ELF Strikes Twice
in 48 Hours
Against Urban Sprawl in California and Michigan
PRESS RELEASE / Earth Liberation Front 4jun03
Two separate attacks against urban sprawl have been reported to the ELF Press Office today. Chico, California and Washington Township, Michigan are the latest locations for fires that burned or attempted to burn luxury homes under development. These are the third and fourth attacks against urban sprawl undertaken by the ELF in 2003.
June 03 - CHICO, CALIFORNIA
A fire was set at the Sterling Oaks development on Monday night, with graffiti at the scene reading "Save Our Bio Region ELF." The fire did little damage due to water on the scene which doused the flames. A communiqué was received by the ELF Press Office claiming responsibility for the action:
--begin communiqué--
on june 3 at about 2:45 am elf set fire to a luxury home at 145 sterling oaks drive in chico ca. we used a napalm incendiary. it would have burnt to the ground if the pvc pipe containing water didn't put out the flame. the pvc pipe caught on fire and released the water. the damage ended up being minimal to our dissatisfaction. we targeted these luxury homes due to the damage to the bioregion that occurs through development. chico is slowly becoming victim to sprawl and we will not sit back as all that is natural and beautiful is destroyed. civilization as a whole has proved to be detrimental to humans and non human animals. we won't settle for anything less then complete collapse. liberation for all life
earth liberation front
--end communiqué--
June 04, WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP, MICHIGAN
Washington Township, Michigan
Photo: AP
A pair of houses under construction were burned in an upscale suburban development in Washington Township, Michigan. An apparent anti-sprawl action, graffiti left at the scene claimed the work as that of the ELF.
The two houses were both in late stages of construction. The two houses under construction had a combined value of $700,000, she said.
Graffiti reading "ELF" and "stop sprawl" was spraypainted on nearby construction equipment. This is the fourth anti-sprawl action claimed by the ELF since the start of 2003.
No communiqué has been received in this action, though graffiti left at the scene is considered a claim of responsibility by the group.
Any further communication by the ELF to the ELF Press Office will be reported as it is received.
The Earth Liberation Front is an international underground organization that uses direct action in the form of economic sabotage to stop the destruction of the natural environment. Since 1997, the ELF in North America has caused over $45 million in damages to entities who profit from the destruction of life and the planet.
The Earth Liberation Front Press Office is an autonomous entity that serves to publicize news and actions of the ELF, as reported through news media or by anonymous communications from the individuals involved in activities.
ELF Torches Sprawl Homes in Michigan
AMALIE NASH / AP 12jun03
FBI says antisprawl Earth Liberation Front may be linked to torching of 4 area homes under construction; feds offer $20,000 for information
Federal authorities announced a $20,000 reward Wednesday for information on four suspicious fires in Washtenaw and Macomb counties in recent months that had the signature marks of an international ecoterrorist group.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Willie Hulon said Wednesday during a press conference that the fires are likely the work of ELF - the Earth Liberation Front - a radical group that has claimed responsibility for past incidents of ecoterrorism.
ELF has not explicitly said its members are behind the torching of two homes in Superior Township and two homes in Washington Township, but its press office has implied on its Web site that the fires could be the work of ELF. The acronym "ELF" and antisprawl messages were spray-painted at the fire scenes, where homes under construction in subdivisions were destroyed.
Two homes under construction in the Mystic Forest subdivision off Plymouth Road in Superior Township were set ablaze around 3 a.m. March 21 and both were destroyed, authorities said. Homes in the subdivision are priced at $500,000 to $700,000. "ELF" and "no sprawl" were sprayed in black on a nearby home under construction in the subdivision.
FBI Senior Agent Greg Stejskal said timer devices appear to have been used to set the fires. The ELF Web site contains a guide on how to set fires using electrical timers.
Last week, two homes under construction in Macomb County's Washington Township were gutted by suspicious fires, and "ELF" and "stop sprawl" were sprayed onto nearby construction equipment, authorities said. The homes, which were nearly completed, had a combined value of $700,000. Authorities don't know if timers were used in those fires.
Stejskal said that although the cases appear similar, investigators are not concluding that they are linked. Flammable liquids were used in all the fires, he said.
"Obviously the graffiti is similar and occurred in newly constructed subdivisions that were previously vacant land," Stejskal said. "ELF has not made a categorical claim that the fires were set by its members. The organization has an agenda and takes great pride in announcing the amount of property damage it causes, so if given the opportunity to make the claim, they will do it."
