29 Mar Congresss Afraid To Investigate Eco-Terrorism Violence Supported By Green Groups, Wealthy Contributors
by “Fossil Bill” Kramer
You’ve heard how Earth Firsters terrorized Congressman Frank Riggs’ employees, vandalized his California office, then chained themselves to a 400 lb. tree stump they’d wheeled in.
Calling the raid a “political statement”, they hoped to intimidate Riggs into abandoning his support of constitutionally-guaranteed property rights. (It didn’t work. Though he’s retiring after this term, he’s stuck to his principles.)
What you haven’t heard is that Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, spoke out in support of this malicious act of terrorism!
Pepper Spray – “Inexcusable Torture”
“Congressman Riggs is out of touch with reality,” Pope brayed, incensed that police had been called. “Not only is he defending an inexcusable use of torture, he . . supports use of pepper spray on our kids!”
Folks, these weren’t kids. If idiots did that to your office and staff, or home and family, would you feed them lunch and treat them as friends? Or would you call the police and hope they would respond aggressively?
If someone tried it at Carl Pope’s office, what sort of reception do you think they’d get?!
Such acts of savagery are heinous, but support of them is not confined solely to notorious crazies such as Earth First, Earth Liberation Army, Animal Liberation Front, etc.
One would think mainline environmental groups and their backers have no need for violence. After all, they’ve cowed Corporate America into enormous financial contributions. And, appealing to the lust for power of spoiled brats who control the inherited wealth of family foundations, they receive billions annually from them and have become wealthy themselves.
Why use force, intimidation and bombs to inflict their agenda on others when, backed by Big Bucks and wielding political clout, they can have government authorities order bureaucrats to impose policies which do it for them?
Prominent Greens Support Violence
Nonetheless, many – like Sierra’s president – not only espouse it, they support or contribute to violence. We’ve all heard of loggers and sawmill employees being seriously injured by spikes driven into trees which cause sawblades coming in contact with them to literally “explode”.
It’s outrageous that destruction of logging equipment, animal research labs, fur farms, and threats and attacks on employees and company executives continue unabated. In recent years over 1400 new attacks have been documented.
In 1996 the Earth Liberation Front destroyed vehicles at a ranger station in Oregon. The next day, fire devastated a ranger building while hundreds of nails, spread near the entrance, hampered access by fire fighters. The FBI calls this the “second worst” attack of terrorism on a government facility in America’s history.
The Animal Liberation Front, notorious for attacking animal research labs, setting fires and threatening employees and their families, is warmly embraced by Earth First (EF) which itself was founded to commit violence.
Today EF also operates through various “front” organizations. One, known as the Earth First Ruckus Society, trains high school and college students in what they call “civil disobedience” which actually is lawbreaking and physical confrontation.
And there are EF’s Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC, which was responsible for the attack on Frank Riggs’ office), the Ecology Center, and others. Not to forget Earth First Journal (to which we’ve subscribed for years in order to keep an eye on the enemies of all of us) which openly advocates violence and publishes lists of “enemies of the earth”.
It’s critical that supposedly responsible and allegedly charitable organizations such as the W. Alton Jones Foundation would donate $68,000 to fanatically vicious groups like EPIC, but in 1995 and 1996 that’s just what they did. (By the way, the Foundation is a leading force in the Environmental Grantmakers Association and a major source of funds for various well-known environmental groups.)
Just as reprehensible is that Ted Turner, the fabulously wealthy green zealot of CNN and USA Today fame, contributed $75,000 to EF’s Ecology Center in 1994 and 1995. Meanwhile, the Turner Foundation also supports EF’s Ruckus Society, helping them infect America’s youth with contempt for the rights of others as well as for the law. The Society brags it has trained more than 600 activists in civil disobedience.
Since America is supposedly free and democratic and all citizens receive “equal protection” under the law, it stands to reason that terrorists who violate our rights would be arrested and tried. But they’re not. Following the trashing of Rigg’s office, the FBI investigated local police to see whether they had violated the rights of the terrorists!!!
Last June, at the urging of Wise Use groups and property rights advocates, a Congressional subcommittee held a brief hearing on eco-terrorism. But many politicians, kowtowing to Big Green, resist full-scale investigations and further hearings which would expose what’s happening and who’s behind it.
We hope you agree this is an urgent national issue which must be pursued. Contact your Congressional delegates toll-free at 1-888-898-7717 and tell them your feelings. To comment, write: Environmentalist , Box 146, Silver Bay, MN 55614. For personal response include stamped, self-addressed envelope and phone number.