Terrorists Indicted

Reuters: US indicts 11 environmental, animal activists---

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Eleven environmental and animal rights activists have been indicted in a series of attacks in the U.S. West on targets that included the Vail Ski Resort in Colorado, the Justice Department said on Friday.

The defendants, based in Portland, Oregon, and acting on behalf of the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front, were named in a 65-count indictment that included charges of arson and destruction of an energy facility, U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said at a news conference.

A Justice Department official said property damage from the incidents reached $100 million.

The indictment cited 17 incidents in Oregon, Washington state, Wyoming, Colorado and California. They included arsons or attempted arsons at U.S. Forest Service ranger stations, animal holding facilities, lumber companies and timber farms, the Vail Ski Resort and the Eugene, Oregon, police department.

"The indictment tells a story of four-and-a-half years of arson, vandalism, violence and destruction claimed to have been executed on behalf of the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front -- extremist movements known to support acts of domestic terrorism," Gonzales said.