LOS ANGELES – A University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) researcher’s home was firebombed Feb. 5. This incident marks the second time in the last four months that such an incident has occurred at the woman’s residence.
Authorities said a flammable device was placed under the victim’s front door. The victim, Edythe London, is a professor of psychiatry and bio-behavioral sciences and medical pharmacology. While conducting research on nicotine addiction, London uses lab monkeys.
Last October, London’s home was vandalized by an animal rights activist group called the Animal Liberation Front. At that time, the group said the incident was meant to stop London from performing experiments on animals.
In June 2007, the same group left an incendiary device next to a car at the home of a UCLA ophthalmologist, and in the summer of 2006, they placed a device near the home of a UCLA psychologist.
UCLA Chancellor Gene Block said that the school is working closely with the FBI to bring justice to those who have attacked researchers at the university. School officials added that the animal research is in compliance with federal and university policies to ensure humane care.
So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the event, and no arrests have been made.
