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G. Davidson (Tim) Smith
Winter 1998
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Abstract: Dr. G. Davidson (Tim) Smith is a counter-terrorism specialist with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Inthis issue he examines extremist militancy associated with animal rights, environmentalism and abortion as encountered in North America and the UnitedKingdom.- Winter 1998. Author: G. Davidson (Tim) Smith.
Editors Note:Dr. G. Davidson (Tim) Smith is a counter-terrorism specialist with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. In this issuehe examines extremist militancy associated with animal rights, environmentalism and abortion as encountered in North America and the United Kingdom.
Disclaimer: Publication of an article in theCommentary series does not imply CSIS authentication of the information nor CSISendorsement of the author's views.
The term "Single Issue Terrorism" is broadly accepted as extremist militancy on the part of groups or individualsprotesting a perceived grievance or wrong usually attributed to governmental action or inaction.1 Generally, threeprincipal issues are regarded to fall under that definition: animal rights, environmentalism, and abortion. This paper addresses those issues, withthe focus on activities in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Legitimate and traditionally moderate organizations such as animal welfare societies have for years achieved notable results on behalf of thecauses for which they lobby. But, over the past two decades, some of the more popular issues have attracted radical elements that now form anextremist militant core prepared to resorts to threats, violence and destruction of property to achieve their ends. In the case of the abortion issue,this has included murder.
For the most part, legitimate organizations disown the violent fringe. Some, however-notably in the context of the environmentaland abortion issues-actively support the militants, or do so tacitly by failing to condemn extremist activities. At least one "legitimate"activist condoned a sniper's wounding of a prominent Vancouver gynæcologist in November 1994, calling the incident "good shooting" andmusing that it would not have happened had the doctor not been performing abortions.2
There is no archetypal single issue extremist, but some broad characteristics apply. Animal rights activists, environmentalists and abortioniststend to be on the left, politically. The founder of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) in the UK, for example, is a self-confessed anarchist, as is asenior member of a similar group in Canada. The pro-life side of the abortion debate is drawn largely from the right. The abortion issue, however, iscomplicated by a religious dimension foreign to the animal rights and environmental questions and draws adherents on both sides from across thepolitical spectrum. Extremists associated with any of these issues come from all walks of life and social levels. For a time, participation in civildisobedience and militancy in support of animal rights campaigns was regarded by many young Britons as an exciting and trendy diversion. A largenumber of animal rights supporters and environmental extremists can be found among idealistic and impatient university students who have becomefrustrated with the seemingly slow progress of moderate groups and who seek to achieve their goals more rapidly by direct action.
Although functioning essentially domestically, single issue groups are international in scope. Animal rights supporters claim to be active in morethan 40 countries and militant environmentalists have carried out actions in a number of different regions. Both movements publish newsletters-Arkangelis the British-based organ of animal-rights supporters andEarth First! is the journal of the radical environmental movement. Each contains arange of information that includes descriptions of recent actions, techniques for conducting mischief, vandalism and sabotage, the addresses oftargets-doctors, scientists, research laboratories-and news about incarcerated activists. All three movements use the Internet for publicity andcommunications purposes.The Militant Vegan, for example, lists Animal Liberation actions in Canada and the United States, with names andlocations of targets attacked and tactics employed-all useful for statistical purposes.
A degree of communication takes place among extremist groups within individual issues-not surprising, given the availability of the Net. Thereare some similarities in terms of group names and operations, such as the Animal Liberation Fronts in Britain and North America, but close linkagesamong groups are not obvious. Nevertheless, cooperation, affiliation and interlocking memberships do occur. Animal rights supporters and Earth First!activists are known to have integrated working relationships in Canada and the United States.
A number of animal rights extremists are simultaneously members of several different organizations and movements (e.g. Vegans, Feminists,Ecologists) and often pursue their own ideals under the guise of supporting popular causes or legitimate organizations. On one occasion, the TorontoHumane Society was "captured" by a stacked proxy vote, enabling large amounts of money and other resources subsequently to be funnelled tomilitants.
The extremist fringe of each movement has published some form of handbook or provides Internet instructions on how to engage in mischief, civildisobedience, vandalism, and sabotage-ecotage as it is known in Enviro-speak. Some of the suggestions are extremely dangerous, among thempotentially lethal methods of tree-spiking which have caused serious injuries. The instructions, often resembling those found inThe Anarchist'sCookbook, include bomb-making details.
