Arson At Hummer Dealership May Be Ecoterrorism

Arson At Hummer Dealership May Be Ecoterrorism
Showroom, Dozens Of Vehicles Destroyed

POSTED: 6:55 a.m. PDT August 22, 2003
UPDATED: 8:08 a.m. PDT August 22, 2003
WEST COVINA, Calif. -- Fire raged through a Hummer dealership in the Los Angeles area Friday morning, and graffiti spray-painted on many of the damaged vehicles indicate that the fire was set intentionally.

The fire broke out at Clippenger Chevrolet at 1900 E. Garvey Ave., just south of the Interstate 10 freeway in West Covina. By the time firefighters arrived, the dealership showroom was engulfed in flames and dozens of expensive sport utility vehicles were burning in the outside lot.

Firefighters had the blaze largely under control by about 6:30 a.m. There was no immediate estimate of the damage.

Chief Richard Greene of the West Covina Fire Department told NBC that he believed the fires were deliberately set because there were multiple fires.
edit ...
Video from the helicopter of NBC 7/39's sister station in Los Angeles showed "I love pollution" painted on the hood of one Hummer and "Fat lazy Americans" sprayed on the side of another. One vehicle had the letters "ELF" sprayed on a door.
More ...
http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/2424844/detail.html
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I can see it now, Ahnuld crying, "the horror, the horror."

Here in San Diego we had a nearly-finished building torched allegedly by the Earth Liberation Front. I'm very familiar with the area where the fire occurred. The place was graded over 25 years ago, completely destroying any semblence of its natural condition. The time to save the vernal pools was in the '70s. We who lived in the area tried to save it and failed, defeated by the corrupt political machine running the city at the time.

The fire did about 50 million dollars in damage and polluted the air. The end result will be higher housing and insurance costs for everyone, and hundreds more trees cut down to provide lumber for rebuilding.

It's not like Hummers have been flying out the doors lately at the car dealerships.

Sure, burn the vehicles you can't sell, paint 'ELF' and 'I hate America' on a few of them -- instant 'eco-terrorism'.

Good thing is, insurance investigators as a group are some of the most skeptical, cynical people I've ever met. I imagine they'll give this a thorough going over.

Your post was excellent!

:-)

a student ID from Evergreen State
a copy of The Monkeywrench Gang

:-)

calling home to the factory, just before going up in flames.

I'm trackin'.

Take a look around. Insurance money, sheesh.

although how in the hell that can ever be verified is another matter.

I'm sure that Faux would be the very first organization that ELF would contact.

:eyes:

I'm intuitively certain that it's a freeper who sent that mail. Forward a copy to the FBI, and let them trace the mail headers.

I'd like to see their financial statements before believing it was eco-terrorism.

Also, what is the definition of eco-terrorism? This sort of crime used to be called arson.

The dealer was having financial problems and needed the insurance money? Not unheard of...
Just how ARE Hummer sales these days?

they appear to be going swimmingly.

lots of tiny women perched up high at the helm of these battleships, headed out to mariner's games & costco.

LOL outrageously funny
"in seattle"

and often black guys.

Yeah, I'm gonna flip off a hummer-load of black guys.

I have to fight the urge. I want to spit on all of them.

Actually I'd like to throw big blood-bombs at them. Preferably Iraqi blood.

Despite their muscle-bound macho bonehead marketing pitch, the majority of the hummers I've seen in the DC area always seem to have the heads of these tiny little women peeking over the steering wheel like Kilroy.

I usually see short men. They used to buy the biggest pickup trucks as their compensatory penis - but now they have Humvees.

Governor Benson of NH being one of them. :puke:

My co-workers lives not too far from that dealership. Something is very fishy about this. You have a car lot full of very expensive autos and a security guard(s) don't see a person or persons running around? Then the place gets torched.

Something ain't rite!

#1: homegrown terrorists (that aren't RW survivalist/white power types) hate you for your 'freedoms'

AND

#2 environmentalists are evil

Point one connects AQ-type terrorists with domestic groups, ready-made for demonization.

