Stopping Domestic Terrorism

Pennsylvania now has a law I developed that will fight ecoterrorism, a crime the FBI has identified as a serious growing threat to our nation’s security.  Act 27 will help us fight ecoterrorists by giving our law enforcement officers the tools they need to prosecute these types of criminals.  Recently, several ecoterrorists in New Jersey were convicted and sentenced to prison under the federal ecoterrorism law—clearly, this is an issue we need to take seriously.

Ecoterrorism is the use or threat of force or violence against animal or plant activities, animal or plant facilities or natural resources in order to intimidate the government or the civilian population for political or social needs. As a general rule, ecoterrorism offenses would be classified one degree higher than the classification of the offense in current law.  

I want to emphasize that nothing in the new law prevents an individual from exercising his or her freedom of speech rights under the U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions on public property or with the permission of the landowner. Persons peaceably demonstrating or exercising those rights will be immune from prosecution or civil liability for ecoterrorism.

I grew concerned about ecoterrorism when it was reported that animal rights activists destroyed and damaged labs that housed research animals, burnt down a large forest research facility in the Allegheny National Forest in Warren County and trashed and vandalized the WB Saul Agricultural School in Philadelphia.  These kinds of actions are clearly not peaceful or lawful protesting.  

There are more than 2,000 bioscience companies in Pennsylvania employing 84,000 citizens. These companies are working on breakthrough therapies, devices, diagnostics and vaccines that will dramatically improve the health and welfare of people globally. The new law will protect our talented scientists in Pennsylvania, further demonstrating Pennsylvania’s position as a world-leading location for biosciences.