In 2002 the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors extremism in the United States, noted the involvement of the ALF in the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty campaign, which SPLC identified as using terrorist tactics-though a later SPLC report also noted that they have not killed anyone. The criticism has been accompanied by dissent within the animal rights movement itself about the use of violence, and increasing attention from the police and intelligence communities. There has nevertheless been widespread criticism that ALF spokespersons and activists have either failed to condemn acts of violence or have themselves engaged in it, either in the name of the ALF or under another banner. American activist Rod Coronado said in 2006: "One thing that I know that separates us from the people we are constantly accused of being-that is, terrorists, violent criminals-is the fact that we have harmed no one." According to the ALF's code, any act that furthers the cause of animal liberation, where all reasonable precautions are taken not to harm human or non-human life, may be claimed as an ALF action, including acts of vandalism causing economic damage. You, each and every one of you: you are the ALF." Īctivists say the movement is non-violent. Robin Webb of the Animal Liberation Press Office has said: "That is why the ALF cannot be smashed, it cannot be effectively infiltrated, it cannot be stopped. Īctive in over 40 countries, ALF cells operate clandestinely, consisting of small groups of friends and sometimes just one person, which makes the movement difficult for the authorities to monitor. Critics have labelled them as terrorists.
Participants state it is a modern-day Underground Railroad, removing animals from laboratories and farms, destroying facilities, arranging safe houses, veterinary care and operating sanctuaries where the animals subsequently live. It originated in the 1970s from the Bands of Mercy. If you’re a Hollywood millionaire lecturing Americans about drinking milk while you yourself support a group that terrorizes fellow human beings, what does that make you? A clown.The Animal Liberation Front ( ALF) is an international, leaderless, decentralized political and social resistance movement that engages in and promotes non-violent direct action in protest against incidents of animal cruelty. PETA president Ingrid Newkirk has said, “I will be the last person to condemn ALF.” PETA gave $70,000 to the legal defense of an ALF arsonist who burned down a university lab. Phoenix isn’t alone in lending support to extremism. This ideology holds that no one should be allowed to drink milk, enjoy a hamburger, own a pet, or benefit from cancer and AIDS research that uses rats. The ALF is the underground, criminal element that seeks to bring about the animal liberation ideology pushed by PETA, Phoenix, and other activists in public. The terrorist network is still active today. A 2013 Department of Homeland Security report identified 239 arsons between 19 linked to ALF/ELF. The agency estimated in 2004 that the ALF and its sister network, the Earth Liberation Front had committed over 1,100 criminal acts resulting in at least $110 million in damages. The Animal Liberation Front, for the uninitiated, is considered a domestic terrorist group by the FBI. It’s not the first time he’s been photographed in the sweatshirt. Of all the problems in the world, other people drinking milk is his top one? But what’s no laughing matter is that Phoenix supports a terrorist group called the Animal Liberation Front-committed to ending your ability to enjoy dairy products, one crime at a time.Īt the premier of The Joker in October, Phoenix wore a black hoodie with the phrase “Support the Animal Liberation Front” on it. One might chalk up Phoenix’s pet peeves as just the musings of a La La Land loony. The vegan actor criticized drinking milk-yes, milk-because we are supposedly stealing it from cows. At the Oscars Sunday night, Joaquin Phoenix used his Best Actor speech to plug his personal politics.