Tim DeChristopher. Photo by Washington Post Newsweek Interactive.

• “Arson is not getting the environmental movement anywhere – that’s the kind of tactics that just turn people off from the message.”
• “You can’t burn down a building because you disagree.”
• “In the United States, one does not resort to fear and intimidation to make a point or to effect change, but that is what the ELF is all about: violence, arrogance and self-righteousness. It takes time and effort to effect change legally, because other people and other institutions may have different priorities and different viewpoints. Rather than engaging those people and institutions with reason in broad daylight, ELF chooses to engage them with fire and violence in the middle of the night.”

[Oops, that last one is actually a news release quote from the government. It seems that that federal prosecutors and mainstream environmental groups are using the same talking points.]

The recurring message goes something like this: Marie Mason broke the law. She used arson and economic sabotage as political tactics. She’s an extremist. If you protest the right way, though, you don’t have anything to worry about. The government is only going after the radicals.

Here’s the deal folks: naming names, condemning “radicals,” and pledging loyalty oaths didn’t protect anyone during the Red Scare, and it’s not going to protect environmental activists now.

A perfect example of this: A Utah lawmaker is promising to introduce new “eco-terrorism” legislation. His target? It’s not the Earth Liberation Front, Animal Liberation Front, or some shadowy underground group. He’s openly, proudly targeting mainstream environmentalists.

He points to people like Tim DeChristopher, the University of Utah student who disrupted an oil and gas auction by bidding on parcels of land.

Noel [the legislator] said stopping a legal oil lease is no different than “burning down a man’s cattle operation — eco-terrorism.” DeChristopher “took millions of dollars away from us, and he’s laughing at us. It’s not right. It’s not fair.”

This isn’t an isolated example. When incendiary devices were left at the home of a California researcher, the government recklessly blamed it on animal rights activists. The Humane Society of the United States donated money to an “eco-terrorist” witch hunt in order to distance itself from any illegal activity. And you know what happened? It didn’t protect them from industry groups.

I never discuss tactics on this site or in my speaking events. I never talk about the efficacy or morality of direct action, sabotage, arson, or violence. And that’s for one reason: When it comes to the government and corporate campaign to label activists as terrorists, tactics don’t matter.

These people are hitting ELF activists, Greenpeace and Animal Planet with the same, sweeping label. It’s a coordinate campaign to instill fear and chill dissent, and it’s growing every day.

The only way the environmental and animal rights movements are going to make it through this is if mainstream groups stop blaming activists for their repression, stop repeating the government sound bites, and start fighting back.