The North American Animal Liberation Press Office

Animal Liberation Media Coverage 2009


More Media Fascination With OSU Decision to Not Murder Primates; Was it the Money or Was It Animal Liberationists That Forced Their Hand?	December 18, 2009
*Stillwater (OK) News Press: An Oklahoma legislator openly chastised Oklahoma State University on Thursday, accusing OSU's administration of canceling research programs to curry favor with a wealthy donor and her animal rights agenda. St. Rep. Phil Richardson, R-Minco, said the stewardship of Madeleine Pickens, wife of billionaire OSU benefactor T. Boone Pickens, led to the cancellation of a recent anthrax research program. OSU President Burns Hargis refused to be interviewed for this article. An OSU spokesman said in a statement the university's decision had no outside influence from donors or animal rights groups. more... Enid (OK) News*: State Rep. Phil Richardson issued a press release Thursday, stating Oklahoma State University is caving in to animal rights extremists when it comes to the use of animal test subjects for infectious disease research. Richardson's press release said he was “concerned by the actions of OSU officials, which appear designed to cater to animal-rights fanatics instead of providing a sound education in agricultural sciences.” Richardson, who received his doctor of veterinary medicine from OSU in 1967, said the decision was consistent with others made in the past year “to curry favor with the Humane Society of the United States and the wife of the university's major donor, an avowed animal rights activist.” more...
Animal Liberation front Linked to Car Burnings in Mexico; Animal Abusers Targeted at Rate Higher Than Anywhere in the World!	December 16, 2009
*Associated Press*: Investigators have found evidence linking an animal rights group to homemade bombs that burned seven vehicles in Mexico City, a prosecutor said Wednesday. The symbol of a local version of the Animal Liberation Front was found painted near the attacks in a residential neighborhood on the city's south side, assistant city prosecutor Luis Genaro Vasquez told the Televisa news network. An anarchist symbol was also found. Police have detained three youths who say they are 17-years-old. Jerry Vlasak, a press officer for the U.S.-based North American Animal Liberation Press Office, said his organization receives anonymous news statements from the Mexican group but does not know who its members are because they operate secretly. He said he had not received any statement about the car burnings, but added it would be typical of the Mexican's group actions. more...
Judge to Decide if Prosecutors Violated Plea Agreement in Sentencing of Liberationist BJ Viehl	December 5, 2009
*Deseret News: A man who raided a South Jordan mink farm says a prosecutor's statements during an aborted sentencing hearing amount to a breach of his plea agreement. As a remedy, William James Viehl asked U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on Thursday to remove himself from his case and reassign it to another judge for the purpose of sentencing. Viehl, 23, was expected to be sentenced Nov. 12 to six months in prison for damaging and interfering with animal enterprises during a September raid on the McMullin mink farm in South Jordan. Such a sentence is consistent with the low end of the federal sentencing guidelines, which the U.S. Attorney's Office had agreed to recommend in exchange for Viehl's guilty plea. During the sentencing hearing, however, prosecutor John Huber told Benson that although Viehl's actions were classified as a property crime by the sentencing guidelines, the impact of his misconduct was much more sinister than simple vandalism. more... Salt Lake City Tribune*: A federal judge is deciding whether prosecutors broke a bargain of asking for only six months of jail time in an animal rights activism case. William James Viehl agreed to plead guilty to releasing 600 mink from the McMullin Fur Farm in South Jordan on Aug. 19, 2008, and spray-painting a barn with ALF (for Animal Liberation Front) and "We are watching." In exchange, prosecutors said they'd recommend he do six months in jail. On Nov. 12, Judge Dee Benson said he was planning to give Viehl two years or more in jail. On Friday, Viehl's defense attorney Heather Harris argued that while prosecutors did say they recommended six months, their presentation before the judge was much more condemning than a six-month sentence would justify. Prosecutors presented a slide show of other victims of animal rights activists and told Benson that while Viehl was being charged with a property crime, "that does not quite capture the offense that was committed by Mr. Viehl." more...