Though the level and scale of single issue-driven terrorism have moderated somewhat over the past two years, certainly in comparison with theturbulent days of the 1980s and early 1990s, the threat has not lessened. Extremist incidents continue to occur, especially associated with animalrights and environmentalism in England and Canada. Currently, abortion remains a volatile issue in the United States, where the first fatal bombing atan abortion clinic occurred on 29 January 1998 in Birmingham, Alabama. The USA has already registered five murders tied to the abortion issue. InCanada, abortion activists are using the tenth anniversary of the Supreme Court decision lifting Canada's legal restrictions on the practice to focuspopular and legislative attention on what is seen as flagging enthusiasm for abortion within the medical profession, although in fact the number ofabortions has increased significantly in the past ten years.
It is necessary to distinguishanimal rights groups, who insist animals are on a par with humans and should be at liberty,from the traditionalanimal welfarists, who believe humans can use animals provided they treat them compassionately. Most animal rightsactivists do not advocate the use of violence but are not hesitant about resorting to civil disobedience as a means of gaining attention. Themovement's extremist fringe believes that economic sabotage is a valid means to achieve its goal of protecting animals from any harm by humans. Tothis end, activists use a variety of tactics to inflict economic loss designed to put targeted "offenders" out of business. They haveachieved some success. Prohibitive insurance rates, expensive security infrastructure, damaged buildings and equipment, loss of revenue, negativepublicity, and destruction of research records representing years of work have forced the closure of many small businesses as well as scientific andcommercial research facilities. Activists have boasted they could cause at least $60,000 damage in one week just by smashing windows.3
Probably the best-known extremist group in Europe and North America is the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), founded by Ronnie Lee inEngland in 1976 and still very active . The ALF appeared in Canada in 1981, with a series of break-ins at several university and medical laboratoriesinvolving vandalism, arson and the release of animals; this was followed by attacks on fur stores and meat-packers. First recognized in the UnitedStates in 1982, the ALF made the FBI's domestic terrorism list in 1987 with a multi-million dollar arson at a veterinary lab in California. Similarincidents in Arizona and Texas in 1989 were also classified as domestic terrorism.4
Among other notable groups are the Hunt Retribution Squad (HRS), a particularly vicious group in Britain; the Animal RightsMilitia (ARM), an offshoot of the British ALF, with namesakes in North America; and the relatively new Justice Department, which surfaced first inBritain and then in Canada. The Justice Department, although small, has been an especially dangerous organization, claiming responsibility for anumber of letterbombs. An alleged support element for the ALF in the United States is a powerful Virginia-based lobby group, particularly adept atattracting prominent supporters and raising large sums of money, called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). PETA has frequentlyannounced ALF actions, providing news releases almost immediately after events have occurred, indicating at least foreknowledge if not somecomplicity. PETA has established branches in Canada and Europe in recent years.5
Research laboratories associated with medical and veterinary schools and clinics, and those which test cosmetics and food products, are favouredtargets-animals have been "liberated", hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of equipment and records destroyed, and researchers besiegedby graffiti and hate mail. Activists in the UK have distributed derogatory leaflets at the school attended by children of a scientist. In Canada, thehome of a scientist was vandalized to commemorate World Day for Lab Animals. Other targets include butcher shops, fish markets, meat packing plants,chicken and egg producers, dog kennels, mink and fox farms, furriers, and even fast-food outlets.
