The FBI has been cracking down on the eco-terrorists from ALF/ELF pretty hard over the past year or so and the court proceedings against these haters of all things progress are coming to a close. Justice will be served upon those who think property should have no value and seek to destroy it in order to better serve “The Environment”.
And it is because justice is being served that I would like to congratulate US District Judge Ann Aiken for being the first to figure out that these freaks of nature, to make a not so subtle pun, could be sentenced under the federal terrorism guidelines.
Aiken ruled that the increased penalties spelled out by the terrorism enhancement may apply to those who took part in a conspiracy that left a $40 million trail of damage in Western states between 1995 and 2001.
But the government, she wrote, must first establish that the defendants’ participation in that conspiracy was intended to promote a “federal crime of terrorism,” regardless of whether they posed a substantial risk of injury to humans.
Aiken noted that she would listen to arguments at each sentencing before deciding whether a terrorism enhancement may be applied to a particular defendant. A designation as a terrorist could land defendants longer terms in more restrictive prisons.
Federal prosecutors squared off against defense lawyers last Tuesday in a hearing on the terrorism enhancement. The government likened the nighttime arsons to the fire bombings of empty African American churches by the Ku Klux Klan. Defense lawyers argued that their clients took extraordinary precautions to ensure that their arsons did no physical harm to humans.
Sure they did. They were just to cowardly to do their deeds in daylight. I seem to remember a massive local kill-off of mink directly caused when these dweeblets assaulted a mink farm and turned the damn things loose. The coyotes were happy. The state DOT guys who scrape road kill weren’t.
Make them martyrs, I don’t care. As I wrote about in the past, my employer nearly hired one of these freaks who was attempting to get into out database and find out the locations of local animal testing labs who have had to out of their way to be inconspicuous, lest they be burned to the ground.
Now to get those SHAC pukes behind bars. We’ll see how these tree huggers like having to switch from “The Mighty Oak” to hugging Bubba’s mighty oak.
The eco-terrorists may not be quite done. In the past two nights, 7 Honda CRVs (????) have been torched in southeast Portland. Torched by explosive incindiary bombs that actually go “boom” then spread gas everywhere and make a huge fireball.
Why the Hondas? Who knows, but the pin-map analysis (mine) suggests that the crimes are centered on Reed College, one of the most lefty private colleges in the nation. It is days before the students go home, so I bet that this is a Reed student, practicing their eco-terrorism, who will soon leave town. The Reedies bicycle all over that part of town, and no one pays them any mind, so the perp could have scoped out his/her targets in advance. Getaway car has some zip, as it characteristically leaves the fire scene with tires smoking the pavement.
Were I in the arson squad, I would be looking at Reed’s car registration list with a young street-comp smartie beside me to tell me which cars can lay rubber.
But then, old fashioned police work died in this town 20 years ago.
“We’ll see how these tree huggers like having to switch from ‘The Mighty Oak’ to hugging Bubba’s mighty oak.”
I know you’re just making a joke, but prison rape just isn’t funny. It’s really kind of horrifying if you read up on the real thing.
It may not be funny, but I sure can’t work up any sympathy for THIS TYPE OF ASSHOLE!!! As far as I am concerned, they are polluting my atmosphere by breathing – not that I have harsh feelings against them, or anything!
Merle
Hmmm. This is starting to sound like what happened with the RICO laws. Put in place to get the Mafia, now used for any type of crime where two people “conspire”. Then they take your property and don’t have to return it even if you’re not convicted.
What is the difference between vandalism and terrorism? Does someone have to die? Some dollar amount of damage? Intent?
I don’t know that I can answer the question, but I know I don’t like it when the feds continually expand definitions so that the punishment is harsher.
Terrorism is political violence aimed at grabbing attention. These eco-loons fit the bill as far as I’m concerned. People don’t necessarily have to die, though corpses tend to get a lot more attention.
I don’t have any sympathy for these twerps, but given the dates, wouldn’t that be an example of an ex post facto application of a law? That doesn’t sound like a good idea.
Kevin, I don’t think I can go along with your definition. That would put those PETA idiots that throw blood on fur-wearers in the terrorist category. They need to be jailed, but in the same way as an Al Qaeda follower?
The American Heritage Dictionary is pretty close to your definition, though:
n. The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.
PETA clearly falls within that definition. It just doesn’t seem the same to me as Al Qaeda or Hamas.