Environmental and animal rights extremists who have turned to arson and explosives are the nation's top domestic terrorism threat, the FBI has told lawmakers. Groups such as the Animal Liberation Front, the Earth Liberation Front and the Britain-based SHAC, or Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, are way out in front" in terms of damage and number of crimes, John Lewis, the FBI's deputy assistant director for counterterrorism, told a Senate hearing Wednesday. "Just like al-Qaida or any other terrorist organization, ELF and ALF cannot accomplish their goals without money, membership and the media," Inhofe said. The FBI said 35 of its offices have 150 open investigations, and activists are claiming responsibility for 1,200 crimes between 1990 and mid-2004.
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