Vivisectionists Fear Animal Rights Programs, Shrug at Animal Welfare	December 2, 2009
*Change.org: P. Michael Conn is very worried. P. Michael Conn should be worried. P. Michael Conn makes his money from the torment and killing of nonhuman animals -- and from lying about animal research -- as the director of research advocacy at the Oregon Health and Sciences University and Oregon National Primate Research Center, institutions known for their cruel, unnecessary experiments on and abuse of animals. And he's worked up because 55 percent of law schools now offer at least one animal law course. And worse, students are taking these courses -- and (gasp!) thinking about the morality of performing research on animals. more... Daily Iowan*: People around the world participate in the political process in a variety of ways. Some vote in elections. Others stage protests or contact their legislator. Still others opt for the more extreme approach of committing violent acts to serve a political end. Political violence occurs all over the world, and Iowa City is no exception. Extremists since the 1960s have committed acts of violence on campus — one of the most recent being the Spence Labs break-in in 2004. While Jerry Vlasak, a press representative for the Animal Liberation Front, denied those accused of breaking into Spence Labs were affiliated with the central office, he defended their actions as means of liberation. He even compared their acts to those of the abolitionists and Nelson Mandela. He said people will not give up power unless they have to and won't stop abusing others unless forced. Conventional forms of participation — voting, lobbying, etc. — were useful, but not enough, Vlasak argued. Violence would need to supplement those actions. more...
Activist Scott DeMuth Released from Jail Over FBI Objections	December 1, 2009
*Quad City Times: A federal judge Monday ordered the immediate release of a Minnesota man charged with conspiracy for his alleged involvement in the 2005 animal-rights vandalism act at a University of Iowa laboratory. DeMuth was being held at the Muscatine County Jail on the federal charge. He was already in jail for contempt of court for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury convened in Davenport earlier this month. Jarvey reviewed a transcript of the Nov. 20 initial appearance hearing in which the prosecution raised concerns over DeMuth being a flight risk before ordering his release. The Animal Liberation Front, or ALF, raided the Spence Laboratories and Seashore Hall in November, 2005, according to prosecutors. DeMuth is accused of being involved with the group. more... Daily Iowan: A federal judge ordered on Monday the release of the Minneapolis man arrested in connection to the 2004 break-in at Spence Labs at the UI. Prosecutors claimed Scott DeMuth, 22, was a domestic terrorist who posed a danger to society and had the support needed to hide from authorities if released. But U.S. District Judge John Jarvey ruled the prosecutors failed to demonstrate DeMuth was a risk to society or a flight risk. Prosecutors allege DeMuth conspired with others to commit animal-enterprise terrorism and cause economic damages to the animal enterprise. On Nov. 14, 2004, four masked individuals broke into Spence Labs and caused around $450,000 in damages. The Animal Liberation Front claimed credit for the break-in. Press Citizen: A Minnesota man jailed for allegedly vandalizing Spence Laboratory at the University of Iowa in 2004 has been ordered released from jail. Scott DeMuth, 22, was ordered released from jail by U.S. District Court Judge John Jarvey. Jarvey wrote in his order that with DeMuth "the government has failed to demonstrate that the release of the defendant would pose a danger to the community or a serious risk of flight." more... MN Daily: Against FBI recommendations, a federal judge in Iowa ordered the release of indicted University of Minnesota graduate student Scott Demuth on Monday. The indictment came Nov. 18 after a grand jury in Davenport, Iowa subpoenaed DeMuth and fellow activist Carrie Feldman in relation to vandalism at the University of Iowa in 2004. The group Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for breaking into the University of Iowa's psychology department, doing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and destroying research, as well as freeing rats and mice, according to the group's Web site. more... Inside Higher Education*: Social scientists who study illegal activities periodically face criticism for their commitment to protecting the confidentiality of their research subjects, who regularly break the law. Supporters of Scott DeMuth, a University of Minnesota graduate student in sociology, say that his recent prosecution by federal authorities is an extreme and dangerous example of such criticism. Professors are organizing on his behalf, saying that federal authorities are using inappropriate measures to try to get DeMuth to reveal what he knows about underground animal rights groups. more...
