Eco-Terrorists?

[Rox]

At 5 AM in West Covina, someone vandalized and set fire to a car dealership, burning a bunch of Hummers. The news (Fox 11 LA, if it matters) is saying it was done by "eco-terrorists" because some of the vehicles were sprayed with the following graffiti:

I Pollution (single heart, of course)
Fat Lazy Americans
E.L.F. (Earth Liberation Front)

Had there been no anti-SUV graffiti, this crime would be classified as arson and vandalism, but with a little bit of spray paint it's now an "act of domestic terrorism."

I just find it very interesting how this one small detail changes things. And I wonder if the perpetrators understood how a few lines of spray paint have turned their crime from one that would fall under local jurisdiction into one that will surely bring the Feds into the picture, and make their punishment far more severe.

Y'know, I'm all for people supporting whatever it is they believe in and feel passionate about, and being able to voice their grievances and opinions in whatever manner they wish. But destroying someone else's property goes over the line. These people could've made their point by peacefully picketing the dealership and they'd have probably gotten just as much media coverage, without alienating people like me by engaging in the destruction of someone's business and putting a whole bunch of hard-working people out of a job.

Everyone knows I lean pretty hard to the left, especially when it comes to preserving the gifts of Nature. But things like this make it easy to see why lots of people get disgusted with the "tree-huggers" and tune out EVERYONE who might speak out against those things that are harmful to the ecology. Extremists of any stripe just piss people off, and make it difficult for the non-extremists to be heard or trusted.

Really sad.