{"id":9736,"date":"2019-12-09T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-09T18:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/?p=9736"},"modified":"2019-12-09T11:06:12","modified_gmt":"2019-12-09T19:06:12","slug":"how-they-got-in-blast-from-the-past-still-pertinent-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/2019\/12\/09\/how-they-got-in-blast-from-the-past-still-pertinent-today\/","title":{"rendered":"How They Got In (Blast from the Past, Still Pertinent Today!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By: Peter Young, former ALF operative<\/p>\n

Missing from much coverage on and communiques from the A.L.F.s most expertly
\nplanned break-ins and live liberations are any mention of how the activists gained
\nentry. And perhaps for good reason: revealing the method of access for the FBI and
\nthe action\u2019s target can provide clues to aid in the investigation and alert the facility
\nand others to loopholes in security which could be patched, impeding future actions.
\nYet both the aspiring raider and academic voyeur read of skilled raids on a fortified
\nfacilities, and ask every time: How did they get in?<\/p>\n

Compiled from communiques, \u201chow it was done\u201d articles, media reports, and A.L.F.
\nraid videos, a brief look at the most innovative surrpetitous entry tactics, and what
\ncan be learned from them.<\/p>\n

Action: 47 rats liberated from Scripps Hospital. San Diego CA. February 10 th , 2008.
\nMethod of entry: Unclocked door.
\nThe action: Keeping it simple, activists gain access to a vivarium via an unlocked
\ndoor and bring 47 rats to freedom.
\nThe Lesson: It is more fruitful to find opportunity than to wait for opportunity to
\nfind you. Liberators make their own luck.<\/p>\n

Action: 1,500 mink liberated from a fur farm. Astoria OR. October 17 th , 2008.
\nMethod of entry: None needed. The farm, which spent its entire existence withhout
\nits address made public, was comfortable enough in its anonymity to never have
\ninstalled a fence. Within a month of its location being released publicly, the farm
\nwas raided.
\nThe Lesson: Forethought is not requisite for a farmer entering the fur industry, but
\nit just may be necessary for them to stay in business.<\/p>\n

The actions: The 90 recorded fur farm raids in the U.S. since 1995, seeing the
\nrelease of hundreds of thousands of animals.
\nMethod of entry: Activists report bypassing occasional photoelectric beam sensors
\nby dropping to the ground and rolling under the beam.
\nThe lesson: The low-tech can often defeat the high, and tricks from art gallery heist
\nfilms do sometimes work.<\/p>\n

The action: 21 mice liberated from Lousiana State University. New Orleans LA.
\nApril 22 nd , 2005.
\nMethod of entry: Activists broke through a vent in a side door of the biology
\nbuilding.
\nThe Lesson: While doors may still be known as the worst way in, they can never be
\nruled out.<\/p>\n

The action: 88 mice and 313 rats liberated from University of Iowa. Iowa City, IA.
\nNovember 14 th 2004
\nMethod of Entry: While the lengthy communique reveals no clues as to how they
\nbypassed alarms for each of the psychology building\u2019s security systems four-tiers
\n(perimeter, elevator, corridor, animal room), the video of the raid shows masked
\nactivists accessing doors with what appears to be key cards, and picking the lock of
\na secured elevator. Photos released post-raid also show activists reaching through a
\ndoor to unlock it via a hole they had cut through the wood, and post-raid media
\ncoverage reports rooms were accessed via employee key cards which accessed more
\nrooms than the card\u2019s issuers intended. Speculation centered around the raid being
\nan inside job.
\nThe Lesson: Sophisticated security is only as secure as their most accessible key
\ncard.<\/p>\n

