Incident Summary:
05/09/1999: Six members of the Animal and Earth Liberations Fronts (ALF and ELF), Jacob Ferguson, Stanislas Meyerhoff, Kevin Tubbs, Josephine Overaker, Chelsea Gerlach, and a sixth individual, placed two incendiary devices on the exterior of the office of the Childers Meat Company in Eugene, Oregon in the United States. One incendiary was placed in the southwest corner of the entrance alcove and the second one on the west side between two buildings. The blasts caused the building to be completely destroyed, with damage estimated at $1,177,000. There were no casualties in the incident. On May 27, the perpetrators sent out a communiqué, claiming responsibility for the arson in the name of "ALF," stating that the devices were purposefully placed near a natural gas line, and that "As long as companies continue to operate and profit off of Mother Earth and Her sentient beings, the Animal Liberation Front will continue to target these operations and their insurance companies until they are all out of business." The perpetrators were part of a group calling themselves "The Family," which committed nearly 20 arson and ecotage attacks over a 6 year period.
Overview
GTD ID:
199905090005
When:
1999-05-09
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Oregon
City:
Eugene
Location Details:
The incident occurred at 29476 Airport Road.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Facility/Infrastructure Attack |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Business |
Name of Entity |
Childers Meat Company |
Specific Description |
meat company in Eugene, OR |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Major (likely > $1 million but < $1 billion) |
Value of Property Damage |
$1,177,000.00 |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Incendiary |
Gasoline or Alcohol |
Weapon Details |
four containers of a diesel and gasoline mixture, placed at two locations in the office, ignited via timed ignition devices. |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Doubt Terrorism Proper () |
No |
Additional Information |
Incident occurred at about 3:10am. The perpetrators were part of a group calling themselves "The Family," which committed nearly 20 arson and ecotage attacks over a 6 year period. Ferguson became a government witness and in return, was sentenced to 2 years probation for his crimes during this 6 year period. Tubbs was sentenced to 12 years and 7 months in prison; Meyerhoff was sentenced to 13 years in prison; Gerlach was sentenced to 9 years; Overtaker remained fugitive. The sixth perpetrator's name had not been released because he/she had not yet been indicted as of 2007. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
6 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
4 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
U.S. Government’s Sentencing Memorandum for CR 06-60069, CR 06-60070, CR 06-60071, CR 06-60078, CR 06-60079, CR 06-60080, CR 06-60120, CR 06-60122, CR 06-60123, CR 06-60124, CR06-60125, and CR 06-60126. U.S. District Court: District of Oregon, Eugene, 2007. |
FBI, "Terrorism in the United States: 1999," Counterterrosism Threat Assessment and Warning Unit, Counterterrorism Division, FBI, DOJ, 1999. |
Eric Collins, "Animal Rights Group Says It Started Fire at Oregon Meat Plant," The Register Guard, June 1, 1999. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties