June 17, 2008

Animal-Rights Militants Say They Torched a UCLA Van

The Animal Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for the burning of an empty van that belonged to the University of California at Los Angeles, apparently the latest in a series of attacks aimed at faculty members and institutions that conduct research on animals.

The incident, on June 3, is being investigated by the university police and the FBI. Earlier this year, activists set off a firebomb at the home of a UCLA professor whose research includes the use of animals. Nobody was injured in that attack.

The torched vehicle, which was part of a fleet of 150 vans providing commuter service to UCLA faculty members, was set on fire while parked overnight in a park-and-ride facility in nearby Irvine. Nobody was injured, but the vehicle was declared a total loss.

The militant animal-rights group claimed responsibility through an anonymous communiqué sent to the magazine Bite Back and later uploaded to the Animal Liberation Front’s Web site.

The university’s chancellor, Gene D. Block, said in a written statement, “The extremists have crossed yet another threshold and directed violence at individuals and property not associated with animal research.” —Maria José Viñas

Comments

1. Let us continue to respectfully learn from animals for their benefit and our own. All of us whose work involves animals (including human animals) should be continually striving to improve our methods and the quality of life for the animals involved in our studies, but abandoning animals and ceasing to learn from them is not an acceptable option. Ignorance is not the answer, and neither is violence.

   — Joe Erwin    Jun 17, 05:48 PM    #

2. One doesn’t have to “learn from animals” to understand this was an evil act, and one done by evil persons judging from their long record of violence.

   — Kim Steiner    Jun 18, 07:30 AM    #

3. I object to the journalistic cliche “claimed responsibility,” which always seems to be used in reporting terrorists’ clamoring for attention. ALF didn’t claim responsibility, which would imply accepting the consequences of their actions. When ALF or ELF or the IRA or Hamas or any other terrorist group commits a crime as part of their program, it should be called that. The spurious “claiming” of nonexistent “responsibility” by these thugs merely dignifies their cowardice. Anyone with a real sense of responsibility would take the heat. Martin Luther King, to take the most obvious example, taught his followers to break bad laws, but passively, without harming anyone else, and to face the legal consequences as a way of communicating to society the injustice that was being protested. These psychotic spoiled brats are just sociopaths with an ideology that they haven’t even figured out is elitist.

   And it’s not an “anonymous communiqué”; it’s an anonymous note, like a ransom note.

   — dan    Jun 18, 08:49 AM    #

4. There’s a cruel irony in this story: people who are just trying to do the right thing by the environment by joining an employer-sponsored vanpool rather than driving to work alone, are punished indiscriminately by this act.

   Yes, it’s just one van. But it’s a deliberate act, just as nefarious as if someone had stolen the UCLA van and taken it to a chop shop.

   — Joe Frank    Jun 18, 10:40 AM    #

5. Violent acts committed for any cause are meant to frighten innocent people. This is the nature of terrorism—all terrorism. Though the mechanism of destruction, scale, and body count varies with each attack, the intent is the same. Terrorism is terrorism. Fight it, resist it, and for goodness sake, stop giving them press.

   — Ubusca    Jun 18, 10:49 AM    #

6. I keep hoping these Vegan Jihadist wingnuts will reach a plateau of criminal behavior at which a few of them finally wind up at Gitmo BEFORE they kill someone, but it appears that’s what it will require for the authorities to finally start actually TREATING them like terrorists, rather than just CALLING them “terrorists”…

   — BadKarma    Jun 18, 11:38 AM    #

7. Perhaps the problem with ALF is that they have looked at history and seen that, on occasion, terrorism works. And when it does, its called revolution. I’m with #5 — fight it, resist it.

   — Bronwyn    Jun 18, 11:59 AM    #

8. Terrorism is terrorism pure and simple.
   The animal rights nuts need to be seen for the fascists they are.
   Even the Nazi party had some “nice and well meaning” members from good middle class households who all loved their moms.
   They still needed to be defeated and labelled as the fascists they were.
   When does US law enforcement plan on taking bunny hugger terrorism seriously, dropping a heavy hammer on the criminals and shaming the celebrities who use them as free marketing.

   Stop the animal prote$t industry fascists now!

   — JR    Jun 18, 12:05 PM    #

9. JR,

   Great post! when will people open their eyes and see that the AR radical groups are Nothing more than American terrorist in our own country.

   — Damian    Jun 18, 12:19 PM    #

10. If there is one thing I’ve learned about these animal rights extremists, it’s that they really don’t care about animals at all. They use them as a tool to draw people to their side. They’ve been known to release animals they have stolen from labs and fur farms into wilderness areas without even caring what damage they cause to the ecosystem. It’s not just the ALF that ticks me off. PETA ticks me off too. They’ll do anything to shove their opinions down people’s throat. I know many supporters aren’t like that, but just as many, if not more, are. They whine and complain about animals being used in any form. What’s worse is that they’ll condemn animal rescuers for bringing orphaned animals into captivity to be raised. They think orphaned animals are better off dead than living the rest of their lives in captivity. That doesn’t sound like an organization that cares about animals. They support the violent actions of the ALF and ELF and donate money to arsonists from both groups. They think anyone who doesn’t agree with them is an animal killer. I’m sorry this turned into a discussion on PETA, but I had to make their connection to ALF known. The ALF, ELF, and PETA are groups that are not to be trusted.

    — Benny    Jun 18, 02:40 PM    #

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