Animal terrorism

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International terrorism, exemplified by the September 11 attacks and most recently in London, may pose the greatest security threat facing America. But domestic terrorists also lurk among us, mostly in the guise of animal-rights and environmental activists.

They "see themselves in a war against the entire government and industrial democracy itself," explains Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project. Frankie Trull, president of the Foundation for Biomedical Research, notes: "These are unbelievably mean-spirited people" who "operate in a classic terrorist organization mode."

Over the last decade, the Animal Liberation Front has committed 700 criminal acts, according to the FBI. ALF activists recently broke into a car belonging to a pharmaceutical executive's wife, stole her credit cards and charged $20,000 in charitable "donations." At the University of Iowa, ALF members destroyed laboratory equipment, removed animals, ruined research papers and threatened school employees.

Slightly less extreme is Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), which focuses only on the one company. Last month six SHAC members went on trial for allegedly vandalizing autos and homes and attacking computer and fax systems. The judge sealed the jurors' names to prevent any harassment of them.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has begun to mimic SHAC's tactics. For instance, PETA has accosted Kentucky Fried Chicken executives, intimidated company advertising pitchmen and breached KFC events.

More recently, the group has targeted Covance, a contract laboratory. PETA illegally infiltrated an employee into Covance to videotape firm research, claiming that the company abused research monkeys.

Still,PETAGeneral Counsel Jeffrey Kerr proclaims: "PETA has no involvement with alleged ALF or ELF [Environmental Liberation Front] actions. PETA does not support terrorism. PETA does not support violence."

Yet PETA President Ingrid Newkirk complained three years ago that nonviolence isn't effective. In contrast, she noted, "someone makes a threat, and it works." PETA's number three official, Bruce Friedrich, told a 2001 animal-rights conference that "blowing stuff up and smashing windows" is "a great way to bring about animal liberation."