Small bombs go off at Biotech firm in Bay Area

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-08-28 11:38am

I just heard on the news that a biotech firm in Emeryville was attacked by two small bombs. No one hurt, a small amount of property damage. The firm has received letters in the past from animal rights groups, but it is probably to early to tell who is responsible. I'll post a link as soon as I can find one.

Andrew Joshua Talon · Post by **Andrew Joshua Talon** » 2003-08-28 01:12pm

Hm... What do you think? Eco-terrorists?

Stormbringer · Post by **Stormbringer** » 2003-08-28 04:04pm

Probably those wacky eco-terrorist ELF and ALF.

Shinova · Post by **Shinova** » 2003-08-28 04:16pm

Hmm, yes, blow up the lab and risk possibly harmful substances getting out and further contaminating the environment.

I like most environmentalism, but these people don't fit the bill.

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-08-28 05:14pm

Shinova wrote:Hmm, yes, blow up the lab and risk possibly harmful substances getting out and further contaminating the environment.

I like most environmentalism, but these people don't fit the bill.

Fundamentalists of any kind are just that. Mental.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-08-28 05:15pm

Andrew Joshua Talon wrote:Hm... What do you think? Eco-terrorists?

As of 2:00pm PST nobody has claimed responsibility, but the FBI is already involved.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-08-28 05:23pm

You know more infuriating to me even then the simply fact that these idiots make these attacks ad raids against medical research and biotech companies and cause damage is that on top of the millions worth of damage they cause hundreds millions more have to be spent on extra security. All that money could be doing a lot of good and curing sicknesses but where stuck using it to make sure no one walks off with the test subjects that would die if released anyway.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-08-28 05:41pm

Doesn't the beginning of the movie 28 days involve eco terrorists setting loose animals infected with a plague, which spreads to the general population?

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-08-28 05:59pm

Pu-239 wrote:Doesn't the beginning of the movie 28 days involve eco terrorists setting loose animals infected with a plague, which spreads to the general population?

That's a, repeat after me, fictional movie...

But if it were true...

Post by **Alyrium Denryle** » 2003-08-28 06:30pm

Sea Skimmer wrote:You know more infuriating to me even then the simply fact that these idiots make these attacks ad raids against medical research and biotech companies and cause damage is that on top of the millions worth of damage they cause hundreds millions more have to be spent on extra security. All that money could be doing a lot of good and curing sicknesses but where stuck using it to make sure no one walks off with the test subjects that would die if released anyway.

For once I agree with you.

I am an environmentalist(thoug someties I admit i dont know the full impact of some things... more of an idea person than an implementation person, I freely admit this)

But these fucking people dont know what is good for them. Animal testing is needed to cure illnesses that kill millions.

The painkiller you use was probably tested with animals. The medication yu take for depression had to be tested with chimps to make sure it was safe for the human testers. FOr many things the only way to know how something will react in the giant chemical plant that comprises our bodies, is to check it out. If you dont do that you will not know if your cure for atheletes foot, will actually work/not kill your customers.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-08-28 07:00pm

Vorlon1701 wrote:
Pu-239 wrote:Doesn't the beginning of the movie 28 days involve eco terrorists setting loose animals infected with a plague, which spreads to the general population?
That's a, repeat after me, fictional movie...

But if it were true...

Duh.
I just think it was amusing that the end of human civilization (didn't watch movie) was caused by a bunch of PETAites.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-08-28 07:43pm

Damn hippies. Always destroying the world.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-08-28 07:53pm

I was supposed to interview for a job in Emeryville today. I wonder if it was in the same office complex, they never called. That is not unusual behavior, but if it turns out their office is closed for the day, does that make me a victim? I wanna sue. Where is Jonnie Cochran.

Darth Yoshi · Post by **Darth Yoshi** » 2003-08-28 10:07pm

TrailerParkJawa wrote:I was supposed to interview for a job in Emeryville today. I wonder if it was in the same office complex, they never called. That is not unusual behavior, but if it turns out their office is closed for the day, does that make me a victim? I wanna sue. Where is Jonnie Cochran.

Possibly. You'll need hard evidence, though.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-08-29 12:01am

Darth Yoshi wrote:
TrailerParkJawa wrote:I was supposed to interview for a job in Emeryville today. I wonder if it was in the same office complex, they never called. That is not unusual behavior, but if it turns out their office is closed for the day, does that make me a victim? I wanna sue. Where is Jonnie Cochran.
Possibly. You'll need hard evidence, though.

Since when?

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-08-29 12:01am

TrailerParkJawa wrote:I was supposed to interview for a job in Emeryville today. I wonder if it was in the same office complex, they never called. That is not unusual behavior, but if it turns out their office is closed for the day, does that make me a victim? I wanna sue. Where is Jonnie Cochran.

San Jose to Emeryville? That's like an hour commute.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-08-29 12:22pm

neoolong wrote:
TrailerParkJawa wrote:I was supposed to interview for a job in Emeryville today. I wonder if it was in the same office complex, they never called. That is not unusual behavior, but if it turns out their office is closed for the day, does that make me a victim? I wanna sue. Where is Jonnie Cochran.
San Jose to Emeryville? That's like an hour commute.

It's at least an hour. However, I think I can take BART from Fremont to that location. Of course that makes it like an hour and a half, but at least Im not driving much.

TrailerParkJawa · Post by **TrailerParkJawa** » 2003-08-31 07:38pm

Here is the story they ran in the local paper.

