ALF, ELF suspects raided, arrested
From ANIMAL PEOPLE, March 2000:
Investigators from the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and U.S. Forest Service on February 2 raided the Liberation Collective house in Portland, Oregon, home of frequent direct action spokesperson Craig Rosebraugh, 27. Rosebraugh was also subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury on February 29. Rosebraugh was previously subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in September 1997. Identified by Robert Sullivan of The New York Times Magazine in December 1998 as “The Face of Eco-Terrorism,” Rosebraugh has since June 1997 often been the first person to publicize actions attributed to the Earth Liberation Front, including the October 1998 Vail ski lift arson and a New Year’s Eve fire at the Michigan State University Hall of Agriculture. Rosebraugh has also publicized some actions attributed to the Animal Liberation Front, but insists he does not know who the ELF and ALF perpetrators are. Rosebraugh served on the steering committee for the 1999 Primate Freedom T o u r, along with longtime activists Rick Bogle and Linda Howard. It was reputedly a shaky alliance, in part due to strong differences over the use of clandestine tactics. Rosebraugh’s presence on the bus is believed to have caused BATF and the Wisconsin Justice Department Division of Criminal Investigation to extensively search it when a stop at Madison coincided with two nearby alleged ALF actions against mink ranchers.
A fur farm, a furrier, a steakhouse, and a hamburger restaurant in the Salt Lake City area were vandalized in the name of the A L F between November 13, 1999 and January 13, 2000––the first “ALF” action locally since numerous “Straight Edge” activists were convicted of committing a series of vandalism attacks, arsons, and a pipebombing in 1995-1997.
The name “Hunt Retribution S q u a d , ” associated with a string of threats and firebombings in Britain in 1992-1993, reportedly resurfaced recently in connection with threats sent to Prince William, 17, over his participation in fox hunting. According to Christopher Morgan a n d Rupert Halden of the London Times, a “former member of the Royal Protection Group” told them that “in the early 1990s the HRS planted a series of explosive devices at sites that Princess Anne was due to visit,” and “also outlined threats to assassinate Prince Charles and the princess, as well as menacing other members of the royal family.”
Barry Horne, 48, convicted in 1997 of committing a series of arsons around Britain in the name of the ALF, and now serving an 18-year prison term, on January 27 ended a 174-day hunger strike during which he took fluids but no solid food. Horne in 1998 fasted altogether for 65 days.
Long Island Animal Defense League members Andy Stepanian and Ron Blaich were reportedly charged with criminal mischief on February 2 for allegedly breaking the windows of a fur store in Huntington, New York. According to ALF spokesperson David Barbarash, who is himself facing charges of mailing razor blades and pipe bombs in Canada, “The Long Island police are apparently trying to link these two with over 30 ALF actions which have occurred on Long Island in the past year.” Barbarash mentioned the theft of a 27-year-old macaque named Annie from a West Islip pet store on August 27, 1999, and “coordinated attacks against four McDonald’s outlets on October 15, resulting in tens of thousands of dollars in damage. Numerous actions of property damage have taken place against Long Island furriers and meat companies in the past year,” Barbarash added.
