
“Eco-terrorism” was a term developed by the FBI out of the necessity to label and persecute the radical and violent actions of several individuals and groups of activists standing up for the environment.
The FBI defines an “eco-terrorist” as “as the use or threatened use of violence of a criminal nature against innocent victims or property by an environmentally oriented, subnational group for environmental-political reasons, or aimed at an audience beyond the target, often of a symbolic nature.”
Between the 70’s and the early 90’s, groups such as Earth Liberation Front and Earth First! were putting innocent lives at risk and causing millions of dollars of damage to car companies and mills across the country and it needed to be stopped.
While at first it seemed that these efforts to combat eco-terrorism were a step in the right direction, a way to prevent senseless damage and injuries as well as a promotion of peaceful activism, today we can see a clear abuse of these laws and labels by the government. Continue reading →