Let’s remember when the Earth Liberation Front firebombed UW, on this day in 2001 (May 21)
The famous environmental terrorists had one of their most well-known arson cases 18 years ago today. It caused a lot of damage at a time when environmental terrorism was one of the average American’s biggest fears.
Wikipedia sums it up by saying:
The University of Washington firebombing incident was an arson which took place in the early morning hours of May 21, 2001 when a firebomb was set off at Merrill Hall, a part of the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture, causing an estimated $1.5[1] to $4.1[2] million in damages. By 2012 four of five accused conspirators behind the attack admitted their guilt in plea bargains. A fifth committed suicide in federal detention while awaiting trial.
It gets worse:
At some point in the early morning hours of May 21, 2001, a device, which consisted of a digital alarm clock wired to a 9-volt battery and a model-rocket igniter was placed in a filing cabinet in the offices of professor Toby Bradshaw. Tubs of gasoline were then placed near the cabinet, and the timer on the firebomb was set. Around 3:00 AM, a university security officer reported seeing “billowing smoke and flames” rising from the horticultural center’s roof and the fire department was summoned. It took firefighters two hours to put out the conflagration, after which it was found that the office in which the blaze started was burnt down to the studs and significant damage had been done to the central hall of the building as well as several botany labs.[3]
The Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the fire ten days after it transpired.[3] Activists Lacey Phillabaum, Jennifer Kolar, Bill Rodgers, Briana Waters and Justin Solondz eventually admitted their guilt in setting the fire. Prosecutors alleged they were part of ELF cell known as “the Family.”[1][4]
The motivation for the arson was rooted in suspicions by the ELF that Professor Bradshaw, a plant geneticist, was engaging in experiments funded by the industry to produce genetically-engineered trees.[4] In their statement, the ELF claimed that “Bradshaw… continues to unleash mutant genes into the environment that is certain to cause irreversible harm to forest ecosystems… As long as universities continue to pursue this reckless ‘science,’ they run the risk of suffering severe losses. Our message remains clear, we are determined to stop genetic engineering.”[5]
Bradshaw states that while he had considered doing genetic research, at the time he was doing experiments on transgenic tissue samples from poplar trees, a fast-growth species which he hopes could conceivably be used to reduce the need to log natural forests if raised privately on plantations to produce pulp.[2][3] Bradshaw was quoted in the University of Washington alumni magazine as saying, “I have never genetically engineered a tree, much less released one into the environment,” and further explained that of the eighty samples of poplar he had been working with since 1995, none had ever left the laboratory.[2]
The office of professor Bradshaw contained little in the way of actual research material relating to the poplar trees, and the bulk of what was destroyed in the office fire turned out to be Bradshaw’s personal possessions and books.[4] The fire did, however, destroy research materials relating to plant regeneration on Mount St. Helens after the volcanic eruption, materials relating to the restoration of wetlands and prairies, and a cache of stickseed plants which were intended to be transplanted to the Cascade Mountains to replenish dwindling wild stocks.[2][3][4]
With little of his research damaged, Bradshaw affirmed that he would continue his research in the face of the attack. He wrote in a letter to the Los Angeles Times that, “ELF firebombings are hate crimes against those of us whose missions in life are to increase human knowledge and bring a sense of wonder to the classes we teach.”[2]
A new horticultural center was later rebuilt in 2004, costing approximately $7.2 million.[4]
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