NYSE Failed to Defend Capitalism Against Threats By Animal Activists

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4381374.stm


NYSE 'caved in' on lab firm float


The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) has been accused of caving into threats from animal rights activists.


The claim came from Life Sciences, the US parent firm of animal testing group Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), at a US Senate hearing on "eco terrorism".


The company focused on the effect of the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty campaign (SHAC) on businesses.

Life Sciences said it was "patently clear" the SHAC campaign had led the NYSE to postpone its share listing.

'Confidential'


During the hearing, Life Sciences and the NYSE were questioned about the decision to postpone the company's listing minutes before its debut.


It was patently clear to me that the only reason the NYSE postponed our listing was because of concerns about the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty campaig Mark Bibi, Life Sciences' general counsel.


NYSE representative Richard P Bernard apologised for the timing of the postponement, saying: "We got our cart before the horse."


However, he added that the reasons behind the decision were "confidential" but also pointed out that the exchange had the right and said that under SEC rules the exchange could "bring in other factors to determine a listing".


The exchange was still looking into the listing of Life Sciences, he said.


But Life Sciences' general counsel Mark Bibi told the hearing that when he met NYSE officials on 7 September - the day of its planned listing - they only spoke about a planned campaign by animal rights activists.


"It was patently clear to me that the only reason the NYSE postponed our listing was because of concerns about the SHAC campaign," Mr Bibi said.


Threat pressure


He added that the decision to postpone Life Sciences' listing only 45 minutes before its shares were due to begin trading had affected its stock price.


Its shares had stood at $17.50 on 6 September on the Nasdaq bulletin board, but since the postponement they have traded as low as $8. On Wednesday they closed at $12.25.


Huntingdon Life Sciences has been targeted for years by animal rights activists. Senior executives have been physically attacked while others with links to the company have been subjected to serious intimidation - developments which led to the firm moving its headquarters from the UK to the US.


However, the aggressive campaign of harassment has continued across the Atlantic, according to reports.


Traders buying and selling their shares were targeted and when Life Sciences applied for a listing on the NYSE, the exchange itself reportedly became the focus of animal rights activism.

Tree Hugging Terrorism Arises From Frustrations, Experts Say

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/23/eveningnews/main574803.shtml

Environmentalists Turn To Violence


Once Benign 'Tree-Huggers' Now Practice Economic Sabotage


(CBS) It's been guerrilla warfare all summer out west, reports CBS News Correspondent Bill Whitaker.


The extremist Earth Liberation Front, or ELF, has claimed responsibility for a rash of fires in California, including a $50-million development in San Diego.


"The organization has never harmed a single person," said former ELF spokesman Craig Rosebraugh.


But, he says, property destruction is a necessary tactic. The goal is economic sabotage, to try and inflict maximum damage to the entities that are destroying the natural environment.


And it's not just environmental extremists. Equally stealthy animal radicals also are turning up the heat with an escalating rampage of destruction.


In all, these extremists claim more than $100 million of destruction across the country.


Animal rights activists bombed a Bay Area genetics lab and released 10,000 mink in Washington.


Now, environmental extremists are taking aim at a new target: SUVs. Hummers were torched near L.A., peppered with BBs in Houston and tagged in Santa Fe. "They're not making a point, they're just making people angry," a Santa Fe car dealer told Whitaker. "Driving a hummer, a $50,000 GM tool for the rich, getting 10 miles to the gallon -- that is violence.


Going in and torching those and getting rid of those is an act of liberation and should be applauded," Rosebraugh says. Rosebraugh says years of peaceful protests failed to save the earth. He now considers the property attacks a better advertisement than a recruitment video he produced telling people to "take initiative, form your own cell and do what needs to be done to protect all life on this planet."


San Francisco chef Laurent Manrique felt his family threatened when animal rights radicals defaced his shop and sent video of his wife and infant with the words, "we're watching" -- all because he serves goose liver. "It was like it was back in Alabama in 1935, 1940," he said.


"What's going on?" The FBI says what's going on is pure and simple terrorism. "Those who've committed those crimes will find in the end they will be spending the rest of their productive lives in prison," warned Assistant FBI Director Ron Iden. The FBI, using surveillance video from the L.A. Hummer fire, says it's confident of an arrest. Rosebraugh says the underground cells are so diffuse, a few arrests won't stop them.


"There's definitely going to be more actions, because that frustration level continues to grow." Clearly frustration is growing on both sides.


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