Apparent Radical Leftist Attack on Gas Lines in Colorado, Leaving Thousands Without Heat

(AP Photo/John Locher, File)

The FBI is now investigating what the police are calling an “intentional attack” on the gas service lines in and around Aspen, Colorado.

According to ABC, coordinated attacks involved three separate Black Hills Energy gas line sites, one in Aspen and two elsewhere in Pitkin County on Saturday. According to Assistant Police Chief Bill Linn, the saboteurs had some knowledge to understand what they were doing, they “tampered with the flow lines. They turned off the gas lines.”

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Police found the words “Earth First” written in black marker on the pipes at one of the sites. A second reference to a radical environmental group was found at another disrupted natural gas pumping site near Aspen, the police said. The sites had security measures that the saboteurs overcame. There were some footprints found, but there were no cameras at the sites. Looks like that was a critical thing to overlook with the crazies we now have on the left.

What that meant for the area was not good. That left thousands of residents and businesses without heat as the temperatures dropped to near zero degrees.

Local authorities handed out thousands of space heaters to try to help keep people from freezing on Tuesday.

From ABC:

Black Hills Energy officials said about 3,500 customers were affected by the gas outage, and crews had to go to each natural gas meter to manually turn them off and relight the pilot lights. Officials said the work was continuing Tuesday, but it was unclear how long it would take before gas service is restored to everyone.

Linn said the police department was handing out about 6,000 portable space heaters to residents.

He added that numerous businesses, including restaurants and hotels, had to shut down due to the loss of gas.

“It’s almost, to me, an act of terrorism,” Pitkin County Commissioner Patti Clapper, who lost heat in her home due to the vandalism, told The Aspen Times newspaper. “It’s trying to destroy a mountain community at the height of the holiday season. This wasn’t a national gas glitch. This was a purposeful act. Someone is looking to make a statement of some kind.”

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There were still about 1500 who didn’t have heat on Tuesday, after three days of chilly weather, but officials thought they’d be able to have those folks back on by Wednesday.

The FBI is now looking into the group “Earth First.” ABC tried to contact them to ask if they had done it and got no response.

Despite that threat to thousands of people, this has gotten very little attention from national media. A quick search reveals no coverage from CNN and MSNBC. While ABC News covered it on their site, it didn’t even make it to their air the day it happened on ABC’s World News Tonight, according to MRC. Apparently, leftist terrorism against the infrastructure doesn’t grab those networks.

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