The FBI is investigating an apparent attempt to firebomb a fast-food restaurant in Reno because of the possibility it could have been an act of domestic terrorism after the initials of an animal rights group were found scrawled on a drive-thru sign, local fire officials told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
FBI spokeswoman Bridget Pappas in Las Vegas confirmed her agency is investigating, but she refused to say why.
“We don’t have any additional details at this time,” Pappas told AP. “And because it is an ongoing investigation, we won’t be commenting.”
Reno Fire Capt. Tray Palmer said firefighters initially responded to the scene Monday morning.
“Because of the ‘ALF’ that was written on the outside there, we secured the scene and waited for the FBI and the FBI took over that investigation because of the potential for domestic terrorism,” Palmer told the AP on Tuesday. He said it appeared that a glass bottle had been thrown through the window containing what appears to be a flammable liquid.
“It looks like it is, but until it is tested, we can’t be certain,” he said, adding that the FBI is supervising the testing and that he had no further comment. No one was hurt, and the Reno restaurant suffered only minor damage. The writing on the sign had been removed by Tuesday, but the drive-thru remained closed.
Nicoal Sheen, a national press officer for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office in Los Angeles, said Tuesday that the group is not aware of anyone claiming responsibility for the incident in Reno. “We have not received any anonymous communique on this,” she told the AP.
Another animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, picketed in front of a Reno KFC in 2003 in protest of the restaurant chain’s refusal to change the way it treats and kills chickens.
The most recent violence in Reno that the Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for was a fire in May 2009 that gutted the business office of a company that ships monkeys from China for scientific research in the United States and elsewhere.
In 2007, several members of a cell group of the Animal Liberation Front were convicted of setting more than 20 fires in five Western states that did a total of $40 million in damage, including an arson fire in 2001 at a U.S. Bureau of Land Management facility housing wild horses in Litchfield, California — about 90 miles northwest of Reno.
Reno police spokesman Officer Tim Broadway said Tuesday there have been no new developments in the May 2009 case. Broadway said he couldn’t comment on the latest incident involving KFC because the FBI is handling it.
North American Animal Liberation Press Office
Are Animal Activists Behind the Firebombing of a KFC?
by Khushbu Shah
Eater.com
The FBI is investigating.
Someone tried to fry a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant in Reno, Nevada: According to KOLO TV, the restaurant was firebombed yesterday morning. When employees arrived at the restaurant, they found that a window had been shattered and that a “Molotov cocktail had been thrown inside.” Authorities tell the news station that “a large rock was tossed through the drive-thru window,” and that the Molotov cocktail only damaged a few cardboard boxes and left a “smoldering mess.”
The letters ALF were written across the drive-thru menu, which authorities believe are linked to an “extremist animal rights group” called the Animal Liberation Front. The group has been critical of the chicken chain for years. ALF’s website accuses KFC of animal cruelty, and in the past, “members have taken credit for burning [KFC] locations down.” The FBI is investigating the matter and the restaurant is currently closed.
Criminals appear to love hitting restaurants with Molotov cocktails. In 2012, three Montreal-area bars and restaurants were targeted. Arsonists threw Molotov cocktails at all three of the restaurants within a 24-hour period. Then, in 2013, yet another Montreal restaurant was firebombed by arsonists.