A 23-year-old New Jersey man has pleaded guilty to a federal arson charge for setting a fire on the roof of a McDonald’s on behalf the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Animal Liberation Front (ALF).

Under a plea agreement, Christopher W. McIntosh, 23, admitted that in January 2003 he carried several gallons of gasoline onto the roof of the restaurant near the Space Needle in Seattle and lighted it.  The fire caused $5,000 in damage. 

After setting the fire, McIntosh also left a message on a Seattle arson tip line, saying, “There was an ELF-ALF hit at McDonald’s across from the Space Needle.  There will be more. ... As long as mother Earth is pillaged, raped, destroyed. As long as McDonald's keeps hurting our furry brothers, there will be more.” 

Federal agents arrested McIntosh in Philadelphia in March 2005 after identifying his fingerprints on a spray-paint can left at the scene.  McIntosh pleaded guilty to arson in a federal court in Seattle on September 26 to avoid being tried and potentially convicted under an anti-terrorism law, which carries a minimum sentence of 30 years. 

ELF and ALF, two of the most active ecoterrorist movements in the U.S., have targeted McDonald’s restaurants throughout the country.  For example, on September 8, 2001, an arson attack against a McDonald’s in Tucson, Arizona, caused $500,000 in damage.  In a statement released by ALF and ELF claiming credit for the blaze, the groups said the fire was meant as a warning to corporations worldwide.  In another incident involving McDonald’s and incendiary devices on March 3, 2003, two explosives designed to spread fire quickly once ignited were found at a McDonald’s in Chico, California.  The phrases “meat is murder” and “species equality” were spray-painted in red at the scene, as was “Animal Liberation Front.”  Although the two incendiary devices failed to ignite, a week later a different McDonald’s in Chico was damaged by another device.  “Liberation” and “ALF” were also spray-painted on the walls in that attack.  

The cover of an ALF manual titled ARSON-Around with Auntie ALF includes a cartoon of a McDonald’s burnt to the ground.  The manual provides step-by-step instructions and diagrams for preparing various igniters and incendiary devices, as well as home-made napalm. 

McIntosh is scheduled to be sentenced in December and faces up to 10 years in prison.