Oklahoma State University Rejects Primate Experimentation; Large Donor Sways President to Adopt Moral High Ground	November 30, 2009
*NewsOK: A project to test anthrax vaccines and treatment on baboons was quashed by Oklahoma State University administrators because the primates would be euthanized. Veterinary medicine researchers were told by e-mail last month that OSU President Burns Hargis wouldn't allow the National Institutes of Health-funded project, even though an internal faculty committee had spent more than a year setting out protocol for the care and use of the primates. Veterinary scientists say the decision was sudden and arbitrary, and now they fear the president may call for ending other projects involving animal research. OSU administrators declined to comment for this story, but released a statement through OSU spokesman Gary Shutt stating "this research was not in the best interest of the university. The testing of lethal pathogens on primates would be a new area for OSU that is controversial and is outside our current research programs.” Veterinary scientist Richard Eberle said the faculty believes Hargis' ruling was influenced by an animal rights advocate or other organization. "OSU is now seen by researchers at other institutions as an unreliable research partner and afraid of animal rights demonstrators,” Eberle said. "It is sad that such a golden opportunity for OSU and the state of Oklahoma to attain national recognition has been missed as the result of a single individual's decision.” more... Science Magazine: Last week a commotion erupted over a canceled anthrax project at Oklahoma State University (OSU), Stillwater. The National Institutes of Health had agreed to fund the study, which involved creating an animal model of anthrax infection in baboons, and the university's animal use and care committee had given it the green light. But OSU President Burns Hargis decided that the project would not be allowed on campus, for reasons that weren't immediately clear. Hargis made the decision based on several factors, OSU's vice president for research and technology transfer, Stephen McKeever, told Science* Insider on Friday. "The issue he was mostly concerned about was that he really did not want to attract controversy from the violent elements of various animal rights groups. He did not want to put OSU in that spotlight and so unnecessarily distract from or interfere with current research." more... *Discover Magazine: Last week, seemingly out of nowhere, Oklahoma State University president Burns Hargis pulled the plug on a federally funded research project that would have tested anthrax vaccines on baboons, and euthanized the primates at the experiment's end. This week more details are beginning to come out regarding why Hargis made his call. Basically, his office says, they didn't want to deal with possibly violent animal rights protesters. President Hargis gave few details when reports first surfaced that he'd taken it upon himself to ax the project. Yesterday Stephen McKeever, the vice president for research, tried to step in and explain. “The issue he was mostly concerned about was that he really did not want to attract controversy from the violent elements of various animal rights groups. He did not want to put OSU in that spotlight and so unnecessarily distract from or interfere with current research” [ Science ] . McKeever told Science that no one had specifically threatened OSU over the project, but that the university had never before hosted terminal primate research. He also issued the vague statement that the school “received confidential information, which it will not reveal in public, that made the president uncomfortable with this particular project” [ New Scientist ] . more... Minneapolis Post: Worried about stepped up activity by militant animal-rights groups, administrators at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater abruptly cancelled an anthrax vaccine study that would have killed dozens of baboons. "There are regrettably some violent acts committed by animal-rights groups, and the president felt we should take our breath here and not do this project just yet," OSU vice-president of research, Stephen McKeever, told the journal Nature . more... Inside Higher Education: It's pretty rare for the Animal Liberation Front -- a group that supports activities to "liberate" lab animals and to halt many experiments -- to praise a university. But the front released a news release this week applauding Oklahoma State University for calling off a research project on anthrax vaccines -- supported by the National Institutes of Health -- that would have involved euthanizing baboons used in the project. The group urged its supporters to write to Burns Hargis, president at Oklahoma State, to thank him "for sparing our primate friends from torture and death." To many scientists -- frustrated by a rise in attacks on researchers by animal rights groups -- the idea that a research university is calling off NIH-sponsored research and getting praised for it by the ALF is enough to raise eyebrows. Add in a series of vague statements by Oklahoma State officials, and a prominent university donor who is active in the animal rights movement, and still more questions emerge. Oklahoma State is taking a beating in the scientific blogosphere, and science groups are also asking questions about the decision. more... Nature*: Administrators at Oklahoma State University (OSU) in Stillwater have abruptly cancelled an anthrax vaccine study that would have killed dozens of baboons. The project, funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and led by Shinichiro Kurosawa of Boston University School of Medicine in Massachusetts, had been approved by the OSU animal-care committee in September and was awaiting review by the biosafety committee when OSU president Burns Hargis vetoed it in October, calling the study "controversial". more...