Posted on Fri, Aug. 29, 2003

Explosion investigated at biotech company
EMPLOYEES HAVE BEEN TARGETS OF ACTIVISTS
By Lisa Fernandez, Dana Hull and Yomi S. Wronge
Mercury News

More photos

Investigators find a suspicious car parked a block away for the Chiron buildings this morning. Two explosions rocked the complex early this morning, closing it. (Herman Bustamante Jr./Contra Costa Times)

Two bombs exploded early Thursday at the Emeryville headquarters of the nation's third-largest biotechnology firm, blowing out windows but injuring no one.

Federal investigators are trying to determine whether the bombing at Chiron, whose executives have recently been harassed by animal rights activists, is the work of domestic terrorists.

Although police have not linked the harassment with the bombing, experts who track animal rights and environmental activists say groups such as the Animal Liberation Front and its sister organization, the Earth Liberation Front, appear to have stepped up their attacks in recent weeks.

``Their rhetoric is extremely disturbing and there has been increasing violence,'' said Brian Levin, a criminal justice professor and director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University-San Bernardino.

Since Aug. 1, there have been a series of attacks aimed at businesses and individuals in California. The homes of a San Francisco chef and his business partner were vandalized by animal rights activists upset that they were selling foie gras, which is duck or goose liver. The Earth Liberation Front claimed responsibility for setting an Aug. 1 fire at a San Diego apartment complex under construction to protest urban sprawl. The same group said it torched a Los Angeles car dealership last Friday for selling gas-guzzling Hummers and sport-utility vehicles.

Who's responsible?

As of Thursday night no one had claimed responsibility for the explosions at Chiron, which sometimes contracts with Huntingdon Life Sciences based in England. Both companies perform drug tests using animals.

An animal rights group called Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, which has urged people to demonstrate against Chiron, included a statement on its Web site Thursday saying it does not support terrorism and does not know who planted the bombs at Chiron. The group did endorse acts of ``economic sabotage'' to hurt companies that use animals in research.

While they have the same goals, there is no direct relationship between Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty and other groups such as the Animal Liberation Front.

Chiron manufactures drugs to fight kidney cancer, cystic fibrosis and multiple sclerosis. Drug companies are required to test new drugs on animals and humans before they are marketed.

FBI spokeswoman LaRae Quy said it probably wouldn't be decided until today whether the agency believes the Chiron bombings are domestic terrorism.

The first bomb exploded at 2:55 a.m. and the second at 4 a.m., Emeryville police said. Police swept the entire corporate campus, at which 2,000 work. The Alameda County Sheriff's Department bomb squad detonated a suspicious package at 7 a.m., but it was not a bomb.

Chiron employees were not allowed into their offices until noon.

Meanwhile, police departments around the Bay Area are trying to figure out who has been targeting Chiron employees. From May to August, one Chiron executive received a flier at her East Bay home calling her an ``animal abuser,'' and 30 stuffed dogs painted red were left on her porch. The words ``Puppy Killer'' were scrawled on her sidewalk, Piedmont police Capt. John Hunt said.

In Lafayette, a Chiron employee went home at the end of May to find a tombstone on her lawn, said Contra Costa County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jimmy Lee. The same woman received a flier calling Chiron an ``animal abuser'' in her mailbox May 12.

Chiron spokesman John Gallagher said the anonymous vandals have all been ``explicit'' about their anger for Chiron's testing of animals to make drugs.

Reached at his New Jersey home, Chiron's president, Howard Pien, called the explosions ``disturbing.'' But he said he hoped the culture of the company wouldn't change.

``The mood of the organization is positive,'' he said. ``If I had to speak for the employees, these acts are somewhat incomprehensible. But our campus is refreshingly open. There are no walls or fences that divide the campus from the community. We're hopeful that we don't have to insulate ourselves from the community of Emeryville.''

Work will go on

Shocked by Thursday's incident, members of the biomedical community said they will continue their work with even stronger resolve.

``While Chiron has seen some protest over the last several months, they are but one of many companies going through this,'' said Barbara Rich of Americans for Medical Progress, which tracks threats against biomedical research. ``Intimidation tactics are meant to silence, and like any terrorist act we refuse to change our lives and be silenced.''

Most animal rights groups do not condone violence. But many said they are happy when any act brings economic hardship to companies that do animal testing.

Still, resorting to bombs is rare, they say.

``This is the first time we've ever heard of something like this happening,'' said Kevin Jonas, a Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty spokesman, ``if it did indeed happen for the sake of animal rights.''

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neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-08-31 09:04pm

TrailerParkJawa wrote:
neoolong wrote:
TrailerParkJawa wrote:I was supposed to interview for a job in Emeryville today. I wonder if it was in the same office complex, they never called. That is not unusual behavior, but if it turns out their office is closed for the day, does that make me a victim? I wanna sue. Where is Jonnie Cochran.
San Jose to Emeryville? That's like an hour commute.
It's at least an hour. However, I think I can take BART from Fremont to that location. Of course that makes it like an hour and a half, but at least Im not driving much.

Actually, I don't know about that. Unless the stop has a different name, there isn't one for Emeryville.

Ah well, at least it's a job.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2003-08-31 09:06pm

There is a shuttle that goes from MacArthur to parts of Emeryville though.

Nova Andromeda · Post by **Nova Andromeda** » 2003-09-01 06:48pm

Nuts to the left of us,
Nuts to the right of us,
Nuts in front us,
And nuts behind us,
What is a rational person to do?

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-09-01 07:25pm

Nova Andromeda wrote:Nuts to the left of us,
Nuts to the right of us,
Nuts in front us,
And nuts behind us,
What is a rational person to do?

Well there was that Sherman prototype that had four flamethrowers, one in each corner, to wipe out attackers close in from all directions.

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2003-09-01 07:29pm

Nova Andromeda wrote:Nuts to the left of us,
Nuts to the right of us,
Nuts in front us,
And nuts behind us,
What is a rational person to do?

Kick. HARD.