Incident Summary:
05/21/2001: Five members of the Animal and Earth Liberations Fronts (ALF and ELF), Stanislas Meyerhoff, Suzanne Savoie, Daniel McGowan, Nathan Block, and Joyanna Zacher, destroyed two buildings, a trailer, and a total of 18 vehicles, in an arson they set using time-delayed incendiary devices, at Jefferson Poplar Farms just outside of Clatskanie, Oregon in the United States. In addition to the two devices which ignited outside the destroyed buildings, three more incendiaries failed to function at a third building. A storage building near by was spray painted with the words, "ELF," and “YOU CANNOT CONTROL WHAT IS WILD!" The total property loss was $994,412. There were no casualties in the incident. The perpetrators sent out a communiqué, claiming the incident in the name of ELF, and stating Jefferson Poplar Farm was targeted "because hybrid poplars are an ecological nightmare threatening native biodiversity in the ecosystem. Our forests are being liquidated and replaced with monocultured tree farms so greedy, earth raping corporations can make more money." This incident was one in a series of two on the same day, the second arson targeting the University of Washington's Horticulture Center in Seattle (52101). The perpetrators were part of a group calling themselves "The Family," which committed nearly 20 arson and ecotage attacks over a 6 year period.
Overview
GTD ID:
200105210006
When:
2001-05-21
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Oregon
City:
Clatskanie
Location Details:
at Jefferson Poplar Farm at 79114 Collins Road five miles north of Clatskanie, OR
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Facility/Infrastructure Attack |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Business |
Name of Entity |
Jefferson Poplar Farms |
Specific Description |
buildings and vehicles at a farm which harvested hybrid poplar and cottonwood trees to be used in the manufacture of paper, outside Clatskanie, OR |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
$994,412.00 |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Incendiary |
Gasoline or Alcohol |
Weapon Details |
buckets of fuel, timing devices, and gasoline-soaked cloth sheets to connect the vehicles |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | Yes |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The incident occurred at about 2:23 a.m., and was one in a series of two attacks on this day. The second was an arson at the Horticulture Center at the University of Washington in Seattle. The perpetrators were part of a group calling themselves "The Family, "which was made up of members of both ELF and ALF, and various combinations of members from the group committed nearly 20 arson and ecotage attacks over a 6 year period. Meyerhoff was sentenced to 13 years in prison, Savoie was sentenced to 4 years and 3 months, McGowan to 7 years, and Block and Zacher were each sentenced to 92 months in prison, for their respective involvement in various incidents over the course of the 6 years. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
5 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
5 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
U.S. Government’s Sentencing Memorandum for CR 06-60069, CR 06-60070, CR 06-60071, CR 06-60078, CR 06-60079, CR 06-60080, CR 06-60120, CR 06-60122, CR 06-60123, CR 06-60124, CR06-60125, and CR 06-60126. U.S. District Court: District of Oregon, Eugene, 2007. |
FBI, "Terrorism 2000/2001,"FBI, DOJ, 2001. |
Legal Affairs Editors, "Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front Members Sentenced in Oregon for Acts of Eco-Terrorism in Five Western States," PR Newswire Association LLC, Public Interest Services, June 5, 2007. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties