WASHINGTON, May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Well known tax-exempt organizations, including People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) are providing above-ground support to leading domestic terror groups, including the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). So testified the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) during a hearing conducted by the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Collectively, the ALF and ELF have claimed responsibility for more than 1,100 terrorist crimes resulting in over $110 million in damage, including arson, assault, and vandalism against American companies and individuals. The FBI has dedicated significant resources to investigating the increasingly violent actions of these groups.
CCF Director of Research David Martosko highlighted multiple examples of support to the ALF/ELF network from several nonprofit organizations, including:
* In the mid-1990s, PETA paid over $70,000 in grants for the legal defense
of arsonist Rodney Coronado, who was convicted of firebombing a Michigan
State University research lab. The ALF claimed credit for this violent
crime shortly after it was committed. PETA President Ingrid Newkirk was
implicated in this arson by the case's chief prosecutor for arranging
"days before the MSU arson occurred" for Coronado to send her video of
the arson and stolen materials from inside the targeted laboratory.
* In April 2001, PETA made a direct contribution of $1,500 to the North
American Earth Liberation Front (ELF) to "support their program
activities." Among its long list of crimes, ELF claimed credit for the
1998 firebombing of the Vail Colorado Ski Resort, resulting in $12
million in damage.
* In 2001, PETA campaign director Bruce Friedrich praised the actions of
underground animal rights militants at an animal rights convention
saying, "I think it would be great if all of the fast-food outlets,
slaughterhouses, these laboratories, and the banks that fund them
exploded tomorrow ... Hallelujah to the people who are willing to do
it."
* In 2003, self-appointed ALF spokesman Dr. Jerry Vlasak, while acting as
a spokesperson for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
(PCRM), openly endorsed the murder of doctors who use animals in medical
research, saying, "For 5 lives, 10 lives, 15 human lives, we could save
a million, 2 million, 10 million non-human lives." When a member of his
audience objected, comparing Vlasak's approach to that of abortion-
clinic bombers, he replied: "Absolutely. I think they had a great
strategy going."
* HSUS has funded the operation of an Internet server called "waste.org" -
- which was then the source of "communiques" issued by the ALF after the
commission of arson and other violent crimes.
* A 1999 issue of the magazine No Compromise, published by and for ALF
supporters, printed a list of its benefactors. These included PETA, the
Fund for Animals, In Defense of Animals, and the New Jersey Animal
Rights Alliance.
"Those who start fires, detonate bombs, and stalk and threaten innocent people receive assistance -- both rhetorical and financial -- from many organizations that enjoy tax-exempt status with the federal government," said CCF Director of Research David Martosko. "I urge this committee to fully investigate the connections between individuals who commit crimes in the name of ALF, ELF, or similar phantom groups, and the above-ground individuals and organizations that give them aid and comfort."
The Center for Consumer Freedom is a nonprofit coalition supported by restaurants, food companies, and consumers, working together to promote personal responsibility and protect consumer choices.
SOURCE The Center for Consumer Freedom
CONTACT: Andrew Porter of The Center for Consumer Freedom, +1-202-463-7112
© PR Newswire
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