Animal Liberation Front “spokesperson” and bomb-making-manual-vendor David Barbarash is none too pleased about the recent law-enforcement raid of his apartment by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).
In a recent news release from the North American ALF press office (housed in his living room), Barbarash bitterly complained that “the RCMP somehow felt it necessary to kick in the door.” He added that “the wood was shattered, the window was cracked, and the doorframe and wall were damaged.” Barbarash also whined about “ransacked rooms” and “scattered files and garbage.”
The RCMP, Barbarash says, was investigating “relatively minor actions” perpetrated in 1999 against U.S. hunting clubs and a Food and Drug Administration building. In order to convince his readers that these crimes were not worthy of aggressive investigation, Barbarash insists that they “essentially boil down to break and enter, spray painted walls, broken windows and doors, and stolen stuffed animal heads.”
It appears that ALF regards one of these “raids” as a serious crime, and the other as a “minor action.” They sound about the same to us, but it’s clear which one should result in criminal charges.
In addition to arson, economic sabotage, and vandalism on a massive scale, ALF criminals are known for releasing (or “liberating,” in their parlance) animals by the thousands from fur farms and research laboratories. Barbarash’s objection that his “indoor cats were let outside to fend for themselves,” then, is an even greater mark of hypocrisy.
