11 are indicted in ecoterror arsons

WASHINGTON -- Eleven people have been indicted for a series of arsons linked to radical environmental groups -- including a 1998 attack on a ski resort in Vail, Colo., and a 2001 fire at the University of Washington Horticultural Center in Seattle -- top government officials announced Friday.

Prosecutors said they believe the suspects carried out 17 separate attacks in five states from 1996 to 2001 on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front.

FBI Director Robert Mueller said the 65-count indictment returned Thursday by a federal grand jury in Eugene, Ore., would deal a "substantial blow" to the informal movement of radical environmental activists and animal rights crusaders.

"Today's indictment marks significant progress in our attempts to combat animal rights extremists and ecoterrorists," Mueller told a news conference here Friday. "Persons who conduct this type of activity are going to spend a long time in jail -- and they should understand that -- regardless of the motive."

The indictment alleges that suspects conspired to commit arson in California, Colorado, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming, including attacks on a tree farm in Columbia County, Ore., ranger stations throughout the state and an Agriculture Department wildlife facility in Olympia, Wash.

According to the indictment, the suspects also destroyed a high- tension power line tower near Bend, Ore.

"Their trail of destruction across the Pacific Northwest and beyond resulted in millions of dollars of property damage," said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

The indictments follow the arrest of six of the suspects in December and the arrest of two others earlier this week. Charged were Chelsea Dawn Gerlach, Sarah Kendall Harvey, Daniel Gerard McGowan, Stanislas Gregory Meyerhoff, Jonathan Mark Christopher Paul, Suzanne Savoie, Darren Todd Thurston and Kevin M. Tubbs.

Three others -- Joseph Dibee, Josephine Sunshine Overaker and Rebecca Rubin -- are believed to be living outside the United States.

Gonzales said the defendants called themselves "the family" and operated as a domestic terror "cell" on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front. The two groups took responsibility for many of the attacks, in some cases issuing press releases to that effect.

According to the indictment, the suspects fashioned bombs out of milk jugs, plastic buckets, petroleum products and homemade timers.

Justice Department investigators -- including agents with the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms -- along with local law enforcement and other government agencies tracked the crimes for nearly a decade.

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