Point two connects Sierra-club type greens (that are against * 'Thin the forests' plan) with "extremists".

Cui bono?

my thinking exactly. I don't trust these neocon creeps for anything.

I'm all for eco-protesting--so long as it doesn't result in violence or destruction of property. Especially when it comes to spiking trees.

By the way, I see at least 4 of these behemoths on the way to work every day. They're all over Omaha, which is of course wealthy and Republican.

The ELF is a terror organization, pure and simple. Arson is not a protest, it is a crime. And don't give me the bullsh*t about, "well pollution is a crime against nature." You do not fight one crime with another. It's that type of mentality that has led to the death penalty. Remember, if you take an 'eye for an eye' long enough, everyone will be blind.
</rant>

not whether or not the ELF is terrorist or not.

I don't think this helps the ELF cause (whatever that may be) and it certainly does not help the middle of the road voter who wants to think they support a healthy environment.

Point is, it doesn't seem to help the ELF 'cause', so I'm questioning the reports that this action was done by a certain group. It's probably more likely that the dealer himself did this in an insurance scam.

we would have called it "vandalism". Terrorism generally involves acts against people directly-thus the use of the word "terror" (terrified Hummers)? It's kind of like the new definition of 'hero"-now any poor soul who is unfortunate enough to die at the hands of an aggressor is now a "Hero"-like all 3000 victims of 9/11, not just those that risked their lives to save or try to save others.

I don't condone any act of vandalism. But I can see where something like this could evolve to the point where teens with spray paint could end up in a Gitmo death chamber, which is a pretty scary thought.

I once sold cars, for a very short period of time thankfully.

The business is lucrative, and as we all know, usually underhanded. The dealerships make a good profit, as do the insurance companies. The auto makers will make more, the dealerships will put more on the lot, and the insurance companies will happily pay the damages and then collect premiums on the new vehicles shipped in.

This is absurd. It will not do anything other than make the average person more pissed off about attempts to rectify other environmental issues.

At 10mpg? 15? Do I hear 20? As anything that burns fossil fuels will give off polution, why single out the Hummer? Why not burn a Toyota dealership? Why not blow up a Honda factory in Ohio?

Or did they blow up the dealership because the Hummer is a symbol? If so, that's pretty arbitrary. That means that the Hummer dealer and his employees and their families will go hungry, while the Cadillac dealer fills his pockets through Escalade sales?

Or should we all ride bicycles? Are they made using eco-friendly processes? How about the tires? The paint? Are you sure?

Or should we all walk. Who made your shoes? Was it a Malaysian child? Are you sure?

Or maybe we should strip off our clothes and all head back to the jungles and steppes.

:mad:

to have a problem with Humvees.

or at least gandhi, to criticize any aspect of contemporary american society.

otherwise you're just a hypocrite.

against the war? do you use petroleum? or plastic? then shut up.

of course, should you weave your own cloth from hemp or your flock of sheep to make your own clothes using a waterwheel-powered sewing machine, you're dismissed as a out-of-touch hippy.

or a green nazi.

or an ecoterrorist.

you seem to be questioning the entire argument against wasteful vehicles, aside from the illegal tactics that may have happened here.

I'm assuming they would go after the Hummer because they are more wasteful than Toyotas or Hondas.

Let me respond to your ad absurdum reasoning in kind. Suppose people started driving cars that were twice as big as the Hummer, which got 0.005 mpg? Your argument would still hold, imo, which suggests to me it's not much of an argument.

The Hummer gets single-digit mileage, which is obscene. But another SUV may get 18 mpg, which is double the Hummer's--but still really bad. Should we torch its dealer, too? What about a large rear-wheel-drive luxury car that gets 23 mpg. That's only 5 mpg better than the aforementioned SUV. Is it in for the arson treatment? My Nissan gets about 32 mpg, which is quite good... but not as good as a Toyota Prius. Should you spraypaint eco-slogans on my car? Come to think of it, the Prius, which still uses petrol, isn't as eco-friendly as an electric car. Should we scratch 'polluter!' into its paintwork?