Animal/Earth Liberation Fugitive Justin Solondz Jailed for 3 Years in China on Drug Charges	November 28, 2009
*NJ Star Ledger: A Randolph man who has been running from the F.B.I. for close to a decade was sentenced in China this week on illegal drug charges, officials said yesterday. Justin Franchi Solondz, 30, was sentenced to three years in prison by an intermediate court in Dali City, Yunnan province. The FBI alleges that Solondz was part of an environmental activist group called the Earth Liberation Front, or "The Family." According to information on the bureau's web site, Solondz may have had a role in burning down the Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington in Seattle. In May 2001, the group took credit for the early morning Seattle fire as well as simultaneous fires in Clatskanie, Ore., all started by "timed improvised incendiary devices," according to the FBI. In October of the same year, Solondz is believed to have been involved in an animal release carried out by the Animal Liberation Front, where investigators say they discovered similar devices. more... Associated Press: An American man wanted for ecoterrorism attacks in the western United States has been sentenced to three years in a Chinese prison for making illegal drugs. Paul Solondz said his son was arrested in China during a drug sweep in March, and authorities later found 33 pounds (15 kilograms) of marijuana leaves buried in the courtyard of a home he rented. He said evidence at the trial in China suggested that his son used chemicals to press the marijuana leaves into a liquid, but the result was an unusable, toxic mixture. more... Daily Record*: Bianca Franchi and Paul Solondz raised their son Justin Solondz with a profound appreciation for nature. With no TV and a strict vegetarian diet, Justin Solondz, now 30, was taught to question authority and respect the diversity of different cultures, said Franchi, who fondly remembers gardening and taking her only son for hikes in the woods behind her former home in Randolph. Justin Solondz, a 1998 Randolph High School graduate, was sentenced Friday to three years in a Chinese prison after pleading guilty on Oct. 20 to manufacturing illegal drugs. The jail term is to be followed by deportation from China to the United States, where he faces multiple charges related to his alleged role in two acts of arson committed in 2001 and attibuted to "the Family" — a collection of radical environmentalists aligned with the Earth and Animal Liberation Fronts, said Robbie Burroughs, a spokeswoman with Seattle FBI. more...
Scott DeMuth Remains Jailed Despite Judges Order to Release Him; Appeal by Prosecution to be Decided November 30	November 24, 2009
*MNDaily (University of Minnesota): Two Minnesota activists are being held in Iowa in relation to the vandalism of a research lab at the University of Iowa in 2004. Scott DeMuth, a University of Minnesota sociology graduate student, and Carrie Feldman, a former student of St. Catherine University in St. Paul, were separately subpoenaed to appear in front of a grand jury in Davenport, Iowa, regarding the incident. Fellow activists criticized the grand jury's actions as intimidation by the federal government, and DeMuth's colleague in the sociology department, Raphi Rechitsky, called it a “legalized witch-hunt.” more... Associated Press: A federal magistrate has ordered a Minnesota activist arrested in the 2004 animal rights vandalism at the University of Iowa to remain in jail so prosecutors can appeal an order to release him pending trial. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ross Walters said in an order issued Wednesday that Scott DeMuth must remain in the Muscatine County Jail until at least 3 p.m. Monday. more... Voice of the Voiceless*: Just as a judge ordered the release of a man accused of the Animal Liberation Front break-in at the University of Iowa, the prosecution filed an emergency appeal requesting his continued imprisonment. On November 24th, Judge Shields ordered DeMuth released from jail to house arrest, pending trial. The order shed additional light on the case against Scott. On November 24 th , the judge ordered a temporary stay of release, holding over the decision until November 30 th at 3pm. Scott DeMuth's fate for the near future will be decided then. The University of Iowa raid was among the most calculated and well-planned laboratory liberations in the Animal Liberation Front's history. May the government's attempt to convict anyone for this act of compassion fail. more...