The Action: 115 chickens liberated from Merial Select Pharmaceuticals. Berlin,
\nMD. February 27 th , 2003
\nMethod of Entry: Animal house accessed by cutting through the windows and wire
\nmesh covers, bypassing the door alarm.
\nThe Lesson: Like most amateur burglars, animal abusers assume everyone goes
\nthrough the front door. The wise liberator looks elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The Action: 14 beagles liberated from Huntingdon Life Sciences. East Millstone, NJ.
\nMarch 31 st 2002
\nMethod of Entry: Activists cut hole through ceiling to gain access to the animal
\nhouse.
\nThe Lesson: Walls and roofs are less physical barriers than psychological ones.<\/p>\n

The Action: 179 birds liberated from Genesis Laboratories, a contract wildlife
\ntoxicology lab. Wellington, CO. August 28 th , 2000.
\nMethod of Entry: Using a high-speed drill and 3\/8\u201d drill bit, activists drilled several
\nholes into the lab\u2019s metal siding. Using bolt cutters, the holes were then used to
\nbegin cutting through the corrugated metal. Fiberglass insulation was stripped
\naway, and an additional hole was cut into the drywall giving them direct access to
\nthe lab.
\nThe Lesson: With A.L.F. actions, Europe knows best. This was the first recorded
\nincident of U.S. activists importing the tried and tested UK tactic of drilling through
\nwalls.<\/p>\n

The Action: 116 animal liberated from the University of Minnesota. Millions of
\ndollars in damage done to equipment in second building. Minneapolis, MN. April 5 th
\n1999.
\nMethod of Entry: The FBI was never able to determine how activsts gained access to
\nthe two labs. Their best guess: the A.L.F. free-climbed the wall of a 5-story building
\nand gained access through the roof.
\nThe Lesson: There is always a way in. And its best if they never find out what it was.<\/p>\n

The Action: 31 animal liberated from Western Washington University. Bellingham,
\nWA. October 24 th , 1999.
\nMethod of Entry: Activists entered the basement of the WWU psychology building
\nvia unknown means. A set of keys was located in an unlocked office, giving them
\ndirect access to the labs and vivariums.
\nThe Lesson: Sometimes it is that easy, and you\u2019ll never know until you put yourself
\nin a laboratory basement at midnight prepared for anything.<\/p>\n

The Action: Break-in and sabotage at Washington State University Poultry
\nResearch Laboratory. Puyallup, WA. November 20 th , 1999
\nMethod of Entry: In the video released post-raid, activists are seen smashing
\nthrough a first-floor window, and crawling through to access the lab.
\nThe Lesson: Aim for graceful, and settle for whatever works.<\/p>\n

The Action: Two days after the torching of its trucks, the San Diego Meat Company
\nbuilding is set on fire. January 30 th 1994.
\nMethod of Entry: Access gained via a boarded up window.
\nThe Lesson: Those who know have said that achieving maximum damage means
\nlocating the structural center of the building.<\/p>\n

The Action: Break-in at animal researcher Frederick Knowlton&#39;s Utah State
\nUniversity office. Files taken and the office set on fire. Millville, UT. October 24 th
\n1992
\nMethod of Entry: Aluminum trim removed from window, and suction cups used to
\nremove pane to gain access the researcher\u2019s office.
\nThe Lesson: Going through the window doesn\u2019t always mean dangerous volume and
\nexcessive debris.<\/p>\n

The Action: Oregon State University Experimental Fur Farm has files confiscated,
\nbuilding set on fire, and equipment destroyed. Facility closed as a result of this
\naction. Corvallis, OR. June 10 th 1991.
\nMethod of Entry: Unlocked window.
\nThe Lesson: Careless mistakes leading to the demise of labs don\u2019t find themselves,
\nthey need our help.<\/p>\n