You see what I'm saying?

Listen, I was just making a point that the Hummer is an arbitrary symbol of American excess. Toyota makes gas-guzzling 4x4s too. So does Honda. Hell, even Porsche makes an SUV now.

I'm saying, 'everything in moderation.' In other words, the ELF needs to chill, just as fat-arse Americans need to chill (and realize that unless they are Montana ranchers, they don't f*cking need military-style SUVs).

Do you need your computer or do you just enjoy it?

If someone wants a hummer then by all means they should have one. It's called choice and it's part of what makes America great.

And, yes, I do need my computer. I got rid of my landline and my mobile won't call overseas, where my father and brother live. I keep in contact with them via e-mail.

As for SUVs? Yes, I can see situations in which one might need one. I think the Hummer is pushing it a bit, though.

I'm all for more nudity, and the resulting plagues and famine would nicely thin out the human population. Maybe even get it down to something managable.

Plagues and famine?
Just curious...

It's quite clear:

Nudity -> Collapse of the Family -> Plagues and Famine

.

Simply amazing. I guess I should shower with my clothes on.

a whole different slant.:think: Thanks!

.

Or should we all ride bicycles? Are they made using eco-friendly processes? How about the tires? The paint? Are you sure?

Wow, nice attitude. So what's wrong with riding bicycles? Are you one of those people that thinks that bicycles get in the way of traffic? Psssst. Bicycles are traffic! Oh yeah, guess where paved roads came from. Bike paths. And to answer your question about "eco friendly" processes, bicycles do use some "non-green" manufacturing processes, but far less than your average auto and likely 1/10000th that of an auto. After that bicycles are pretty much benign to the environment and actually have many benefits: saving money on road wear and tear, mental health(except when riding near cars), physical health and so on.

A 9/11 scale disaster occurs in the US every 27 days. That is, every 27 days, 3000 Americans get killed in car wrecks, with a few innocent pedestrians thrown in for good measure. That comes out to over 40,000 'Muricans that get killed every year by Hummers and Civics and Caddys and Beemers and Woodies and what ever else. Of course those are just the immediate deaths. These don't count the indirect deaths, from years of breathing polluted air to invading countries to steal their oil to power the autos, to obesity related to inactivity. The list is quite long.

At 10mpg? 15? Do I hear 20? As anything that burns fossil fuels will give off polution, why single out the Hummer? Why not burn a Toyota dealership? Why not blow up a Honda factory in Ohio?

That would be a start..... I'm kidding of course, but I'm not going to shed a tear over the loss of a single one of these behemoths. Fuck them and the people that drive them. They are ruining MY world.

Oh, lastly, highway deaths in this country are increasing again, in large part due to all the SUV drivers, in their percieved safety cage, driving the things too fast and losing control and killing themselves.

D Wolfman

Hummer dealerships and/or consumers (if indeed this WAS ecoterrorism). Their dear leader, the Simian, and his pals have screwed things up so bad that the cost of gas is skyrocketing. Here in northern Michigan the stations raised prices four times in one day (yesterday).

Oh yes, the Hummer people heard the criticisms and laughed. I don't think they'll be laughing much longer.

Julie

I roll my window down real fast and flip the driver a big fat FINGER on an outstretched arm.

Just doing my part. :)

As a motorist I take exception to any behavior that carries a risk of inciting road rage.

If they shoot at you don't forget to duck.

and with a Hummer it is very tough to do a 180 in traffic. So don't worry about me. I'm not. :)

... and the idiots who buy them suck also.

But burning stuff is not the answer.

they will "claim" the action. they do with all their other actions.

n/t

They give REAL environmentalists a bad name.

