Skip Nav | Home | Mobile | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Security | Support Us

World

Two firebombings target UCSC vivisectors

lab animal | 03.08.2008 13:29 | Animal Liberation | Health | World

3rd August
Two University of California-Santa Cruz research scientists were targets of firebombs early Saturday, showing another sign of the escalating direct action and violence against university researchers who use animals in vivisection labs.

A passerby on Dickens Way takes in the wreckage of a car that was...
A passerby on Dickens Way takes in the wreckage of a car that was...

Santa Cruz firefighter installs a new fire sprinkler...
Santa Cruz firefighter installs a new fire sprinkler...

Agents from the FBI remove crime scene tape surrounding the Volvo...
Agents from the FBI remove crime scene tape surrounding the Volvo...


What sort of 'people' keep putting their families through this?
Vivisectors - just quit.

Experts from the Mercury News:

A car belonging to a researcher parked at a home on campus was firebombed, destroying the vehicle. In the off-campus incident, a well-known molecular biologist and his family, including two small children, were forced to escape a smoke-filled house using a second-story ladder after a firebomb was intentionally set off, police said. One family member sustained injuries requiring brief hospitalization, and police are calling the firebombing, which occurred shortly before 6 a.m., a case of attempted homicide.

The arsons occurred four days after a customer at Caffe Pergolesi, a downtown Santa Cruz coffeehouse, found fliers listing the names, home addresses, home phone numbers and photos of 13 UC-Santa Cruz science researchers and professors. Police believe unidentified animal rights activists created the fliers, which were made to appear as "wanted posters."

They warned: "Animal abusers everywhere beware; we know where you live; we know where you work; we will never back down until you end your abuse." City and UC-Santa Cruz police contacted most of the people on the list to warn them.

Twelve hours later, firefighters were still trying to restore electricity to the house. The fire burned the front porch and melted the frame of the front door. Police said much of the home filled with smoke as a result of an incendiary device they would only describe as "significantly larger than a Molotov cocktail." A similar device was used to firebomb the car of a researcher. There were no injuries in that incident. Police refused to identify the owner of the car, but that person's name did not appear on the flier.

Santa Cruz police Capt. Steve Clark said Saturday's tandem events are the most serious in a string of events, including an attempted bombing of a Santa Cruz squad car in March 2007, that police believe are related to violent animal-liberation protesters.

'String of attacks'

In late February, six masked intruders broke into the home as the family celebrated a daughter's 8th birthday.

"The pattern and string of attacks has been escalating against the research and science community here as well as at other University of California campuses," Clark said.

Professors and researchers at the University of California-Berkeley and University of California-Los Angeles also have been targeted, including by firebombings in Los Angeles. More recently in Berkeley, nine hooded protesters showed up in front of a toxicology professor's off-campus home, scrawling "killer" in chalk on the doorstep and shattering the window of the home, and a window in a neighbor's home who scattered the protesters with a garden hose.

The Santa Cruz incidents occurred one day after a mass e-mailing by Stop Animal Exploitation Now!, or SAEN, highlighting what the group called "mounting violations of the animal welfare act" at private labs in Santa Cruz and Berkeley. Police would not say whether there is a connection between the group and Saturday's violence. Clark would only say authorities are looking at several animal liberation groups, including SAEN.

According to SAEN's executive director, Michael Budkie, who said he was in Ohio, the group researches and highlights public records regarding use of animals in research labs. He said the group does not use violent tactics and was not involved in the attacks Saturday in Santa Cruz.

lab animal

Comments

Display the following 12 comments

  1. Blame the police — Liberation supporter
  2. I predict the — Revolutionary Cells - Animal Liberation Brigade
  3. The heat keeps coming in California — Until All Are Free TV
  4. Media video from CBS — UAAF-TV
  5. Sad sabs turn to this, sad vivisectors are endangering us all also with dodgy — James
  6. More info on the action — militant antispeciesist
  7. Home, Auto of UC Santa Cruz Vivisectors Set Ablaze — Animal Liberation Press Office
  8. Bomb described as "Molotov cocktail on steroids" — Tony
  9. Vivisector takes to crutches — suprised
  10. Picture of David Feldheim on crutches — ARM
  11. We are on the same team Readers! — nancy fulsom
  12. nancy fulsom — some confusion

Publish

Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

/regional publish include --> /regional search include -->

World Topics

Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

Server Appeal Radio Page Video Page Indymedia Cinema Offline Newsheet

secure Encrypted Page

You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.

If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech