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http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-030904suv_lat,1,6631739.story?coll=la-home-headlines
Caltech Student Arrested in Arson Spree
By Jesus Sanchez
Times Staff Writer

3:00 PM PST, March 9, 2004

A Caltech graduate student allegedly affiliated with an eco-terrorist group was arrested today in connection with last summer's arson attacks aimed at Hummers and other sports utility vehicles at four dealerships in the San Gabriel Valley.

Agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested William Jensen Cottrell, 23, on federal charges of arson and vandalism, said FBI Assistant Director Richard T. Garcia.

Cottrell, who is a physics graduate student at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate this afternoon in Los Angeles.

Cottrell, using the alias Tony Marsden, sent several e-mails to the Los Angeles Times claiming responsibility for the arson attacks and confirming his affiliation with the Earth Liberation Front, according to the FBI. In the messages, which were sent one month after the fire bombings, Cottrell gave specific details of the attacks to prove his involvement.

The Aug. 22 attacks caused more than $1 million in damage, which included the destruction of more than 100 vehicles and one commercial building. The attacks were also one of the more brazen in a string of incidents in California linked to environmental terrorists.

According to the FBI, spray-painted in either red or blue on the vandalized vehicles were the words: "ELF", "I ♥ Pollution", "Polluter" and "SUV = Terrorism."

"Those who set fires, like those at the Hummer dealership in West Covina, are misguided zealots," said Garcia of the FBI. "The FBI respects, encourages and protects people who peacefully exercise their right to free speech. However, when extremists resort to arson attacks, which inevitably will lead to a loss of life, they have gone too far and the FBI will investigate aggressively and relentlessly to bring those who set such fires to justice."

After the attacks, FBI agents arrested but later released one environmental activist, Josh Connole, 25. He denied any involvement in the crime and denounced the tactics used by the ELF.

As early as September, authorities focused on Caltech because it appeared that the e-mails sent to The Times may have originated from computers at the campus.

In late January, the FBI focused on a computer found in a building at the university that is accessible only to students and faculty, according to people familiar with the case. Agents also questioned some graduate students at Caltech.

The school has been cooperating with investigators while "mindful of the rights of our student and our legal obligations," said a statement by spokesman Robert L. O'Rourke. "There should be no question, however, that these acts of vandalism are neither supported nor endorsed by Caltech and are directly contrary to our mission."

Times staff writer Greg Krikorian contributed to this story.


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Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times

of course they will.
It's not like an Anthrax assult, is it?

They ought to set HIM on fire...or better yet, lock him in an SUV and suffocate him with carbon monoxide.

Or they could violate the Constitutional guarantee against cruel and unusual punishement by forcing him to read your imbecile postings or watch old episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger. By the way, it is more than clear that you value property rights above human rights. How many civilian vehicles has the US military destroyed in Iraq? What kind of punishement do you have in mind for Bush and his generals?

An even better idea would be to give him a one way ticket to Cuba so he could be with his own people -- Communist dipshits.

You need a ticket so you can join your co-"thinkers," the sadistic torturers at Guantanimo.

They're using the diary of Anne Frank over there and comparing Hitler to George W Bush.

Sounds familair, don't it?

Or they could violate the Constitutional guarantee against cruel and unusual punishement by forcing him to read your imbecile postings or watch old episodes of Walker, Texas Ranger.

THE WORLD NEEDS MORE CHUCK NORRISES AND LESS LIBERALS, WHO CAN'T SIDEKICK WORTH A DAMN.

By the way, it is more than clear that you value property rights above human rights.

AND THE OWNERS OF THOSE DESTROYED SUVS...THEIR LIVELIHOOD HARMED FOR SELLING A LEGAL PRODUCT. IT'S OBVIOUS LIKE ALL LIBERALS, YOU PUT ON A GOOD SHOW OF PEACE AND ADVOCATE MERCY FOR THE WORLD'S TYRANTS, BUT STEALTHILY SUPPORT FORCE, AS LONG AS YOU GET A CUT OF THE WEALTH REDISTRIBUTION.

How many civilian vehicles has the US military destroyed in Iraq?

HOW MANY DICTATORS ARE NO LONGER STICKING PEOPLE INTO SHREDDERS? (THE CARS WILL GROW BACK).

What kind of punishement do you have in mind for Bush and his generals?

NONE. BUT I'D LIKE TO KICK BUSH'S ASS FOR BETRAYING NATIONAL SECURITY BY IGNORING THE BORDER PROBLEM, AND SPENDING MOMEY LIKE A DRUNK DEMOCRAP.

THE EYES OF A RANGER ARE UPON YOU, LIBERALS. DROP THAT POOL CUE AND SURRENDER.

Watch it, white boy - your tights split up the back when you bent over to get another six pack. Having your eyes upon me sends chills up my back - not of fear but of disgust.
I'd love to see you show up in some poor Baghdad neighborhood and tell the people they have nothing to complain about because their cars will grow back. Your behind won't, though.

I am outraged. While it is true that Bush is as evil as I was, please give me credit for some intelligence.

Of course these were the same dingbats who believed the FBI could do no wrong bin their first bad arrest. Is this lie ...uh...profiling?

The real criminals always come out to hang the falsely accused. Been happening since puritan time.

Speaking of real criminals, I love running SUV idiots off the road, cutting them off, and making them whine like babies.

"This Kerry fool is obviously a Bolshevik agent," declared the tottering but still feisty Herr Ribbentrop from his secret place of exile somewhere in Arkansas. "We were the masters at lying and conniving, and don't you forget it. What's more, these degenerate types who compare us to Bush and his amateur posturings may be contacted by our lawyer for further legal action, faster than you can say "schnell, sweinhunts!". The aged spectre simpered off into a blathering series of sputtering pops as the semi-livid ex dictator himself emerged from his cave in a freshly-pressed but obviously worn uniform shirt. "grmfpf! pflaghf!" emerged from the fearsome creature. Obviously he was referring to some maligned dems who had dared compare his methods to their own "amateurish" attempts. Signing his frustration, the all-evil one compared Bush to "a pustule on Goehrings' ass" and denounced as "jews and undermensch" the dems who had made the comparison. When informed that he thus agreed with Rush Limbaugh that the comparison was invalid, although for different reasons, Hitler returned to repeated denunciations of "pustules on that fat shmuck's ass" again. Both retreated to the so-called fuehrer bunker muttering spastic threats against both sides.