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The National Animal Interest Alliance (NAIA) is calling upon the government to revoke the tax-exempt status of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) because of its support for individuals and organizations that engage in illegal activities and violence. In early August NAIA published a summary of PETA’s questionable activities on its website in an article entitled “California arson fits terrorist pattern.” NAIA is inviting individuals to sign its petition. NAIA describes itself as “an association of business, agricultural, scientific, and recreational interests formed to protect and promote humane practices and relationships between people and animals.” NAIA first asked Congress in 1999 to seek an investigation of the connection between tax-exempt groups such as PETA and extremist groups that have committed illegal acts. NAIA requested that Congress direct the IRS to “vigorously review the tax exempt status of organizations that advocate, support, fund, or engage in unlawful activities.” It further called upon Congress to ask the IRS to “investigate and take appropriate action to revoke such classification when the facts so dictate and report such findings to Congress.” The issue of concern is PETA’s relationship with the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Environmental Liberation Front (ELF). In the FBI’s 1999 report Terrorism in the United States, the ALF and ELF were described as “interrelated movements” that have “increasingly engaged in vandalism, destruction of property, and other criminal activity (such as the sending of parcels rigged with razor blades).” The NAIA website provides a quote from the February 2002 Southern Poverty Law Center Intelligence Report noting that ALF and ELF members “have been involved with SHAC’s campaign to harass employees of Huntingdon [Life Sciences] . . .with frankly terroristic tactics similar to those of anti-abortion extremists.” NAIA renewed its call for a government investigation in August 2003 in the wake of an arson attack near San Diego. NAIA suggested the possibility of a connection between the presence of ALF member and convicted arsonist Rodney Coronado in San Diego on August 1 and a fire that caused $30 million in damage to an apartment building under construction in nearby University City during the early hours of that day. When firefighters reached the blaze, which had broken out at about 3 a.m., they found a large banner proclaiming, “If you build it -- we will burn it -- The E.L.F.’s are mad.” No injuries reported, but nearby buildings had to be evacuated and some resident said that the intensity of the heat melted portions of their plastic window blinds. Coronado was in San Diego August 1 as a featured speaker at the Animal Liberation Weekend program offered by a group called “Revolution Summer San Diego.” A program flyer described Coronado as a “Radical Native American and militant Animal Liberationist” who would speak about “militant animal liberation and the defense of Mother Earth.” In 1995 Coronado was sentenced to five years in prison for his role in a 1992 arson attack that caused $1 million in damage to a Michigan State University fur research lab. The arson was part of a series of attacks in an ALF campaign known as “Operation Bite Back.” The MSU arson is one instance suggestive of a connection between PETA and illegal ALF activities. According to the government’s sentencing memorandum for Coronado, PETA made the public announcement about the MSU attack and said that it was “acting as a media conduit for the ALF.” In his San Diego speech Coronado denied any connection to the August 1 apartment fire but defended those who had taken the action. “People willing to risk their lives to protect the environment by destroying buildings built on the habitat of endangered species make people take notice,” Coronado said according to a report published online by Zenger’s, an alternative monthly newsmagazine. Zenger’s also reported that Coronado justified the use of incendiary devices to destroy animal facilities. “Fire is a very sacred power,” Coronado reportedly said. “We use fire to cleanse ourselves, and when we address buildings and institutions that have no other purpose but to destroy life, fire is the only way to stop them.” On its website NAIA noted that while Coronado was a fugitive sought in connection with the MSU arson, PETA gave his father a $25,000 loan that has apparently never been repaid. After Coronado was apprehended, PETA donated $45,000 to the Rodney Coronado Support Fund. In a February 2003 interview with ABC’s John Stossell, 2003, PETA President Ingrid Newkirk called Coronado “a fine young man” and defended the use of its tax-exempt funds to assist him. “We gave him money for his defense because it is America and you are entitled to a legal defense,” Newkirk said told Stossell in that interview. The NAIA website also notes that PETA gave $2,000 in 1999 to David Wilson while he was the national spokesman for ALF and $5,000 in 2001 to a support fund for Josh Harper, who was subsequently convicted in connection with ELF fire bombings of several business in Utah While PETA’s support for individuals involved in illegal activities has provoked a general sense of outrage, other nonprofit groups may advocate “illegal” activities in the form of civil disobedience. In fact, many nonprofits support legal defense funds for various causes, ranging from those who oppose abortion to those who oppose capital punishment. Concerns have been raised about the potential to politicize the IRS if it were in the position to decide which organizations to investigate. Concerns have also been raised about the chilling effect such authority might have on the exercise of free speech. Nevertheless, NAIA insists that there are situations where
extraordinary action may be appropriate: “PeTA gets a tax break while
supporting terrorism,” according to NAIA President Patti Strand. For further information on the NAIA petition drive, see the NAIA website at http://www.naiaonline.org.
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