A flyer from the National Association for Biomedical Research depicts a masked face against a blood-red background. "Research labs and bio conventions are no longer their only targets," it warns. "Be prepared."
I wasn't sure what to make of this. Extremist fringes of the animal rights and anti-GM agriculture movements have certainly done violence. There's no arguing that. But other activist violence -- such as anti-globalization activists blocking streets and breaking store windows -- has been portrayed in a sensationalist light. Should the FBI really consider groups like the Animal Liberation Front to be our nation's most serious domestic threat?
I talked to a few people on background at BIO. They told me that animal rights extremism of the sort seen in the UK and Western Europe -- where people have been murdered and graves desecrated -- is far worse than in the United States. But they added that what happens in the UK tends to happen a few years later in the US, and some activists have gone on the record saying that murder is justified to prevent the killing of lab animals.
Later this week I'll be talking with Frankie Trull, president of the Foundation for Biomedical Research, about animal rights extremism, proposed legislation that would increase punishments for destroying labs and the balance between civil liberties and law enforcement. If there's anything you'd like me to ask her, put it in the comments.
