By Robert Stacy McCain

Special to The Conservative Voice

Masked intruders attacked a California university researcher’s home in an incident that the FBI is investigating as a potential terrorist attack.

There is “a possible link” between radical animal rights groups and the attack on the researcher’s home, FBI spokeswoman Patti Hanson told the Santa Cruz (Calif.) Sentinel.

The woman targeted in the attack, a scientific researcher at the University of California Santa Cruz, was celebrating her 10-year-old child’s birthday with her family Sunday afternoon when shouting was heard in front of the house, police said.

Six masked protesters were seen in front of the house, and when they attempted to force their way through the front door, they were confronted by the researcher’s husband. After an exchange of blows, the protesters got in a car and drove away, police said.

"The reason we said we'd look into it is to see if there's a possible link to domestic terrorism," Hanson told the Sentinel.

UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal called the incident “disturbing.”

“This incident appears to be part of a series of recent incidents targeting UC faculty, students, and staff who conduct biomedical research using animals,” Blumenthal said in a message sent to university faculty, staff and students. “At UCSC, these incidents included earlier acts of intimidation, trespassing, vandalism, and property damage at the homes of faculty, staff, and students.”

Praising the work of UCSC researchers as “critically important” in finding treatments for such diseases as breast cancer, Blumenthal said that while dissent and debate are welcome at the university, “an attempted home invasion by masked perpetrators is not free speech -- it is a criminal act that threatens, intimidates, and stifles academic freedom.”

The attack on the UCSC researcher’s home resemble attacks at UCLA that have resulted in a restraining order against a number of activist groups, including the Animal Liberation Front, although police have not asserted any connection between the Los Angeles and Santa Cruz incidents.

UCSC student Kaitlynn Shimmin said the academic environment on campus helped foster incidents such as Sunday’s attack.

“When you indoctrinate students instead of teach them how to think, you produce irrational close-minded terrorists instead of productive citizens,” Shimmin said. “If you can form a coherent argument you do not need to resort to these tactics.”

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