It is entirely possible that ELF is indeed responsible, but if I were going to torch cars for insurance fraud or even for amusement, I'd be damn sure to spray paint ELF on them too, so as to deflect attention from myself.

The jagoffs at KTLA were pissed that someone didn't want them to have SUV's. 'How dare they' was the attitude.

When Arianna's group did those ads against these sorts of vehicles he was all upset "how dare you question my 'freedom' to drive a big polluter vehicle that I don't even need".

Channel 11 morning news is much better . . . even if it's on Fox . . . Jillian is a hoot!

I don't have a link yet, but my office worker said that more car dealers in the area were hit. Not fires, but more cars were tagged with the "ELF" signature and same messages.

Especially the sales in the California economy. All it takes is one person with a spray can. Not saying thats what happened, but its possible.

use a spray can and print can put "ALF" on something, doesn't prove a thing. What better way to point the finger at someone else than signing another's "signature".

Now, if there were people in the vehicles and shop at the time, I'd say otherwise.

If someone burns a cross in your front yard, is it terrorism or vandalism? If someone throws a brick covered with insulting messages through your front window, is it terrorism or vandalism? If someone burns your car in your driveway and sprays hate messages everywhere, is it terrorism or vandalism?

This is the same thing. It's trying to get your way using destruction, intimidation, and fear. You DO NOT need to hurt people to terrorize them. The ELF is no better than the Klan or Al Queda in my book!

They were'nt in anyone's driveway, they were at a dealership.

It's still the destruction of private property with the intent to intimidate or terrorize. Whether it was on a privately owned car dealership or a privately owned driveway is irrelevant.

The definition of terrorism straight out of the dictionary: "The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons."

What the ELF is a group that uses force against property with the intention of intimidating or coercing society for ideological AND political reasons. They are a classic terrorist organization.

...the Bush administration is a 'classic terrorist organization', so I won't argue with it.

"The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons."

Shall we hang them retroactively?

Prove it was ELF. Then get on your high horse. You sound so much like FUX News. They too are hysterically crying terrorism, not to mention linking ELF to PETA. Get a grip.

Unless you think that's also a 'black-ops' plant by BushCo! :tinfoilhat:

Now that's an insult to the ELF. The ELF has been linked to the ALF, a group known for firebombing research laboratories and university bio-research centers. The guy who runs the ELF website has actually been charged in the past with ALF related crimes, and is an admitted ALF member and avowed anarchist.

Fact is, the ELF and ALF usually claim responsibility for their actions, so there's little doubt about the crimes they've committed.

is something else. I sure would rather be intimidated by ELF than dead or maimed by the KKK or Al Queda they're are out to kill.

Burning a hummer in a dealership is NOT REMOTELY LIKE burning a cross in someone's front yard.

Get a fucking grip.

One is personal and a hate crime, the other is NOT.

Jesus, what kind of materialistic fuck would think that burning a hummer that's not even owned by anybody was an act of TERRORISM?

EVERY car is owned by someone. The dealership is too. Is it OK to terrorize people who own businesses just because you like the ELF message?

If this was ELF (and it appears likely), then this was an organized terrorist action and should be treated as such. They are a threat to both life and property and should be locked up for a long time.

Just north of Atlanta, the dealer stuck a big pile of them over on the high school parking lot. He has way too many.

Maybe if he stuck a few more American flags on them he can find some patriots to buy them.

This would be a parody on the "calvin" pissing on the Ford symbol.

How about Osama Bin Laden or Saddam pissing gasoline into or onto a hummer, or the hummer symbol?

"See that goldarn rag-head a-pissin' on my beloved truck!"

(BTW, how would you be able to tell it was gasoline?"

Click here

The site itself seems to be under construction at the moment... adding their latest achievment, perhaps???

On the ELF: The group has also taken responsibility for vandalizing sport utility vehicles at dealerships in Santa Cruz and Erie, Pa.