Vandalism is the preferred tactic-graffiti spray-painted on buildings, glue poured in door-locks, windows etched with acid orsmashed, frequently using slingshot and ball-bearings. Attacks can frequently go beyond that stage - vehicles have been stolen, damaged or burned,tires slashed and fur-bearing animals set free-several thousand expensive mink were released from farms in Western Canada in 1996.6
Another effective tactic with costly results has been the threat of product contamination-targeting meat shops, drugstores,supermarkets or department stores. The ALF in Great Britain initiated the practice in 1984, forcing the closure of a butcher shop because of a threatof contaminated meat. Other costly contamination threats have involved shampoo, candy bars and soft drinks; threats of poisoned turkeys at Christmastime have forced the removal of literally millions of items from stores.7
Similar incidents have occurred in Canada in the name of the Animal Rights Militia. Tens of thousands of ColdBuster candy bars were recalled in 1992 after claims they had been contaminated with oven cleaner.8 Just before Christmasin 1994, over $1 million damage resulted from the threat of poisoned turkeys in Vancouver.9
The activists' tactical repertoire also includes incendiary techniques andmail bombs. It was a string of firebombs in department stores in England that lead to the arrest of ALF leaders in 1987.10During the Christmas rush of 1993, the ALF placed nine firebombs in four Chicago department stores.11 A series ofletterbombs in Britain in 1994, responsibility for which was claimed by the group known as the Justice Department, injured four persons.12The following year, a letterbomb was sent to the British Minister of Agriculture, while in Canada a group known as the Militant Direct Action TaskForce (MDATF) directed four letterbombs to two white supremacists, a right-wing think-tank which supports the fur industry, and a genetics laboratory.13
In 1989, explosive devices were attached to the automobiles of a British veterinary surgeon and a university researcher. The vetbarely escaped from her burning car; the researcher was saved when the bomb fell off his car, but a baby in a nearby carriage was injured.14
A recent variation of the mailbomb technique, claimed by Britain's Justice Department, featured razor blades allegedly dipped inrat poison or AIDS-infected blood, one of which was mailed to Prince Charles. Similar letters appeared in British Columbia, claimed by a Canadiangroup using the same name15 and incorporating a diabolical feature: the return address was that of another targetedindividual, thus ensuring that if the original recipient refused to accept the letter and returned it to the alleged sender, another animal rightstarget would be put at risk.
Professionalism is a hallmark of many extremist groups such as the ALF. They are often organized on a cell structure and thus difficult to identifyand penetrate, and their security is relatively good, if rudimentary-for instance, members are dissuaded from using telephone communications toavoid tracing and toll information. Activists carefully research each target, often spending days or months photographing and conducting surveillanceon the target facility and staff members, lying in perimeter bushes overnight to establish the routines of security patrols. If possible, activistswill sign up for a tour of a target facility, recruit inside help or obtain employment in an attempt to gain information and bypass security alarms.Their dress and actions during raids are intended to intimidate-hoods and camouflage jackets, coveralls, breaking and entering in a violent mannerusing pickaxe handles and other hazardous tools. They make efforts to destroy research material and to gather intelligence on suppliers or supportersof a research facility for purposes of follow-on targeting. Attacks have occasionally been video-taped to assist in obtaining media coverage or to usein conjunction with subsequent threats. They emphasize making every attack count in the knowledge that improved security arrangements will likelyfollow.
Terror itself is the chief tactic of the animal rights activists. They use violence with the expressed intent of coercing government to act in acertain manner-to enact particular legislation. Their terrorist methodology is to engender fear by threats of poisoned candy or other consumergoods, by obnoxious graffiti, by abusive and threatening telephone calls, by the mailing of letter bombs, and by the destruction of property.
The Environmental and Abortion issues are no less significant in terms of threat.
As many as 2,000 moderate or extremist environmental organizations are estimated to be active in Canada alone. The radical environmental movementcomprises a broad spectrum of groups and individuals involved in diverse extremist variations of the environmental issue. While resource exploitationand hydro-electric development are their most frequent targets, activists also oppose the nuclear power industry, chemical manufacturers, industrialpolluters, urban sprawl, encroaching (sub)urban development of agricultural lands, and other aspects of the modern industrial state.
Animal rights and anarchist groups have made common cause with environmental extremists and in some cases alliances have been formed with nativegroups. The latter arrangements have not always been popular, however, especially in regard to fishing and hunting issues. Individuals who supportextremist philosophies within the environmental movement, while small in number, have demonstrated the willingness and capability to use violence. Themost prominent group is Earth First!, whose followers have consistently advocated and employed sabotage as a tactic to defend the environment.
Formed in 1980, Earth First! began to employ violence in 1984 with the introduction of tree spiking, a dangerous practicehazardous both to loggers using chain-saws and at mills where the spikes can cause saw blades literally to explode, as occurred in 1987 when amillworker was seriously injured. In 1985, one of the founders of Earth First!, Dave Foreman, wrote theecotage manual:A Field Guide toMonkeywrenching, which details many of the movement's sabotage techniques including tree-spiking.16 Anotherecotagevolume, entitledA Declaration of War, which appeared in North America in 1994, advocated violence, including homicide, against farms, animalresearch facilities, logging companies and hunters to stop animal and environmental abuses.
