The FBI repeatedly has cited the Animal Liberation Front as one of the most dangerous special interest domestic terrorist organizations in the nation.
ALF, an animal rights organization, claimed responsibility for vandalism to the LSU Inhalation Research Facility in an e-mail to The Reveille Sept. 24.
The FBI and LSUPD still are investigating the break-in and vandalism.
A 2002 FBI report to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence described ALF as “one of the most active extremist elements in the United States” and stated the ALF “has emerged as a serious threat.”
But Rodney Coronado, a former ALF activist, denies animal liberation is terrorism.
“If it is, then I’d rather live in today’s society as a criminal who saves animal lives than as an apathetic citizen who doesn’t care about their suffering,” he said.
Coronado was convicted in 1992 for arson at a Michigan State University animal research laboratory. He was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison.
“You don’t have to describe yourself as an animal activist to be a member of ALF,” Coronado said. “Any person who believes in the tenets of ALF can be a member.”
There is no official ALF membership registration, said Ann Berlin, an ALF Web site webmaster in the United Kingdom.
“ALF works in very small autonomous cells that call themselves ALF members and follow the ALF credo,” she said.
The decision to engage in activism belongs solely to these cells, Coronado said. There is no national direction or coordination for ALF members.
“We really don’t know what other cells are doing,” he said. “Basically, ALF says, ‘Free animals. Don’t hurt anyone. Good luck.’ That’s it.”
ALF members rarely inform other cells of their activism plans, said Virginia, an ALF webmaster in California who declined to give her last name.
“If the ALF member responsible for the LSU action wasn’t an idiot, then only he/she knows anything,” she said.
The e-mail sent to The Reveille claiming responsibility for the vandalism cited Arthur Penn, director of the Inhalation Research Facility, and his research involving animal testing.
Sometimes, cell members find information about researchers such as Penn from employees of labs and hospitals conducting animal testing, Coronado said. But they also can find the information on the Internet.
Penn and his research at New York University’s Nelson Institute of Environmental Medicine are described on a few animal activism Web sites, including the New England Anti-Vivisectioning Society and The Group for the Education of Animal Related Issues.
His research at NYU involved testing the effects of carbon monoxide on the buildup of plaque in arteries. The experiments were conducted on chickens.
That ALF claimed responsibility for the action against Penn and the facility is unusual, Virginia said.
“If the goal is to increase public awareness this will backfire, because the activist’s side of the issue won’t be equally represented in the media,” she said.
When Coronado was an active member, his cell stopped publicly claiming responsibility.
“It just became a security concern,” he said. “We were just helping authorities.”
ALF had a public press representative, David Barbarism, who officially claimed responsibility in the name of the organizations. But he relinquished the position, stating in an ALF press release, “I now believe that there is no real need for an ‘official’ public face to represent the Animal Liberation Front.”
The administrative structure supporting the ALF press office is as disconnected as membership, Virginia said.
“As far as I know, I’m one of eight people given the password to the ALF Web site,” she said. “As far as I can tell, there is one person from Singapore, one from Korea, one from Canada, two from England, one from Ireland and two from the U.S.”
The press office can be reached only by e-mail, and despite several attempts by The Reveille to contact the office, ALF has not responded.