Recent months have seen a half-dozen state legislatures debating new laws aimed at eco-terrorists who firebomb or otherwise destroy research facilities devoted to animal experiments or genetic research. Now a Federal proposal would treat eco-terrorism as a racketeering offense, and establish a national clearinghouse to track eco-terrorists and document their activities. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is not pleased. PETA’s Washington, DC coordinator Bruce Friedrich objects to the label “eco-terrorist,” telling United Press International that “[t]o compare animal rights activists to terrorists like Tim McVeigh is scare mongering.” This is the same Friedrich who routinely claims that meat causes cancer, and blames milk for allergies, constipation, obesity, and heart disease. He should know scare mongering when he sees it.
