FBI targets domestic terrorists; after years of trying to warn the public about the dangers of ecoterrorism, critics of extremist movements find themselves winning the war for public opinion

0 Comments | Insight on the News, April 22, 2002 | by Valerie Richardson

"ELF and al-Qaeda are fanatics in the same technical sense," Arnold says. "They don't care what their victims think. Al-Qaeda espouses violence, and ELF will get there. It's already there in the United Kingdom."

At the same time, their critics are growing more vocal. Earlier this month, the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Nichols Dezenhall played host to an anti-ecoterrorism conference in Washington aimed at exposing the problem to business leaders and policymakers. Among the panelists was Kelly Stoner, executive director of the Stop Eco-Violence, a 2-month-old Oregon-based group aimed at "turning public apathy into unified outrage." A communications specialist, she says she decided to become involved after the March 2001 bombing of Joe Romania Chevrolet, a Eugene, Ore.-based car dealership. The attack destroyed 35 sport utility vehicles and caused $1 million in damage.

In its communique, ELF declared that "gas-guzzling SUVs are at the forefront of this vile imperialist caravan toward self-destruction." But what Stoner saw was the destruction of a family owned business that had contributed to the Eugene economy for 40 years. "They put a real sense of fear in the community," she says. "And there's no telling how far these groups will go."

VALERIE RICHARDSON WRITES FOR Insight's SISTER DAILY, THE WASHINGTON TIMES. LAURA HUDSON CONTRIBUTED TO THIS REPORT.