The Action: Washington State University Fur Animal Research Facility has two
\nbuildings broken into and 6 mink, 7 coyotes, and 10 mice liberated. Two offices had
\nextensive damage done. Pullman, WA. August 13 th 1991.
\nMethod of Entry: Myth and legend tells of A.L.F. operatives dressed as maintanence
\nworkers entering the university building during the day, unscrewing the lock plates
\nwhich hold the door closed, and replacing the screws with dummy replacements.
\nThese filed-down screws hold in place only during casual use, yet are so short as to
\npop out of the frame with a forceful tug. Activists returned to the lab at night with
\neasy access to the building. Once inside, the fur industry researcher\u2019s office was
\naccessed by pushing through the ceiling in the building halllway, and using a
\nkeyhole saw to cut away the thin drywall above the ceiling tiles.
\nThe Lesson: If you look like you belong, and you act like you belong \u2013 you belong.<\/p>\n

The Action: Over 1,200 animals liberated and two fires set at the University of
\nArizona in the largest laboratory liberation to date. Tucson, AZ. April 2 nd 1989.
\nMethod of Entry: Acording to the post-raid article detailng the raid, a diverse
\npalette of tactics were used including opening building doors \u201cwith a few small
\nhandheld tools which left no telltale sign of forced entry\u201d, and cutting through an
\nextractor fan on the psychology building loading dock with tin snips. Activists video
\ntaped the raid, which shows vivariums being accessed by liberators in lab coats
\nsmashing holes through glass door windows, reaching in, and unlocking the doors
\nfrom the inside.
\nThe Lesson: The over-arching lesson from this action and others: Being effective
\nmost often means making your own doors.<\/p>\n

The Action: 264 animals liberated and $120,000 damage done to University of
\nOregon. Eugene, OR. October 26 th 1986.
\nMethod of Entry: Undetectable.
\nThe Lesson: Well-researched raiders know the layout and structural nuances of a
\nlab better than the university staff themselves.<\/p>\n

The Action: Activists enter SEMA Corporation (now called Bioqual) overnight,
\nvideo-taping the conditions and liberating 4 chimpanzees. Rockvlle, MD. December
\n6 th 1986
\nMethod of Entry: Usable key made from a photocopy of the original, accessed by
\nthe A.L.F. momentarily by a contact on the inside.
\nThe Lesson: It can be as much what you do as who you know.<\/p>\n

The Action: Nearly 1000 animals liberated from UC-Riverside, equipment
\nsabotaged. Riverside, CA. April 20 th 1985
\nMethod of Entry: Video released post-raid shows masked activists loading animals
\ninto trucks via a basement door. Inside the lab, activists pry door hinges from walls
\nto access labs and vivariums.
\nThe lesson: Locked doors are always negotiable.<\/p>\n

The Action: University of Pennsylvania Head Injury Laboratory raided, equipment
\ndamaged, videos of experiments confiscated. Philadelphia, PA. May 28 th 1984.
\nMethod of Entry: Building accessed via ladder to unlocked second floor window.
\nLock to lab picked.
\nThe Lesson: She with the greatest skillset yields the greatest results.<\/p>\n

The Action: 12 dogs liberated from UC-Harbor Medical Center. Los Angeles, CA.
\nDecember 25 th 1983.
\nMethod of Entry: Sledhehammer taken to door hinges, doors removed.
\nThe Lesson: Brute force is not always elegant, but sometimes effective.<\/p>\n

The Action: 35 cats liberated and equipment damaged at Howard University
\nMedical School. Washington, DC. December 25 th 1983
\nMethod of Entry: Building accessed with glass cutters to window. Lab doors pried
\nopen with crowbar.
\nThe Lesson: Multi-layered security requires a multi-layered toolbox.<\/p>\n

The Action: U.S. Naval Medical Research Institute has 1 dog liberated. Bethesda,
\nMD. December 28 th 1982
\nMethod of Entry: Walked in during daylight hours.
\nThe Lesson: When intuitive tactics fail, go counterintuitive: ex. \u201craiding in plain
\nsight\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Peter Young, former ALF operative Missing from much coverage on and communiques from the A.L.F.s most expertly planned break-ins and live liberations are any mention of how the activists gained entry. And perhaps for good reason: revealing the method of access for the FBI and the action\u2019s target can provide clues to aid in … <\/p>\n

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