Greenpeace is generally credited with being the first environmental group to employ "direct action" in pursuit of its aims. But,impatient with what he considered the slow pace of progress, one of the organization's founders, Canadian Paul Watson, formed the Sea ShepherdConservation Society, with its off-shoot, Orcaforce. Watson and his supporters have been involved in a number of militant actions against whalehunting, driftnet fishing, seal hunting and other related issues. Recently he undertook activities against logging operations in Canada.
Extremist activity has been more prevalent in Canada of late than in the USA or the UK, although the latter hasbeen the scene of growing activism since the holding of the Earth First! summer gathering in Wales in 1996. Scotland Yard's Special Branch madeeco-terrorists a security priority in 1995, partly because of concern that ecological activists resisting new road-building schemes were turning tothe violent tactics of the ALF.17 Some construction workers have been injured by trip-wired booby traps, while othershave been shot at with crossbows or have encountered Viet Cong-style man-traps filled with pungee stakes; equipment has been damaged orsubjected to arson. One "eco-terror" magazine published detailed plans on how to build mortars, firebombs and grenades, and urged the use ofburied explosives against the police.18
The FBI attributed an act of domestic terrorism to the ecological movement first in 1987, then again in 1988, in 1989, and in 1990. The 1980sincidents, which involved damage to power poles and ski lift equipment in Arizona and the planned destruction of power lines leading to nuclearfacilities in Arizona, Colorado and California, were attributed to the Evan Mecham Eco-Terrorist International Conspiracy (EMETIC), although DaveForeman of Earth First! was among those arrested. The 1990 incident-the downing of power lines in Santa Cruz county, California-was claimed by theEarth Night Action Group.19
Moderate environmentalists are active across Canada, but extremists have tended to congregate on the West Coast where the full spectrum of activismhas become increasingly militant. Extremists believe direct action is required to disrupt operations or projects that pose an immediate threat to theenvironment. Fundamental to the philosophy of direct action as espoused by extremists, particularly those of Earth First!, is the determination to dowhatever is necessary to disrupt, not merely oppose, any activity they consider detrimental to the environment.
While the broader objective of the militant environmentalists is to draw attention to and sway legislation on behalf of environmental protection,acts of sabotage have a two-fold purpose: to prevent or delay activities, such as logging, from going ahead by destroying equipment andinfrastructure, and, akin to animal rights' tactics, to force companies to reconsider their operations. Repeated repairs to damaged equipment,production delays, higher insurance premiums, increased security requirements, unfavourable publicity, all contribute to a company's cost of doingbusiness. In 1995, a logging bridge worth over $2 million was destroyed by fire in British Columbia,20 while in November1997 a blast at an Alberta logging facility destroyed equipment valued at $5 million.
There are close links between Earth First! in Canada and the United States. Most of the group's actions have been associated with loggingoperations and have involved destruction of equipment as well as tree spiking. In cross-over actions with animal rights activity, taxidermy shops andhunting outfitters in Western Canada have been subjected to arson attacks and threatening letters, including the razor-blade variety, claimedvariously by the Justice Department and a group calling itself The Earth Liberation Army.21 On another occasion, in thename of The David Organization, supposedly noxious chemicals were spilled in government offices and the head office of a logging company.22
Environmental militancy has declined somewhat, in part due to the success of the lobby's efforts. But logging operations on the West coasts ofCanada and the United States, especially clear-cutting, combined with growing fishing and hunting controversies on both Canada's East and West coasts,will provide motivation for continued extremist response by environmental and animal rights activists and could lead to serious confrontation betweenthem and those who believe their livelihood is being adversely affected.
The abortion issue is an emotional one, particularly in relation to the pro-life movement and, as a result, the agenda is sometimes captured byextremists. Currently, the fact that some of the more extreme right-wing groups include pro-life declarations in their rhetoric has raised seriousconcerns.
