The Earth Liberation Front Speaks!

Why commit arson and sabotage? 
We interviewed the anonymous spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front earlier this year.

Green Monkey:  Why do people commit direct action? Especially "extreme" examples 
like the arson at Vail and torching SUVs?

We believe that people are driven towards direct action as a response 
to the feeling that more traditional forms of activism can't work 
without a component of economic sabotage.  Direct action serves a 
double purpose of both costing target businesses and agencies 
economically as well as being dramatic enough to garner public 
attention to an issue - it is these twin results that continue to make 
illegal actions popular with a segment of those resisting the 
dominating aspects of industrial society.

Is this kind of direct action effective? What does it accomplish?

Effectiveness is something that is not easily measured. There have 
certainly been some examples of direct effectiveness in terms of 
costing businesses for the price of their actions (such as the rise in 
insurance costs for SUV dealers in the United States as a result of a 
wave of vandalism acts and fires) - however effectiveness primarily has 
to be gauged over the long-term. The recent anti-sprawl fires in the US 
are an example of how actions can be both economically effective (in 
terms of costing developers extra money in security costs), but also 
effective because the whole discussion around urban sprawl was opened 
up in mainstream news as a direct result of these fires. An issue that 
the Sierra Club has been hammering at getting into the public 
consciousness for a decade, and all it takes is a few well-timed 
development fires and within a week there are editorials on urban 
sprawl popping up in every major newspaper across the United States. 
That is effective in terms of achieving the goals stated by the ELF - 
no question about it - but is it effective in bringing about massive 
changes to  industrial society as whole? Not yet.

Is the ELF revolutionary? Why?

Revolutionary in the sense that the ELF's goals seem to be to bring 
about large-scale social and ecological change - yes.  There is no 
question that the ELF is motivated not only by environmental issues, 
but in their messages over the past decade there have definitely been 
statement that hint at a broader anti-capitalist analysis and a desire 
to bring an end to our current societal organization.

It seems every time an action happens, the mainstream enviros are 
eager to condemn the ELF as "terrorists." Why the backlash? Is there 
any way to get the big greens on side?

The backlash is because mainstream enviros are afraid of being lumped 
in with "terrorists" and they seem to believe that most of the public 
is so stupid as to equate the Sierra Club with the ELF. We don't 
believe the public interested in environmental issues (or the public at 
large) can't discern between mainstream and illegal action groups. 
What's funny is that the extreme actions of the ELF actually capture 
media and public interest in a way that mainstream enviros don't - 
which in the end gives a lot of space and media time to the above 
ground enviro groups to discuss their perspective on a given issues 
(such as sprawl or SUV use).  We believe that the mainstream enviros 
wouldn't get nearly the airtime they do without the extreme animal and 
enviro groups carrying out illegal actions. However, while this may be 
true, we don't believe the mainstream enviros will ever officially be 
on side since they are reliant on large amounts of funding from not 
only the general public but often also corporations trying to "green" 
their image. In no way can those groups ally with radicals who break 
the law, their funders would not like it.

I know lots of folks who get a secret thrill from hearing about 
particularly dramatic actions. Why is that? Do you think more people 
support the ELF than we're led to believe?

We get lots of "love letters" for the ELF every week which tells us 
that there's greater public support out then the media would have us 
believe. We think that ELF actions are popular with people because they 
are expressions of resistance in a society that is frustrated, 
controlled, and ultimately stunted. To see a group act outside of the 
social training is secretly thrilling to everyone who wishes they too 
could break free just a little bit and go after the industrial 
mechanisms that keep us enslaved. There is also a strong psychological 
component to the use of fire as a tactic - the ultimate anti-social act 
is to burn down that which society prizes (buildings, vehicles etc) - 
to reduce that to ashes is the ultimate "Fuck You" and on some level we 
respond to that very strongly.

The ELF is now on the FBI's domestic terrorism list. Has this caused 
problems for people who talk openly about the ELF in the US? 

Activists vocally supporting the ELF in the US have definitely had a 
lot of problems over the past few years with the FBI going around and 
generally harassing them with raids, interrogations and the threats of Grand Juries. 
The last above ground press officer for the ELF was raided 3 times in two years, and 
even the Canadian ALF Press Officer was raided a year and half ago by 
the RCMP on behalf of the US Government. The FBI is generally 
frustrated by their low rates of successful prosecution in ELF and 
other direct action sabotage cases which means that they will go after 
anyone above ground who is vocal and supportive. We are currently 
asking people to support Harjit Gill in California who is one of these 
cases of FBI persecution. More information on his case is available at 
www.earthliberationfront.com. 

In Portland, OR, Jeff “Free” Luers was sentenced to 23 years for burning 
SUVs, more than if he'd committed rape or manslaughter. How has the 
threat of harsh punishment affected the amount of ELF sabotage?

We don't think it has. Jeff was sentenced 3 years ago, and since that 
time we have seen an increase in the number of actions and the amount 
of damage caused. The largest eco-sabotage action in US history was 
carried out in August in San Diego costing $50 million in damages and 
2003 as a whole was an incredibly costly year in terms of ELF damages - 
so there is no evidence that harsher punishments are deterring 
eco-sabotage.

But almost everyone who commits these major crimes in defense of the 
environment gets away scot-free. Why is that?

Meticulous planning and attention to detail. Not getting caught is a 
matter of planning an action over a long-period of time so as not to 
run into any surprises during the action, and leaving no dna or other 
forensic evidence behind that could track the police back to the person 
who committed the action. An important adjunct to this of course if the 
rule of secrecy at all costs. The few people who have been arrested 
over the past few years generally tend to be young (under 21) and to a 
number, every one of them had made the mistake of talking to someone 
they shouldn't have (a girlfriend, school friends etc). who either 
turned them in or caved under FBI interrogation.  The people carrying 
out the larger-scale actions are likely more experienced in planning 
and carrying out covert activities which means they leave few if no 
clues behind (at least according to FBI reports) which would tie them 
as individuals to the action at any point.

Sometimes people ask how they can "join" the ELF. What advice would 
you give to folks who want to be more active?

No one can join an existing ELF cell, since they operate anonymously 
and aren't contactable - but those who want to join the ELF need only 
to carry out actions following the ELF guidelines, and claim those as 
ELF actions in a public way (through graffiti at the site or a 
communique to the Press Office, or some other means). We would 
recommend that those wanting to carry out any illegal direct action be 
aware of the length of time and complexity of detail that planning will 
take, that practicing with incendiary devices in a remote area is 
recommended before trying to use one in any action, and that it is a 
good idea to start small and over time (through experience) build up to 
larger scale actions. In addition to that we suggest only working with 
people who you know very well, and being solid in all security measures 
(such as not talking outside of the group). http://security.resist.ca 
has good information on security for activists that should be read and 
taken to heart by anyone proposing to break the law.

Where can we get more information about the ELF?

www.earthliberationfront.com
earth first! journal
frontline-news (mailing list hosted on resist.ca)
these are the sources we contribute to regularly as the press 
office.

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