ELF press releases posted on its Web site have shied away from saying definitively that the four fires were the work of ELF members, but say that graffiti left at the scenes is considered a claim of responsibility.
A fire set in Chico, Calif., the day after the Macomb County fires was claimed by an ELF member who sent an e-mail to the press office saying members targeted the luxury home to stop sprawl there.
Other than the Web site, ELF has no formal organization - no membership roster, hierarchy or forum for members, Stejskal said.
The group bills itself as an international underground organization that acts to stop destruction of the natural environment. It claims to have caused over $45 million in damage in North America since 1997.
The reward for information that leads to arrests is being offered by building industry officials and federal authorities. Anyone with information on any of the fires is asked to call the FBI at (313) 965-2323.
FBI: Detroit Suburb Fires Probably Work Of Radical Group
AP 11jun03
DETROIT—Four fires at luxury homes under construction in the suburbs probably were the work of a radical group that has claimed responsibility for past incidents of eco-terrorism, FBI Special Agent Willie Hulon said Wednesday.
Fires on March 21 destroyed two homes being built in Washtenaw County's Superior Township, about 35 miles west of Detroit. Upon completion, they would have been valued at $500,000 each.
On June 4, two nearly completed houses in Macomb County's Washington Township, 35 miles north of Detroit, were set afire. They had a combined value of about $700,000.
The Superior Township fires have been ruled arsons, said Gregory Holley, who heads the Detroit office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Washington Township fires remain under investigation but are considered suspicious, he said.
The Earth Liberation Front has claimed credit for the fires and for at least five other incidents dating to December 1999 when a genetic engineering research project was destroyed at Michigan State University.
The group considers such acts a legitimate means of protesting sprawl and over consumption.
The letters "ELF " and anti-sprawl messages were spray-painted on houses or construction equipment at both scenes.
"The ELF is not opposed to housing developments that fill a need in communities," the group's press office said in response to an e-mail request for comment on the Superior Township arsons. But it said luxury projects "are accelerating the destruction of forested areas, wetlands and other areas of environmental concern across North America."
The loss of farmland and undeveloped land to residential and commercial use has become a contentious issue in Michigan in recent years. Earlier this year, Gov. Jennifer Granholm created a task force to look into how to curb urban sprawl and regulate land development in the state.
At a news conference in Detroit, industry officials and federal authorities announced rewards totaling $20,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the fires.
Michigan Investigation in House Fires
AP 6jun03
The authorities were investigating whether members of a radical environmental group, the Earth Liberation Front, were responsible for fires early Wednesday that destroyed two luxury homes under construction. The nearly completed homes, which had a combined value of about $700,000, were destroyed in Washington Township, about 25 miles north of Detroit. Graffiti reading "Elf" and "stop sprawl" were spray-painted on nearby construction equipment. An anonymous spokesman for the Earth Liberation Front, contacted by e-mail, said the group had heard no claims of responsibility from its members.
Earth Liberation Front Members Say They Set Fires
AP 12jun03
Detroit—Members of a radical environmental group say they set fires at four luxury homes going up in Detroit's outer suburbs.
The claim by members of the Earth Liberation Front is posted on the group's Web site. FBI agent Willie Hulon says he thinks it's true.
The fires destroyed two homes in March and two others this month. The letters "ELF" and anti-sprawl messages were spray-painted at both scenes.
The group says it doesn't oppose development that fills community needs. But it says luxury projects are -- quote -- "accelerating the destruction of forested areas, wetlands and other areas of environmental concern across North America."
The group has claimed responsibility for a number of illegal acts.
Anti-sprawl ELF Takes credit for Torching Homes
JAMESON COOK / Macomb Daily (Michigan) 12jun03
Because of the random nature of suspected arsons by an elusive eco-terrorism group, law enforcement officials must rely heavily on the public to try to stop their actions.
A group of federal, state and local police agencies gathered Wednesday to announce rewards for people who help nab arsonists connected to the Earth Liberation Front, which has been tied to a pair of arson fires in Washington Township and others in metropolitan Detroit and nationwide in recent years.
"We're asking the public to be diligent and look out for anything suspicious," said Gregory Holley, special agent in charge of the Detroit office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. "We need your help. We need your assistance."
