Riggs, F Rep

=intercept<a class="DocumentPreview" href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5778884-DOJ-Fur-Commission-Terror-Conference-April-1998.html#document/p1" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; display: block; width: 680px; margin-bottom: 20px; max-height: 400px; overflow: hidden; position: relative; letter-spacing: normal;">Later that year, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on “Acts of Ecoterrorism by Radical Environmental Organizations.” U.S. Rep. Frank Riggs, who had </a>accepted thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the forestry industry, described an activist stunt in which a large tree stump was dumped in the middle of his Northern California office. “My office was quite literally assaulted by a group of environmental terrorists,” he said. “Upon responding to the horrific sound, my two female staff members were greeted by the visage of several Earth First! terrorists, one wearing a black ski mask, and another wearing dark goggles and a hood.” October 1998, in the midst of renewed focus on their activities, Earth Liberation Front activists raised the stakes. In the name of protecting lynx habitat, they burned down several buildings at a new ski resort near Vail, Colorado, causing $12 million worth of damage. “The environmental groups who have not just claimed credit, but in some cases have been proved to have committed criminal acts, are a very, very serious part of our domestic terrorism focus,” then-FBI Director Louis Freeh <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?119923-1/countering-terrorist-threats-us" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; letter-spacing: normal;">told Congress</a> a few months later.The Fur Commission celebrated. “Over the last year, the people of the fur trade have been key players with other animal and resource-based industries in a concerted effort to push eco and animal rights terrorism up the government’s priority pole,” according to <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/leighton-woodhouse/animal-liberation_b_2012426.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;">a March 1999 newsletter</a>. “These efforts have resulted in a strong statement of commitment from the FBI.”
Frank D. Riggs (born September 5, 1950) is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politician" title="Politician" style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">politician</a> from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S.state" title="U.S. state" style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">states</a> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California" title="California" style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">California</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arizona" title="Arizona" style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Arizona</a>.Riggs was born in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisville,Kentucky" title="Louisville, Kentucky" style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Louisville, Kentucky</a>, and he served in the United States Army from 1972 to 1975. Riggs worked as a police officer and in real estate. He was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Republican in 1990 from California's 1st District, narrowly defeating four-term <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Party(United_States)" title="Democratic Party (United States)" style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Democrat</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Bosco" title="Douglas Bosco" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Doug Bosco</a>. He represented the area stretching from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napa_County" title="Napa County" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Napa County</a> to the northern Pacific coast.Riggs voted against the Gulf War resolution and, as a member of the Gang of Seven, a group of newly-minted, idealistic congressmen, favored identifying publicly the congressmen who made overdrafts at the House Bank. Riggs was defeated in 1992 by Democrat <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Hamburg" title="Daniel Hamburg" style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Dan Hamburg</a> but won a rematch in 1994.In 1996, Riggs won re-election in a campaign that generated controversy after he used the example of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polly_Klaas" title="Polly Klaas" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Polly Klaas</a> while attacking his opponent's anti-death penalty stance. During his tenure as congressman, fraud and conspiracy civil-lawsuit charges were filed in Sonoma County Superior Court against a partnership which included Mr. Riggs, regarding a 37-acre (150,000 m2) parcel of land referred to as Haystack Landing.In 1998, State Senator <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Thompson_(California_politician)" title="Mike Thompson (California politician)" style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Mike Thompson</a>, who was due to be termed out of his seat, decided to run for the 1st District House seat. The Democrats had originally hoped to draft Thompson in 1996, but he declined. Believing that he faced almost certain defeat against the popular Thompson, Riggs instead ran for the Republican nomination for the United States Senate. A late entrant, he dropped out of the race before election day but still finished in fifth place (the fourth place Republican) in the state's open primary system. The nomination was won by State Treasurer <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Fong" title="Matt Fong" style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Matt Fong</a>. Meanwhile, Thompson won the congressional seat handily and still holds it today.In 2001, Riggs moved to Arizona. In 2005, he explored a run for governor, as most Arizona Republicans were deciding not to challenge popular Governor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Napolitano" title="Janet Napolitano" style="text-decoration: initial; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Janet Napolitano</a> for reelection the following year. However, Riggs discovered that he had to be a five-year resident of Arizona in order to run for governor.