Most people who oppose abortion do so lawfully, consistent with their pro-life philosophy. Some, however, test the limits of freedom of expressionand commit criminal acts in support of their cause. According to the National Abortion Foundation, material damages associated with 42 incidents ofvandalism and arson at abortion clinics in the United States during 1996-97 totalled over $1 million.23
The incidence of violence is seen to be largely on the part of the fringe element of the pro-lifers, perhaps a result of frustration withunfavourable legislation. But religious connotations cannot be ignored. A worrisome development is the appearance of a fundamentalist anti-abortionhandbook,The Army of God, which gives detailed instructions on the sabotage of clinics, silencers for guns and C4 explosive, and states, interalia,"...we are forced to take aim against you...execution is rarely gentle".24
Violence against abortionists has largely been confined to the United States and Canada. An attempt by a North American pro-life group to establisha branch in Britain in 1993 was thwarted when the government had the group's representative deported for being "a threat to the publicgood". In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the law restricting the legal availability of abortions in Canada. Since then, the numberof abortions sought by Canadian women has grown significantly and the vehemence of pro-life protestors has increased. Many pro-choice activists saythey fear an escalation of violence such as the United States has experienced.
The fears may be well-founded-since 1993, five people have been killed, with 11 more persons wounded. Clinics have been subjected to graffiti,noxious gases, and firebombs and staff has been threatened and harassed. Similar events have begun to occur in Canada: sniper incidents in 1994, 1995and again in 1997 have wounded three Canadian doctors; a clinic was burned and workers here, as in the USA, have increasingly been subjected tothreats and harassment.25
Although the pro-life movement in Canada is generally poorly organized, it does include several large groups and some prominent individuals withlinks to the movement in the United States. US activists have addressed rallies in Canada and encouraged Canadians to adopt aggressive practices. Theauthor of a pro-life publication, recognized and respected in extremist circles, has participated in demonstrations and picketing of clinics anddoctors' homes in Canada.
American sociologist Dallas Blanchard has observed that some members of the Canadian pro-life movement whom he has encountered are as capable ofviolence as US extremists and that the pattern of activity in Canada is similar to that in the United States. An article in the May 1996 edition ofChatelainemagazine depicts the current status of the abortion debate in Canada as a battlefield where the fear of violence rules. The atmosphere in clinicsresembles a state of siege, with steel bars, security cameras, intercom systems, bomb threats and workers trained in life-saving techniques as well.
The issue will not go away. The potential for continued violence exists. Indeed, the number of abortions sought by Canadian women has grownsignificantly since the Supreme Court decision of 1988. The vehemence of pro-life protestors has increased and so may their potential for violence iftheir level of frustration continues to grow, which it may do in the event of unfavourable legislation or legal judgements or the introduction ofabortion drugs. In Canada, changes to government funding of abortions may encourage pro-life activists to indulge in more militant activity.
In conclusion, three observations deserve note:
1G. Davidson Smith,Combating Terrorism, London, Routledge, 1990, p.7.Return
2Chatelaine, May 1996.Return
3G. Davidson Smith,Militant Activism and the Issue of Animal Rights,Commentary No.21, CSIS, April 1992.Return
4Terrorism in the United States, US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 1989.Return
5Susan E. Paris,Animal Rights terrorism Must Be Stopped, Mass High Tech, August 1995.Return
6Robin Brunet,The Cutting Edge of Animal Rights,Alberta Report, Vol. 23, No.8, 5 February 1996.Return
7G. Davidson Smith,Political Violence in Animal Liberation,Contemporary Review, Vol. 247, No. 1434, July 1985.Return
8Smith,Commentary, CSIS, April 1992.Return
9The Militant Vegan, Issue 8, 8 February 1995, Internet.Return
10Smith,Commentary, April 1992.Return
11Chicago Sun-Times, 1 December 1983.Return
12Independent, 2 June 1994. See also:PinkertonRisk,24 August 1995.Return
13Toronto Star, 14 July 1995.Return
14Chicago Tribune, 6 August 1991.Return
15Victoria Times Colonist, 13 January 1996.Return
16Egan,From Spikes... pp.6-8.Return
17Independent, 29 December 1994.Return
18The Times of London, 11 September 1994.Return
19Terrorism in the United States, US Department of Justice, FBI, 1990.Return
20The Vancouver Sun, 21 October 1991.Return
21Globe and Mail, Toronto, 12 July 1995. See also:Victoria Times Colonist, 13 January 1996.Return
22Vancouver Province, 17 october 1994.Return
23Summary of Extreme Violence Against Abortion Providers in 1994, 1995,National Abortion Federation, Internet.Return
24Chatelaine, May 1996. See also:Washington Post,17 January 1995.Return
25Toronto Sun, 17 January 1995. See also:The Abortion Rights Activist, Internet.Return
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