On the Injustice of Grand Juries and Their Use by Corporate and Governmental Entities to Suppress Dissent	November 20, 2009
*The Mac Weekly (Macalester College, St. Paul, MN)*: On Tuesday, Nov. 17 Twin Cities residents Carrie Feldman and Scott DeMuth refused to testify in front of a federal grand jury in Davenport, Iowa. They were found to be in contempt of court and were immediately handcuffed and hauled away by U.S. marshals. According to District Judge John Jarvey, they will both remain incarcerated until they agree to testify. The state can keep them locked up for the duration of the grand jury-another 11 months. Neither Carrie nor Scott has been accused of a crime. Historically, the federal grand jury has been used to ascertain whether or not someone should be charged with a crime; they were created to serve as a safety measure to defend against overzealous prosecution. More recently they have served as a way to harass oppositional political movements, coerce information from activists and sow mistrust and fear amongst movement participants. Grand juries have been used to carry out "the green scare"-the government crackdown on environmental and animal rights activists, whom the FBI has labeled "the number one domestic terrorism threat." A grand jury operates in total secrecy. more...
Scott DeMuth Now Charged with Conspiracy for 2004 University of Iowa Laboratory Animal Liberation; Grand Jury Contempt Charge on Hold?	November 19, 2009
*Quad City Times: Scott DeMuth, the Minnesota activist who refused to testify earlier this week before a federal grand jury in Davenport, is now charged with conspiracy for an act of “animal enterprise terrorism” — believed to be a 2004 animal-rights vandalism act at the University of Iowa. “Scott Ryan DeMuth did knowingly and intentionally conspire with persons unknown to the grand jury to commit animal enterprise terrorism and cause economic damage to the animal enterprise in an amount exceeding $10,000,” the indictment unsealed today says. The Animal Liberation Front, an underground animal-rights activist group, claimed responsibility for the damage to lab equipment and the release of 88 mice and 313 rats used in psychology department experiments. The break-in was designated as domestic terrorism. more... Daily Iowan: About five years after a break-in at a UI lab that resulted in about $450,000 in damages, a federal prosecutor unsealed an indictment against a Minnesota man thought to be related to the incident. Prosecutors allege Scott DeMuth, 22, conspired with others to commit animal-enterprise terrorism and cause economic damages to the animal enterprise. “This was not a political act or an act of civil disobedience. It was a felony crime and deserves nothing but condemnation,” David Skorton, Michael Hogan, and William Decker — then the president, provost, and vice president for Research, respectively — wrote in a letter published in The Daily Iowan on Dec. 9, 2004. But Animal Liberation Front spokesman Jerry Vlasak condemned the investigation into the incident itself, calling it a “fishing expedition” five years after the fact. “The fact they're using a grand jury to gather information generally speaks to the fact they don't have any credible evidence,” he said. That argument is a common one among opponents to grand juries, who fear they can be used to gather information rather than present evidence, and both Feldman and DeMuth have said they oppose the use of such a body. more... Associated Press: A Minnesota activist arrested in the 2004 animal rights vandalism at the University of Iowa has pleaded not guilty in federal court. The arrested man, 22-year-old Scott DeMuth, pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy Friday in Davenport. The federal government is requesting that DeMuth be detained pending trial, which is set for March, but DeMuth's attorney argued he should be released. more... WCF Courier (Iowa)*: A journal and a lock-picking device seized during a search warrant at a Minnesota activist's home last year link him to the 2004 animal rights vandalism at the University of Iowa, federal authorities said Friday. DeMuth, 22, pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy Friday. The government is requesting he be detained pending trial, which was set for March. DeMuth's attorney argued he should be released. more...