Link to article here. (Free registration required)

it could very well have been someone who felt they had been ripped off by the dealorship and wanted to get even. Blaming a group that they know hates polluters is a good way to point the blame away from themselves.:eyes:

Hoover created ConIntelPro to "dis-credit, disrupt, expose, or otherwise neutralize" activities of dissident groups back then.
I know someone who used to be involved in demonstations against the war and he said that people that acted the most violent and crazy were usually ones that no one had ever seen before and just joined up with the group at the last minute. Of course that photo of the burning flag or property destruction would be used on the 6:00 news and used to make the whole group look like a bunch of violent crazies. Nixon played off this image much to his success in discrediting the anti-war movement before middle America.
Kind of funny that its all taking place just when Junior discovered the environmental movement and is parading around grandstanding all over the place - no tree is safe.

They've claimed responsibility for other SUV torchings, not to mention burning down buildings. As I stated earlier, even their Web site shows a burning building.

Maybe ELF doesn't really exist and was created just to discredit the environmental movement.

Are you saying the government 'created' an eco-terror group and actually goes around blowing shit up just to give a bad name to the Left? That's an awful lot of work, don't you think?

How about this one: how do you know the Bushies are actually conservative Republicans? Maybe they're really progressive Democrats or Greens who are screwing America so the majority of the electorate will finally appreciate a progressive ideology!

by Carol A. Valentine
Curator, Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum
http://www.Public-Action.com
Copyright, 2002
May be reproduced for non-commercial purposes.

Ref: "Operation 911: NO SUICIDE PILOTS"
http://www.Public-Action.com/911/robotplane.html

January 24, 2002 -- In "Operation 911: NO SUICIDE PILOTS" I referred
to a plan allegedly hatched by Pentagon brass in the 1960s to commit
terrorist acts and use them as a pretext for war with Cuba (see above
URL). The plan was called "Operation Northwoods."

Operation Northwoods was unknown to the American public until May,
2001, when details were released in James Bamford's new book, "Body
of Secrets" (Doubleday). Bamford summarizes:

" . .. the plan, which had the written approval of the Chairman and
every member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called for innocent people
to be shot on American streets; for boats carrying refugees fleeing
Cuba to be sunk on the high seas; for a wave of violent terrorism to
be launched in Washington, D.C., Miami, and elsewhere. People would
be framed for bombings they did not commit; planes would be hijacked.
Using phony evidence, all of it would be blamed on Castro, thus
giving Lemnitzer and his
cabal the excuse, as well as the public and international backing,
they needed to launch their war." (pg. 82).

The mainstream press gave the book, in particular its Operation
Northwoods revelations, lots of publicity. For example, ABCNews.com
published a lengthy review with the author.

You seriously don't thing the ELF exists? What about Earth First? What about the Weathermen? What about the Black Bloc? What about the Black Panthers?

Do you think that there's never, ever been a violent leftist or progressive group?

On second thought, never mind. You believe what you want to believe; I'll do the same.

On edit: By the way, it doesn't add a whole lot of credibility to your story when you cite a source who thinks the 9/11 planes were remotely controlled. (If you believe that, you probably believe they faked the Moon landing and that there are alien corpses hidden at 'Area 51.')

I see you employ a favorite tactic of right wingers by re-designing my arguement and putting words in my mouth. Where did I say I don't believe any extremist groups exist? I just don't "buy" everything I read and you obviously do.

I'm naive? I believe everything I read? You're citing arcane 9/11 conspiracy Web sites and I'm naive???


By the way, you're using a classic trick of paranoid lefties everywhere, namely, accusing anyone positing a logical argument of using 'right-wing tactics.'

Listen. I'm tired of this. Obviously we're at an impasse. Let's agree to disagree. You think the ELF 'might' be a secret government plot to discredit the environmentalists (of which, I'm one, by the way). I happen to think the ELF does exist. Either way, we agree that whatever its origin, it is a bad thing.

(tin foil hat warning!)

Wouldn't be surprised if ELF were in fact largely a police front designed to smoke out and control the wackier elements of the environmental movement, and maybe discredit the more mainstream environmentalists as well.

