ECOTERROR: News links regarding recent Earth Liberation Front arrests

Six people have been arrested in connection with alleged ecoterrorism attacks in Oregon and Washington dating back to 1998, including the destruction of a Bonneville Power Administration tower near Bend, Oregon. The arrests were made last Wednesday in New York, Virginia, Oregon and Arizona, and each of the defendants has been indicted in Oregon or Washington. One of these individuals has a masters degree in molecular biology, another owned a bookstore.

What is the connection between these 6 people and why would the feds choose to arrest them all on one day? One bear's opinion: The government is attempting to make it look like there is a coordinated ecoterrorism effort in the US to further justify the upcoming reauthorization of the Patriot Act.

Besides the tower's destruction, the attacks included three arsons in Oregon and one in Olympia. One of the fires caused more than $500,000 in damage, and the other three caused more than $1 million, investigators said. The feds say that Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility.

News stories about the recent arrests in the United States:
Accused ecoterrorist arrested in Flag by Larry Hendricks of the Arizona Daily Sun; Arrests linked to local arson fires by Paul Fattig of the Medford Mail Tribune; Female ecoterror suspect previously convicted in logging protests by KVOA News in Tucson;
2 arrested in state as FBI targets ecoterrorism by Shaun McKinnon of The Arizona Republic;
Female ecoterror suspect had two previous minor convictionsKOLD News 13, Tuscon; Eco-Terror Arrests Bring Hope To Solving UW Fire Case by Tracey Vedder of Seattle's KOMO. Grist is also posting articles from the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

Link to the US Department of Justice press release, the source for many of these stories.

Educate yourself, check out the Earth Liberation Front's website. Then ask yourself, "Does this organization/group actually exist?" The ELF website is just one guy with a computer, probably sitting in his mom's basement.