ELF strikes again!

I said ELF, not Alf. Alf was a cute fuzzy alien that liked to eat cats. ELF, also known as the Earth Liberation Front, is a band of autonomous Eco-terrorists that believe destroying public and private property in order to save the environment is the right thing. Their acts include, but are not limited to, damaging construction equipment, graffiti, and arson. It is arson that brings the ELF back into the news again.

The ELF describes themselves as “an international underground organization that uses direct action in the form of economic sabotage to stop the exploitation and destruction of the natural environment.” According to the FBI, this falls under the classification of terrorism, and they are listed in the top ten domestic terrorist organizations. Most of their acts go unnoticed on the national scene, since their attacks are local in nature and have yet to result in loss of life. While their origins isn’t clearly known (even by themselves), it is assumed that they are an off-branch of the Earth First in England and were imported into the US in the mid 1990s. Their first claimed attack was on November 29, 1997 when the burned down a Bureau of Land Management horse corral. Their reasoning is as follows (taken from their brochure):

“The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) claims they are removing non-native species from public lands (aren’t white Europeans also non-native?) but then they turn around and subsidize the cattle industry and place thousands of nonnative domestic cattle on these same lands… …to help halt the BLM’s illegal and immoral business of rounding up wild horses from public lands and funneling them to slaughter…This hypocrisy and genocide against the horse nation will not go unchallenged! The practice of rounding up and auctioning wild horses must be stopped. The practice of grazing cattle on public lands must be stopped. The time to take action is now. From an investigation like the Associated Press’ to writing the BLM to an action like ours, you can help stop the slaughter and save our Mother Earth…”

Since then, they have been over 20 major attacks (more than 1,200 attacks in all) by the organization which they claim directly, totaling over $40 Million in damages. Today’s attack will just add more to that total. Some are assuming this attack was a result of the current criminal trial of Briana Waters – an ELF lookout on the 2001 arson attack on the Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington. The trial is currently underway at a Tacoma, Washington court.

Is the ELF responsible for today’s attack? That has yet to be confirmed, but their hallmark was left behind, leading investigators to focus in on the group. Besides choosing a high-profile target, a sign was left behind that read “Built Green? Nope black!” Some of you might be thinking to yourselves “Why does an Eco group, concerned about the environment, choose to set fires that pollute the air and damage the ground that they are trying to protect?” It’s all about the money. Even if it is hypocritical of their stance on the protection of the environment, they are willing to bend a little on their own rules and cause significant financial harm to their selected target. To some extent, it is effective, but like with all forms of terrorism, you create more enemies than friends through these acts. If you are very passionate about the environment, please stick with using your mouth as your weapon of choice rather than fire. In the end, it will be more effective … and you won’t be sitting in jail for many years.

For some additional reading, check out these sites:
ABC News – “Feds: Luxury Home Fires Were Eco-Terror”
FOX News – “Suspicious Fire Burns Luxury Homes in Seattle Suburb; Explosives Found and ELF Suspected”
National Post – “Marni Soupcoff on the Earth Liberation Front”
Mercury News – “Jury resumes deliberation in Tacoma ecoterror trial”
Trans World News – “Briana Waters Trial Still In Deliberation”

For some additional reading across the web, check out these blogs:
The dotFuture Manifesto – “ELF Arson attack?”
Search Engine Watch – “Earth Liberation Front (ELF) Burning Down The House?”
Symbioid’s Journal – “More on that ELF arson…”
SeattleDirt – “ELF suspect in ‘Street of Dreams’ arson”
Go Girlfriend – “ELF Razes Street of Dreams in Seattle”