Kind of what the Revolutionary Communist Party seemed to be in the late 1970's - an organization too wacko, yet too well financed to be real.

(tin foil hat warning!)

Wouldn't be surprised if BushCo were in fact largely a Green front designed to smoke out and control the wackier elements of the Republican Party, and maybe discredit the more mainstream Republicans as well.

:hi:

If they say it's ELF then it's ELF end of story.
They are always right.
Oh my GAWD !
To think someone would want to discredit environmentalists!!
Gimmie a break!!!
Them environmentalists are so awful they don't nobody need to make'm look bad.
sheeeeeet...you mean ta tell me that some one guy might make himself a website and say he was someone or some organization that he wasn't?
Gimmie a break that'd just plain be too damn hard!


My mamma told me the news is always right!
Gosh darnit!

and also...them Weapeens of Mass Deestrukchon really are in EYE RACK!
We gunna find 'em any day now.......yup

Al Qayduh was Saddam's friends and thay did 911!
Muuuslimz is EEEvil --

Vote fur Bush in 04 if yur a true aMurkin
Yeee haw--we gunna take over tha world !!yippie!!!

I believe that they existed in the pre-Ashcroft era, too.

I certainly don't believe everything the government or the media says--that would be foolish. It is equally foolish, however, to automatically disbelieve everything the government and the media says.

I take it by your use of that charming dialect, you're suggesting that I'm some Southern hayseed-chewing, lock-step Republican. I take umbrage at that and find your statements facile and callous.

Look, there's a group that calls itself the Earth Liberation Front. They have a Web site. They have claimed responsibility for several violent acts in the past. They broadcast pro-environmental messages. If they're a government front, then the runs the risk of the 'group' actually propagating its message, which would be antithetical to your suggestion. And remember, this isn't MI5 we're talking about, it's American intelligence services--the gang that couldn't shoot straight. I highly doubt that they could pull off and sustain something like this.

Say what you will, some American's love affair with gas guzzling penis-envy envy vehicles has now become a popular topic of discussion.

And about those tea dumping terrorist of long ago, what is the difference please?

The tea party was a protest against the king, his taxes and the crown-approved East India tea company. This is a protest against a company and a car dealership. Not exactly the same thing.

Seems to me that the Hummer is a part of a larger movement.



Sorry if I can't get teary eyed over the victimization of a car dealership that makes it's profit by exploiting someone's yearning for a bigger penis (figuratively or literally).

I do have problems with how this action might have endangered firefighter's lives. Not enough discussion of this here.

Face it, arson is NEVER safe. There might have been someone in the dealership for instance. Fire AND police personnel were put at risk.

And yes, businessmen and their employees will suffer because of this. Then there are the nearby businesses or homes that were also jeopardized.

The people who did this were irresponsible and criminal and need to be locked up.

How small does a car have to be not to suggest its owner is longing (pardon the pun) for a bigger phallus? Are we talking mileage here, or engine displacement? I drove a '69 Lincoln Continental for a while (which had a HUGE engine and got lousy mileage); does that mean that I was hankering for a plus-sized tool?

Every time somebody on this board decries a violent act of protest, another person brings up the Boston Tea Party. A few things have changed since the 18th century, my friend—or do you think we should still be fighting duels, dancing reels and wearing powdered wigs? Personally, I’ll take Gandhi’s and Dr. King’s forms of protest over arson and vandalism any day.

Driving a hummer (jeez even the name) is sold as a macho experience. Steroid pumped Aunold is the pitch man. Hard not to see the hummer as anything but a phallus enhancer.

When I was in India all of the Indian people I talked to still question the years of violence done to the Indian people before their independence was achieved. Is Gandhi's way of peaceful opposition the only way? How much press or discussion would eco protesters get if they just marched in front of the lot.

But I'm not condoning "eco-terrorism," I'm just condemning the liberal use of the word terrorism.