Two Minneapolis Activists Jailed for Non-Cooperation with Grand Jury	November 17, 2009
*Infoshop News: A second person, Scott DeMuth of Minneapolis, has been subpoenaed to the federal grand jury in Davenport, Iowa. Scott, along with previously subpoenaed anarchist Carrie Feldman, plans to resist the grand jury. His statement, as well as support info, is below. After leaving my house at 5:50 PM, I was pulled over by several unmarked black sedans. I was approached by Steven Molesky, Special Agent of the Minneapolis Division of the FBI, and served a subpoena for a grand jury in Davenport. The grand jury is scheduled for November 17, 2009, at 9:00 AM at the Davenport Courthouse. Given the recent subpoena of Twin Cities activist Carrie Feldman for the same date and time, I believe these subpoenas are related. While the subject of the investigation has not been disclosed, it seems likely that the grand jury is investigating a 2004 Animal Liberation Front action at the University of Iowa. more... Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: Two political activists from Minneapolis were jailed in Iowa Tuesday for refusing to answer questions before a federal grand jury apparently investigating a five-year-old animal-rights vandalism incident. The activists, Carrie Feldman and Scott DeMuth, were found in contempt of court by U.S. District Judge John Jarvey and placed in custody of the U.S. Marshall's Service. Grand jury deliberations are generally secret, but the organization backing Feldman and DeMuth said they were wanted for questioning about vandalism that occurred at the University of Iowa in November 2004. more... Quad City Times: A second person is subpoenaed to testify before the federal grand jury in Davenport on Tuesday, for what he believes is an investigation into an animal-rights-related break-in at the University of Iowa in 2004. Scott DeMuth, 22, was pulled over by FBI agents Monday in the Twin Cities and served a subpoena to appear at the federal courthouse here on the same date and time as Carrie Feldman – Tuesday at 9 a.m., he said in a blog post at davenportgrandjury.wordpress.com . “Considering that I was 17 and a senior in high school, living in Minneapolis, and not even a vegetarian or involved in the animal rights movement at the time of the supposed action, it should be pretty blatant how ridiculous and far-reaching this grand jury is,” DeMuth said in an email interview. more... Associated Press: Barbara Nimis represents Scott DeMuth, of Minneapolis. She says he was found in contempt Tuesday and sent to jail. Nimis says she believes the grand jury is investigating a 2004 break-in at a lab at the University of Iowa . Four people claiming affiliation with the Animal Liberation Front were captured on video overturning equipment, pouring acid on reams of data and releasing more than 300 mice and rats. more... WQAD.com: Two activists from the Minneapolis area are behind bars after refusing to testify before a federal grand jury. The grand jury may be investigating a University of Iowa break-in five years ago that resulted in more than $450,000 in damage. More than 30 protesters gathered outside the federal courthouse in Davenport on Tuesday morning. They came to protest the grand jury investigation. The federal prosecutor described Feldman as an anarchist. "I do feel contempt for a justice system that prosecutes people for property damage that is done for the defense of life," she said. more... Infoshop News: Today, Minneapolis-based activists Carrie Feldman and Scott DeMuth refused to testify in front of a grand jury in Davenport, Iowa, and were found to be in contempt of court. They were immediately handcuffed and hauled off by U.S. Marshalls. According to District Judge John Jarvey, who presided over the contempt hearings, both will remain incarcerated until they agree to testify. The state can lock them up for the duration of the grand jury--another 11 months. For reasons all too familiar and valid to anyone who has followed the escalation of Green Scare repression, both Carrie and Scott refused to cooperate with the grand jury by providing information about themselves and their comrades. We stand in solidarity with them for refusing to be complicit in their own persecution. We will stand with them every day until they are free. more, much more... Quad City Times*: Two people who refused to testify before a Davenport federal grand jury — after they were granted immunity — are now in custody. Carrie Feldman, 20, and Scott DeMuth, 22, both from the Twin Cities, are to be held until they testify, U.S. District Judge John Jarvey ruled Tuesday. Their confinement can be for the term of the grand jury — which they believe has 11 months remaining — or until the end of this proceeding, federal code says. The longest they can be held is 18 months. About 40 people from across the Midwest traveled to support Feldman and DeMuth, who spoke at a rally outside the courthouse in downtown Davenport before their appearance. The protesters were met by a heavy police presence, which continued throughout the morning. more...
Judge Refuses to Honor Plea Agreement in Sentencing of Liberator BJ Viehl	November 12, 2009
*Voice of the Voiceless: On November 12th , 2009, both activists and fur farmers converged on the federal courthouse on downtown Salt Lake City to attend the sentencing for William “BJ” Viehl's. Having pleaded guilty, BJ was to be sentenced for the release of 600 mink from the nearby McMullin Fur Farm . This was the first sentencing under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, and the first for a non-turncoat accused A.L.F. activist (for an A.L.F. action) in over two years. more... Salt Lake Tribune*: U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on Thursday rejected a plea bargain that called for a Layton man to serve six months in prison for releasing hundreds of mink last year in support of animal rights. Instead, Benson said he plans to sentence William James Viehl to at least two years behind bars and could go even higher. The law allows a maximum of five years imprisonment. The judge said he generally deals leniently with offenders who have no criminal record. But he said Viehl's actions -- letting more than 600 mink out of their pens at the McMullin Fur Farm in South Jordan and spray-painting a barn with the words ALF (for Animal Liberation Front) and "We are watching" -- went beyond property damage. more...
