Incident Summary:
10/15/2001: Six members of the Animal and Earth Liberations Fronts (ALF and ELF), Stanislas Meyerhoff, Joseph Dibee, Jennifer Kolar, Darren Thurston, Rebecca Rubin, and Kevin Tubbs, placed four incendiary devices, each consisting of a five-gallon plastic bucket which contained a mixture of gasoline and a heavy petroleum distillate and timing devices, at the BLM Wild Horse Corrals in Litchfield, California in the United States. The devices were ignited, and destroyed the barn, causing $207,497 in damages. There were no casualties in the incident. On October 17, the perpetrators sent out a communique, claiming responsibility for the arson in the name of ELF, but also posting the letter on the ALF website. In their statement, the group criticized BLM' slaughter of wild horses, and threatened future targeting of "industries and organizations that seek to profit by destroying the earth." 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:
200110150005
When:
2001-10-15
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
California
City:
Litchfield
Location Details:
at the Litchfield Wild Horse and Burro Facility off of US Highway 395 in Litchfield, CA
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Facility/Infrastructure Attack |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Bureau of Land Management |
Specific Description |
Bureau of Land Management Wild Horse Corrals in Litchfield, CA |
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 |
$207,497.00 |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Incendiary |
Gasoline or Alcohol |
Weapon Details |
Four incendiary devices, each consisting of a five-gallon plastic bucket which contained a mixture of gasoline and a heavy petroleum distillate, coupled with sophisticated delayed igniters with redundant dual timers. The timers were made of an electronic alarm clock functioning to complete an electric circuit between a 9-volt battery and a rocket igniter. The igniter was placed between matches surrounding a road flare. The road flare was on a lid above the bucket of fuel and served to ignite it. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
The incident occurred shortly after midnight. 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. Tubbs was sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in prison, Meyerhoff was sentenced to 13 years in prison, Kolar was sentenced to 5 years in prison, Thurston was sentenced to 3 years and 1 month in prison, and Dibee and Rubin remained fugitives. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
6 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
4 |
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