Eco-Terrorism Law and Legal Definition
Eco-Terrorism is a political terrorism using sabotage, arson and violence in order to achieve environmentalist aims. The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines Eco-terrorism as "the use or threatened use of violence of a criminal nature against people or property by an environmentally-oriented, sub national group for environmental-political reasons, or aimed at an audience beyond the target, often of a symbolic nature."
Not all of those who are labeled as eco-terrorists perpetrate violence against humans or animals, but instead against property. This has led to a debate that touches on whether or not to classify these actions as "terrorist". In the United States the FBI’s definition includes acts of violence against property, which makes most acts of sabotage fall in the realm of domestic terrorism, even if they are not designed to induce terror. There are a wide variety of tactics that have been used by eco-terrorists and groups associated with eco-terrorism. Examples for commonly used tactics are tree spiking and arson.
