ALF Terrorists’ "Press Office"
Brags About Veal Plant Arsons

WIMAUMA, Fla. —(AP)— Members of an underground animal rights group are claiming responsibility for torching two Florida veal processing plants.

Authorities don't know who they are and have offered a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonists who set blazes at plants in Wimauma, near Tampa, and Lauderhill, near Fort Lauderdale.

A notice sent to a clearing house for the Animal Liberation Front made it clear area ALF activists set the blaze early last Monday at Florida Veal Processors Inc. in Wimauma, said Kate Fedor, Wisconsin-based spokeswoman for the group.

Fedor said ALF activists in the Tampa area initially sent notice Thursday to the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade, a Dallas organization that until recently was a clearing house for information on ALF. She said they probably weren't aware ALF now has its own press office which she operates in Wisconsin.

The state fire marshal's office has offered a $2500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those who set the central Florida blaze.

In the statement, ALF also takes responsibility for an October arson at Palm Coast Veal Corp. in Lauderhill, near Fort Lauderdale.

A spokesman for Florida Veal, meanwhile, denounced the sabotage and said the company plans to rebuild and reopen in about six months. The damage to the plant was estimated at $500,000.

Loss at the company goes beyond destruction of property, David J. Gauthier, an accountant for the Wimauma business owned by Richard and Max Nusman, said Friday.

"We currently employ 20 people, most with families and financial obligations, who will be out of work for an extended period of time as we attempt to restructure," he said.

Investigators had suspected members of the activist group were to blame because they found the organization's initials — ALF — spray-painted on the damaged building.

Gauthier said farmers who supply the calves do not have many other alternatives, meaning "the male calves will still be killed as farmers cannot afford to raise these animals."

( A "press office" for a terrorist group? Does anyone else wonder why Ms. Fedor isn’t behind bars awaiting trial under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations statute? RICO, enacted to deal with Mafia conspiracies, has been misapplied against a number of innocent citizens in recent years; this would seem an excellent opportunity for the feds to regain some credibility — Ed.)

In a related story, authorities are reported to be "concerned about the well-being" of an ALF terrorist awaiting sentencing in a bombing case.

Douglas Joshua Ellerman, 19, was cooperating with authorities in their investigation into the ALF. Defense attorney Ron Yengich told U.S. District Judge J. Thomas Greene last Wednesday that Ellerman had received threats following news reports that he was working with the FBI and other federal agencies investigating the underground terrorist group.

Yengich said Ellerman was last seen by his sister on April 30. He left his parents' Draper, Utah home without a change of clothes, money or a car.

Yengich said Ellerman received threats following news reports of his debriefing by prosecutors. Ellerman's sister was the last person to see him, Yengich said.

"I am hopeful that if this (disappearance) is in response to the pressure, that he will return because we can work that problem out," Yengich said.

Melodie Rydalch, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney, said Ellerman had not asked for protection.

Salt Lake City police Detective Brent Larsen, who arrested Ellerman last summer, said he had been monitoring for threats and was not aware of any intimidation.

Ellerman had pleaded guilty in February to three felonies in a 16-count indictment related to the March 11, 1997, pipe-bomb attack on the Fur Breeders Agricultural Cooperative in Sandy, Utah.

The bombing, made in the name of ALF and causing upwards of $750,000 in damage, was the most dramatic of several attacks by animal rights' activists and the ALF in Utah in recent years and was followed by dozens of vandalisms, including instances were fur-breeding animals were released from cages and leather stores were burned.

ALF has claimed responsibility for other acts of vandalism, arson and terrorism throughout the West.

The Justice Department has said the FBI's domestic terrorism unit considers Utah a hot spot for animal-rights terrorism. A special task force has been operating to combat the problem.

Ellerman had faced up to 50 years in prison, but his cooperation could have trimmed that sentence to less than five years.

Greene, who in February advised Ellerman that his cooperation could win him a favorable sentence, said the bargain can still be salvaged.

"I want him to know that this doesn't need to adversely affect the disposition of his case," Greene said. "The court wants him to know he would be better off if he surrenders."

And the judge also warned that federal agencies will deal harshly with anyone making threats or otherwise trying to influence the case.