"If you see a car running at a site that looks suspicious," call police, urged Capt. Rick Kalm of the Macomb County Sheriff's Office.
ELF supporters have been behind dozens of acts of destruction since 1997, resulting in nearly $50 million in damages. The radical pro-environmental, anti-sprawl group has targeted housing developments, animal research, automobile dealerships specializing in the sale of sport utility vehicles, ski resorts, Nike, logging operations and military installations, among others.
Besides Michigan, incidents have occurred in Pennsylvania, Indiana, Oregon, New York, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
In the past five months in Michigan, the group is responsible for causing $1.2 million in damage.
Two nearly built homes with a combined value of $700,000 were destroyed June 4 in Willow Ridge subdivision under construction off 26 Mile Road in Washington and two high-priced homes were destroyed March 21 in Superior Township.
For those incidents, the Building Industry Association and Homebuilders Association of Washtenaw County are offering $15,000 and the Michigan Arson Prevention Committee is offering up to $5,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of arsonists.
A representative of the Macomb County Developers Forum did not return a telephone call Wednesday.
Police have to depend on the public because nabbing arsonists in the act is one of the few ways to catch them.
In general, arsons are difficult to investigate because the culprits usually don't leave many clues at the scene, investigators said.
Investigation of ELF is made more difficult because detectives can't look for motives such as insurance fraud or retaliation.
Often in suspected arsons, investigators can trace the property to an owner or someone connected to it.
"You can look at whether the homeowner was late paying their mortgage payments," said Lt. Larry Thompson, an arson investigator with the Michigan State Police. "We tend to build evidence that there was a motive for the fire."
Thompson also noted that fire investigators don't have "tunnel vision" and will consider that a property owner could set fire to his or her home and make it look like an ELF act.
ELF operates anonymously, primarily acting solely as a conduit of information about destructive acts taken by people in the name of ELF. The group lists guidelines for people to act in its name.
"Essentially, anyone who follows the guidelines as listed on the Web site ... commits acts of economic sabotage in opposition to the Earth's destruction, and claims their work as ELF -- is doing ELF work," an ELF spokesperson said in an e-mail interview with The Macomb Daily. "The ELF isn't a structured organization -- it is a philosophy of action that individuals and groups take on -- there is no membership per se, thus no such thing as 'copycatting.'"
Despite the difficulty in making arrests in the cases, ELF says on its Web site that members have been caught by law enforcement performing acts of destruction and have been convicted. None is currently serving prison time, ELF says.
The group's acts against housing developments target luxury developments that it claims destroy wetlands, farmlands or forested areas.
The ELF spokesperson said passive methods of fighting urban sprawl fall short and fail to raise awareness that the arsons do. Destructive acts attract attention.
"A demonstration of people opposing urban sprawl in a township of Michigan might get local news coverage (at best), the destruction of two luxury houses receives national attention," the spokesperson says. "The economic impact to the developer coupled with the increased public awareness of the problem are powerful methods of resistance."
Although group members have not attacked inhabited targets, police worry that someday arsonists will make a mistake or a firefighter will get hurt or killed.
But the ELF spokesperson noted that no one has been hurt or killed.
"Precautions are taken (as has been borne out in evidence) to ensure that area of action is free of all human and non-human life," the spokesperson said.
The Building Industry Association has advised its members to take precautions against ELF acts, said Steve Perlman, BIA president. The BIA will conduct an emergency meeting of its members to address the issue.
Perlman said ELF's acts are not achieving anything.
"It has not deterred" any building, he said. "There's been no deterrence on an individual's right to freedom of choice."
At Willow Ridge, a representative of a builder in the subdivision said the arsons have produced the unintended effect of drawing more potential home buyers.
"We've got more people coming to look at homes," the representative said. "I think it's curiosity. There's been publicity, and people noticed there's nice homes in here."
The ELF spokesperson said it's too early in its 6-year history to tell whether the group has accomplished its goals.
"If the insurance rates and development costs go up due to the work of economic saboteurs, we believe that this will have long-term impact, but that requires a longer vision and a long course of work that may or may not be undertaken by ELF activists," the spokesperson said.
ELF formed in 1992 in England by members of the pro-environmental group Earth First! who wanted to use criminal tactics.
It is associated with the animal-rights group Animal Liberation Front.
|
If
you have come to this page from an outside location click
here to get back to mindfully.org |
