FBI Warns of Eco-Terrorism Threat
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
WASHINGTON — The FBI warned law enforcement agencies of the potential for criminal activity in response to a call for action in support of a convicted eco-terrorist, according to the weekly bulletin issued by the agency and obtained by Fox News.
"Supporters of anarchist and convicted arsonist Jeff Luers (search) have designated Saturday, June 12, 2004 an 'International Day of Action and Solidarity with Jeff 'Free' Luers,' alternatively entitled 'J12,'" the FBI said in the bulletin.
"J12 events are planned in Eugene, Oregon; Olympia, Washington; San Francisco and Modesto, California; Lawrence, Kansas; Morgantown, West Virginia; Worcester, Massachusetts; Portland, Maine; and Lake Worth, Florida."
Luers is from Eugene, Ore. According to the FBI, he is widely celebrated as a martyr within anarchist and extremist animal rights and environmental circles.
On June 16, 2000, he was convicted for his involvement in an Earth Liberation Front (search)-style arson at a truck dealership and an attempted arson at an oil company in Eugene. He is serving a 22-year prison sentence — the longest, according to the FBI, ever handed down for eco-terrorist actions in the U.S.
The ELF is a radical group of environmentalists that has claimed responsibility for various acts of arson and vandalism and is listed as the FBI's No. 1 domestic terrorism priority.
"Luers' notoriety could potentially inspire autonomous ELF cells to carry out symbolic actions in solidarity with Luers against traditional targets, such as SUV (search) dealerships, lumber logging facilities, and residential construction sites in environmentally sensitive areas during J12 events," the FBI noted.
"While the FBI has no specific information regarding planned terrorist actions to coincide with J12 events, law enforcement officers should be alert to indicators of possible terrorist planning, including suspicious surveillance of targeted industries, such as SUV dealerships, animal research laboratories and construction sites," the FBI said in the bulletin.
The Earth Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for a string of arsons in Detroit, Philadelphia and San Diego, where a fire last year destroyed a 206-unit apartment complex under construction, causing $50 million worth of damage.
Shame, I don't see Georgia on the list.
It might be an idea to start a collection for a "Body Bag fund", we could then send these fools the body bags as soon as they plan an action.
Protesting is an American 'way'.
Insanity should not be allowed on the street.
Easy, lock them up or bag them, no loss either way.
My opinion.
Associated Press
Thursday, June 10, 2004; Page A12
ROME, June 9 -- An Italian prosecutor said Wednesday that he had provided U.S. authorities with transcripts of phone calls between terror suspects, including one transcript that reportedly refers to a woman ready to carry out a chemical attack in the United States.
Two terror suspects were arrested late Monday in Milan, including Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, an Egyptian believed to have been behind the March 11 train bombings in Madrid, said Milan prosecutor Maurizio Romanelli.
In one of the intercepted conversations, Ahmed refers to a woman ready to carry out a chemical attack in the United States, the ANSA news agency reported.
When asked about the content of the transcripts, Romanelli pointed to news reports that mention the alleged chemical plot. He did not dispute the reports, but he said he would not comment further on the content of the wiretaps.
The wiretaps refer to "small groups ready to carry out suicide attacks," he said. In most cases, the likely location of the attacks was Iraq, he said. The prosecutor gave no further details.
Police arrested Ahmed, along with the man he was staying with, a Palestinian identified as Yahia Payumi.
Viviana Bossi, defense attorney for the two suspects, said Wednesday that her clients were unclear about the exact charges against them. "They deny they are terrorists," she said.
Authorities say Ahmed is a key suspect in the Madrid attacks. Investigators have blamed the bombings, which killed 191 people, on Islamic radicals with possible links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.
Italian officials suspect that Ahmed was planning further attacks, and they tipped off Belgian counterparts who arrested 15 people late Monday and early Tuesday in coordinated raids. At least one of the 15 -- most of them Palestinian, Jordanian, Moroccan and Egyptian -- had been in contact with Ahmed, Romanelli said.
The AGI news agency reported Wednesday that the suspects might have been planning an attack on the Paris subway system. Ahmed was recorded asking one of those arrested in Belgium about the Paris Metro and security there, AGI said, citing police sources.
Asked about a report in the Milan daily Corriere della Sera that the suspects were planning an attack against a NATO base in Belgium, Romanelli said investigators had no information on specific targets.
In Spain, police arrested six Spaniards in the northern Asturias region Wednesday and accused them of supplying the dynamite used in the Madrid attack. The suspects included the security guard of a coal mine from which the 440 pounds of explosives used in the bombings were stolen, Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29547-2004Jun9.html
I've been saying for a long time we do not pay enough attention to ELF and homegrown terrorists, while we're busy hunting cells, these terrorists are glory hounds and have contributed to more destruction in our environment!