Posted on 07/18/2002 4:25:05 AM PDT by kattracks
(CNSNews.com) - An expert on eco-terrorism is calling on the FBI to investigate an organization that is touting a nationwide tour to "destroy civilization" and raise money for convicted eco-terrorists, but a spokesman for the FBI's Domestic Terrorism Program said the agency is taking a hands-off approach for the time being.
The Green Anarchy Tour 2002, currently traveling from Ashland, Ore., to Washington, D.C., advertises its participants as "anarchists," refers to police as "the fascist force we are up against" and calls convicted eco-terrorists "prisoners of war."
Such rhetoric has Ron Arnold concerned. Arnold, vice president of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, said the tour "presents probable cause for investigation."
"You do have people here recommending violence, murder, property damage, everything you can think of," he said.
Arnold is author of several books on the environmental movement including "Ecoterror: The Violent Agenda to Save Nature: The World of the Unabomber."
He believes that with the increasing number of domestic environmental and animal rights terrorist acts in the United States, the FBI should be more proactive in investigating possible threats like the Green Anarchy Tour.
"I would say that law enforcement has an obligation, probable cause to at least look into it," Arnold said. "If they say they are going to destroy civilization, I think we should take them at their word," he added.
FBI Lukewarm to Investigation
The FBI is less concerned than Arnold, at least publicly, saying it won't do anything until and unless the law is broken.
"The FBI is only concerned when there is a violation of the law," said Steven Berry, spokesman for the FBI's Domestic Terrorism Program. "We fully support the rights of any and all groups, no matter what their message or their purpose, to lawfully assemble, protest and march."
When asked about the risks of terrorism from domestic sources, Berry said, "The FBI is only concerned when there is a violation of federal law," adding that eco-terrorism is "the number one investigative priority of the domestic terrorism section."
But Arnold thinks the matter deserves greater attention, noting that the Green Anarchy Tour's support of convicted members of the radical environmental group Earth Liberation Front makes an investigation more necessary.
The group's Internet website says that proceeds from the tour will help convicted arsonists such as Jeffrey "Free" Luers and Craig "Critter" Marshall.
"[Earth Liberation Front] is an FBI declared terrorist organization that they want to be the beneficiary of their proceeds," Arnold said.
Eco-Terrorism on The Rise
According to Arnold, the threat of domestic terrorists cannot be underestimated. "I think it is as much a threat as foreign terrorism. These people are going to damage property and kill people," Arnold said.
Domestic terrorism and violence by environmental and animal 'rights' activists is on the rise, according to Arnold. "We've had 'animal rights' activists beat people with baseball bats causing serious injury. We see that kind of violence growing," Arnold said.
According to the FBI, there have been more than 600 cases of eco-terrorism causing $43 million dollars in property damage over the past decade, prompting him to call the federal response to eco-terrorism "a day late and a dollar short."
Arnold cited the failure of federal law enforcement for the escalating violence. "We probably have got [sic] literally thousands of [eco-terrorists] who ought to be in jail," he said, placing the blame squarely on the FBI for "failing to investigate exactly the kind of things you see on the (Green Anarchy) web site."
E-mail a news tip to Marc Morano.
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