A man who sent letter bombs in the UK apparently used hype and fear around “eco-terrorism” as a “smokescreen.” When news of the letter bombs first broke back in January, there was a lot of talk about the fact that one of the envelopes had the words “Dr Barry Horne, RIP” (the name of a “notorious animal rights terrorist” who died on a hunger strike, according to the prosecutor) along with a small Animal Liberation Front logo.
Whadda you know, it looks like the crimes turned out to have nothing to do with Barry Horne or the ALF. From the BBC:
During the four-day trial, Cooper told the jury his anger at the country’s authorities had intensified when his father Clive was unable to have DNA samples removed from the police database, even though he had been cleared in 2003 of assault.
“I felt my father had been used and I felt unable to do anything about it,” he said.
Cooper had also earlier told the court the letters he sent containing explosive devices were intended to cause fear rather than harm.
They were sent, he added, to organisations he believed were connected to government control, surveillance and monitoring.
Sounds a lot like the Boston pet shop that burned down, and had “No more exploitation of animals” spray-painted on the storefront. Turns out the owner was trying to use fear of “animal rights extremists” for an insurance scam.
Or, like when a UK fish farm owner blamed animal activists for poisoning fish.
That’s one of the dangers of all this “terrorism” scare-mongering. It’s all about opportunism. Corporations, industry groups and politicians are pushing the T-word to protect their own interests, with a reckless disregard for the civil liberties implications of it all. And individuals and smaller businesses see what’s going on, and they jump on the bandwagon to take advantage of the blame game as well.