Canadian ALF Spokesman Raided at US Request

ACTING ON A REQUEST from law enforcement in Maine, on July 30 Canadian police raided the home of Animal Liberation Front spokesman David Barbarash, raising the possibility that the FBI will now pursue ALF as an international terrorist organization.

Conducting the raid were the Integrated National Security Enforcement Team of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), who reportedly seized computers, files, videos, cash, and 33 marijuana plants from the home of 38-year-old Barbarash.

"They found quite a bit of evidence linking this individual to the ALF," said Sheriff Everett Flannery of Kennebec County, Maine to the Vancouver newspaper The Province (Aug. 1) "I'm looking at talking to the FBI [today] and seeing if they want to take this case at the federal level because it looks like it's an issue where we are talking international terrorist organizations."

Barbarash is wanted for questioning in Maine in connection with break-ins in 1999 at three rod and gun clubs and a Food and Drug Agency building. Flannery told the Vancouver Sun (Aug. 1) that while Maine police don't think Barbarash committed these crimes, they are hopeful he possesses evidence that will lead them to the criminals. He also said Barbarash could be the key to solving hundreds of crimes perpetrated across the U.S. in the name of ALF.

No charges were laid in connection with the raid, and Barbarash is claiming harassment.

"I don't even know what Maine incidents they are talking about," he told The Province, despite the fact he did the press work for the attacks.(1) "It's an outrage this type of action would occur in Canada on behalf of the U.S. What does this say about our sovereignty?"

RCMP spokeswoman Danielle Efford explained to the Vancouver Sun that the search-and-seizure warrant was issued under a mutual legal assistance treaty that provides a means for foreign police to obtain evidence in Canada and vice versa. "Our involvement was as an assistance to the authorities in Maine," she said. "It's not our investigation."

A court hearing is slated for Aug. 14, in Vancouver, at which Barbarash has said he will fight any attempt to send his seized belongings to the U.S.

The FBI currently ranks ALF and its sister group, the Earth Liberation Front, as America's leading domestic terrorism threat, estimating the two groups have committed more than 600 criminal acts since 1996 with damages topping $43 million.

Barbarash and cohort Darren Thurston of Vancouver were charged by the RCMP in 1998 with 22 offences connected to sending letters rigged with razor blades to hunting guides and members of the fur industry. The charges were stayed in 2000 after the RCMP refused a judge's order to disclose details of its investigation, saying that to do so would endanger informants.

NOTES:

(1) On Oct. 3, 1999, the North American ALF press office issued a press release entitled "Maine Hunting Clubs Targetted By Animal Liberation Front - Confirmed." Barbarash is named at the top of the release as the "spokesperson" for people seeking further information.

See also:

David Barbarash: Profile of ALF's New Spokesman FCUSA commentary, Oct. 13, 1999.

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