‘Direct action’ activists of various stripes have shown no sign of slowing down their attacks since a dozen violent animal rights protesters were indicted on extortion and stalking charges last week in Massachusetts.
SHAC, the radical group whose disciples will face those charges, has continued to terrorize American citizens with any connection to Huntingdon Life Sciences, a medical research lab that uses animals in its search for cures to cancer and Parkinson’s Disease.
In Princeton, New Jersey, SHAC has been posting leaflets accusing a local resident of being a “puppy killer.” In an airport in Germany, a group of SHAC activists chained themselves to desks at an Air France terminal, while their partners in crime caused (in their own words) “untold destruction” to the airport. And in California, a group of SHAC criminals disrupted Halloween by throwing bloodied stuffed-animals at a family whose dad works for Huntingdon’s stockbroker.
The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) has struck again, this time in Virginia. The Washington Times reports that ELF is apparently responsible for recent attacks on construction vehicles, restaurants, homes under construction, and more than 25 sport utility vehicles. The SUV attacks were perpetrated with hatchets, causing over $8,000 in damage to each vehicle. The Richmond Times-Dispatch notes in its coverage that ELF members caused over $1 million in damage by torching SUVs at an Oregon dealership in 2001. Virginia State Police say that the attackers of a home construction site left behind a burned American flag, in addition to an unspecified ELF “calling card.”
Actions against genetically improved food products continue as well. In the UK, three protesters were found guilty on Friday of trying to cut down a field of biotech canola. Closer to home, two activists in Georgia were arrested last week when they refused to leave a grocery store where they were trying to forcibly “educate” shoppers about “Frankenfoods.” And according to the Hartford Courant,
nearly a dozen Greenpeace activists “invaded” a Hartford area supermarket with bullhorns and stickers. The Courant notes that “dozens” of similar protests happened all over New England last week. Connecticut activists told reporters: “We’re going to be at their stores until they stop selling genetically engineered foods.”
