Al Martinez, the beloved columnist for the LA Times, came out against violence by the animal rights crowd today. He cited a few stats from 2003, threw in a few humorous anecdotes, and basically said firebombing the home of a medical researcher who tests on animals for the good of humans isn't cool. Which is all fine and good…except the column is about a year too late.

Actually, it's something of a miracle the LA Times has written anything at all about the increasingly violent methods of certain animal lovers, so Martinez should at least be given points for throwing in his two cents. Over the past year, the Times and the rest of the LA press have ignored a simple and looming fact: In the United States of America, Los Angeles is ground zero for the terroristic wing of the animal rights movement. (Read the LA Weekly story by clicking here.)

Several months ago, these radicals attacked the home of the sister of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and they continue to terrorize professors at UCLA, where all of this recent activity is based. The FBI and the Los Angeles Police Department, in the meantime, seem to be nowhere near an arrest in any of these cases. (Read another LA Weekly story by clicking here.)

A firebombing incident at UC Santa Cruz sparked Martinez's outrage, but the radicals are not some far off threat making their way down the California coast. The violent menace is already here.

Contact Patrick Range McDonald at pmcdonald@laweekly.com.

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