The Green Scare is legal action by the US government against the radical environmental movement, that occurred mostly in the 2000s. It alludes to the Red Scares, periods of fear over communist infiltration of US society.
The term was popularized by environmental activists. It is first known to have appeared in the wake of the February 12, 2002 congressional hearings titled "The Threat of Eco-Terrorism", which discussed groups including the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF).[1] The spring edition of the prisoner support zine Spirit of Freedom defined the term as "the tactics that the US government and all their tentacles (FBI, IRS, BATF, Joint Terrorism Task Forces, local police, the court system) are using to attack the ELF/ALF and specifically those who publicly support them."[2]
The term has been used by activists to describe a sweep of arrests, convictions and grand jury indictments of ELF and ALF operatives on charges relating to acts of property damage, conspiracy, arson and use of destructive devices.[3]
- ^ Federal Bureau of Investigation – Congressional Testimony Archived 2002-10-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "A Burning Rage" (video). Internet Archive (in English and Czech). 22 February 2009. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ Federal Bureau of Investigation - Press Room - Headline Archives - Eco-Terror Indictments Archived 2010-08-17 at the Wayback Machine