In September, the Los Angeles Times claimed to have conducted a phone interview with “Tony,” a member of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), about the recent attacks on SUVs in southern California (see EFIJ September- October 2003).
From a pay phone in Los Angeles, Tony acknowledged that the August 22 actions were meant to draw attention to the pollution caused by SUVs and to spark discussion, reported the Los Angeles Times. Tony also said that his ELF cell agreed to contact the newspaper in an effort to clear Josh Connole, stating that Connole was not involved with their action as the FBI alleged when Connole was arrested.
“We all agreed it was necessary, initially, for the sake of rescuing Josh, but more importantly to try and get some of the message across and hopefully to bring more people to our cause,” said Tony.
During the interview, Tony was reported to have described specific details from the actions. He authenticated his involvement with the ELF by quoting a previously unreported math formula that was spray-painted on a SUV at a dealership in Duarte.
Beginning at midnight, Rusnak Mercedes-Benz in Arcadia was the first to be hit when nine SUVs were spray-painted with anti-pollution slogans. “We wanted to try things out and see how long it would take,” said Tony. Passing a private SUV in a Monrovia neighborhood, the ELF smashed its window to determine how difficult it would be to break into a SUV. Next, they tried throwing a molotov cocktail made with a beer bottle into the smashed window of yet another SUV. The car caught fire.
According to the Los Angeles Times, a surveillance camera allegedly caught Tony and another ELF member on tape while they were darting between SUVs at Advantage Ford Lincoln Mercury in Duarte, spray-painting nearly 50 SUVs with slogans in the “patriotic colors” of red, white and blue. Tony said that he was not alarmed by the tape, adding that he has since cut his hair.
Clippinger Chevrolet in West Covina was struck next. Tony was said to have described the dealership as having “very low security with a nice wall guarding the view from anyone.” In just 15 minutes, 20 $50,000 Hummer H2s were spray-painted, and 10–15 molotov cocktails were prepared and set along an exit route. While the front windshields of the Hummers were shatter resistant, the side windows were not. The ELF smashed them and threw in the lit molotovs. According to the Los Angeles Times, Tony told the interviewer that the five dollars of gasoline their cell purchased did more damage than even they had expected.
“We support destruction of property as a means of bringing attention to important issues and to directly hurt the profits of those who gain wealth at the expense of all others living on this planet. The ELF is opposed to harming any form of life, much less human life. No one got hurt. It’s one of the reasons why explosives weren’t used. They’re dangerous,” stated Tony.