Minnesota Vivisectors Fearful of Attack; Animal Abusers Seem Unwilling to Accept a Dose of Their Own Medicine	November 9, 2009
*Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune: University of Minnesota police have increased patrols near the home of a Medical School animal researcher after a posting on an animal rights activist website displayed his name and photograph and noted that "... we should not be surprised when the unconscionable violence inflicted upon animals is justifiably visited upon their tormentors." The Internet posting went up late last week on the website NegotiationIsOver.com in reaction to a Star Tribune story about a multimillion-dollar national campaign by biomedical researchers, including U Prof. Dick Bianco, to increase lagging support for medical and scientific tests using animals. more... Minnesota Daily (University of Minnesota)*: In some circles, Dick Bianco isn't very popular. Bianco, an associate professor of surgery at the University of Minnesota , uses animals for medical testing and has emerged as a voice of a million-dollar ad campaign from the Foundation for Biomedical Research. Now, Bianco's house is under police surveillance after an animal rights blogger named Camille Marino responded to the ad campaign by posting Bianco's name and photograph with a message that some consider threatening. more...
Mexican Activist Arrested (Later Released Without Charges)	November 8, 2009
*Earth Liberation Prisoners Support Network*: Last 27 of October a 16 years old Mexican activist was arrested at night and acused of being part of the ELF. He was riding his bike with a back pack wen a police patrol started to follow him. He decided to get rid of the backpack and ran away with his bike. Sadly the cops managed to capture him. Afterwards they took the backpack and found 4 incendiary devices (each one made with two petrol bottles), another petrol bottle, a pair of plastic gloves, a balaclava, a lighter, a spray can, and environmentalists logos (see picture in the link above). more...
Grand Jury Investigating University of Iowa Liberation of Lab Animals; Activist Vows Resistance	October 26, 2009
*Quad City Times (Iowa)*: A federal grand jury in Davenport is investigating a nationally publicized, animal-rights-related break-in at a University of Iowa lab in 2004, according to a 20-year-old woman from Minneapolis who says she is a possible target of the inquiry. Carrie Feldman refused to testify when she was subpoenaed to testify at the federal courthouse on Oct. 15, she said. She will refuse again at a second ordered appearance on Nov. 17, she said. Ultimately, she could be held in contempt of court and taken into custody. ALF, according to its Web site, is "a loosely-associated collection of cells of people who intentionally violate the law in order to free animals from captivity and the horrors of exploitation." The people in one cell do not know people in other cells to "prevent legal authorities from breaking up the organization." People associated with the group have "a very well-thought-out ideology" and they have attempted to make change with peaceful means, said Jerry Vlasak, a spokesman for the group. "When those things are proven ineffective, they are willing to break the law." more...
Leading Alzheimer's Researcher: Animal Experiments Will Not Help Humans	October 23, 2009
*Baltimore Sun*: The Society for Neuroscience just held its annual conference in Chicago. I attended not as a member, though neuroscience is my field, but to protest the organization's stated goal of broadening support for animal research. The society, like animal experimenters everywhere, perceives "growing threats" to animal research and seeks to recruit additional allies with a "vested interest" in promoting animal experimentation. Contrived connections between cruelty-intensive basic neuroscience research and future human welfare is a tacit admission by neuroscientists the general public, which ultimately funds most research, would recoil in horror from their more grotesque monkey, dog or cat experiments and overwhelmingly condemn them if they knew they were not going to help humans. more...
