/member_statement.cfm?id=1196&wit_id=2629

(5) See press reports of damages and
http://www.primatefreedom.org/tour1999.html for information on the
1998/1999 Primate Freedom Tours and http://www.primatefreedom.org/
for information on the 2005 Tour, which sees primates used in
AIDS/HIV research as "prisoners".

(6) See similar battles, which incorporate illegal actions against
supporters of research in the UK at
http://www.biomedcentral.com/news/20040517/04 and
http://www.vare.org.uk/launch_pr.html

(7) See Southern Poverty Law Center's book review at
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=389

The Center for Consumer Freedom submitted a letter on this subject to
the Committee and has written up a detailed "must read" commentary.
Read about the hearing at
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/headline_detail.cfm?HEADLINE_ID=2513
or the letter at
http://www.consumerfreedom.com/downloads/senatorHatchLetter.pdf

Visit http://www.furcommission.com/resource/pressSF.htm for the FBI
definition of eco-terrorism and see the chronology section to learn
what qualifies as eco-terrorism.

For further information contact: Teresa Platt, Executive Director,
Fur Commission USA, PMB 506, 826 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA
92118-2698 USA, (619) 575-0139, (619) 575-5578/fax,
furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com.