UCLA Desperation Evident as Billboards, Full-Page LA Times Ads Appear	October 21, 2009
*KPCC Radio*: Scientists at UCLA are stepping up their campaign against violent extremists and others who say there's no human benefit from experiments on animals. Billboards around the Southland and a full-page newspaper advertisement in the Los Angeles Times last weekend extolled an idea that scientists assumed was a given: animal experiments lead to advances in science. Many animal rights groups disagree. Some stage peaceful protests while others advocate going as far as killing scientists to stop this research. Jentsch says he plans events with local groups in the coming months and hopes to foster this kind of activism among scientists from other universities. Jerry Vlasak, a surgeon and spokesman for several of the groups that advocate violence against scientists, says he doesn't think animal research opponents, violent or not, will collaborate with the scientists because he believes there's no justification for harming animals in any way. more...
SHAC USA Appeal Denied in 2-1 Decision; 3 Activists Remain Jailed as Decision for Further Appeal is Considered	October 15, 2009
*Associated Press: In a split decision, a U.S. appeals court upheld the convictions of animal-rights activists charged under a terrorism statute with using their Web site to incite threats and vandalism against a company that tests products on animals. Defense lawyers call the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty case only the latest example of the government infringing on activists' free speech. One compared it to the pursuit of communists and civil-rights activists a half-century ago. "The government is always doing the same thing, prosecuting the loud leaders for conspiracy to commit particular crimes that they are not committing, and are not planning to commit," defense lawyer Peter Goldberger said Thursday. Six members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty were convicted at a 2006 trial in New Jersey of conspiracy to violate the 1992 Animal Enterprise Protection Act. The law, since revised, aimed to protect animal research laboratories from illegal, sometimes violent protests. more... Wired.com*: Setting aside claims of vagueness, a divided federal appeals court is upholding the constitutionality of the Animal Enterprise Protection Act, a statute that makes it a crime to encourage “physical disruption” or “economic damage” against animal-research centers. Thursday's decision by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (.pdf) was the first time an appellate court has grappled with the free speech issues raised by the law, reviewing the case of radical animal-rights activists who were convicted in 2006 of using e-mail and websites to encourage violence — including bombings — against a New Jersey animal-research center, its shareholders, office holders, bankers and others affiliated with it. The six ranking members of the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty group, some of whom were sentenced to up to six years in prison, argued that the 2002 statute, amended in 2006, has a chilling effect on speech because of its ambiguity. more...
Puppy-Mill Protesters Shot in Santa Monica; Injuries Minor	October 11, 2009
*K9 Magazine: Anti puppy farm campaigners in the US were shot at following a protest outside a pet store known to sell puppy farmed (puppy mill) dogs. Campaigners are offering a significant reward for information that leads to the capture of the gun man. more... WeHo News*: West Hollywood, California- A sniper fired a rifle loaded with two-millimeter brass bullets Saturday during a Santa Monica puppy mill retailer protest, hitting three protesters including West Hollywood community activist Ed Buck. No one was seriously injured; the victims suffered minor welts and contusions. Santa Monica police are investigating what they called “assault with a deadly weapon,” a felony. The protesters were at Aquarium & Pet Center, 829 Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Monica, CA, to protest that retailers' alleged sale of puppy mill dogs, pups that have been bred in inhumane conditions for resale. more...
Hog Farmers Targeted with High-Powered Rifles; None Dead Yet	October 6, 2009
*Omaha World-Herald*: A bad year for western Iowa hog farmers just got worse. After months of consistent economic losses because of dropping hog prices and lower demand for pork, they can now add “shooting target” to their list of woes. Several liquid propane tanks on hog farms have been hit by bullets from a high-caliber rifle, Calhoun County Sheriff Bill Davis said Monday. To date, no one has been injured, but the practice is extremely dangerous, said Aaron Putze, executive director of the Coalition to Support Iowa Farmers. Close to a dozen tanks have been fired on since late summer, said Putze. more...
Vivisectors Act Up, Speak Out; Refuse to Debate Activists, Let Media See The Atrocities They Commit	October 5, 2009
*BNET.com: The news that Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella has sent 140 animal rights activists letters warning them to back off — they burned down his vacation home and desecrated his family grave in July — will have many in the pharmaceutical business cheering in their cubicles: Finally, someone is taking a stand and defending the industry, instead of cowering behind press releases and security guards. more... CNN*: Three research scientists have taken a rare public stand against animal-rights activists, describing them as terrorists for their threats and acts of violence in commentaries published in the latest issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman, noted that rewards of up to $115,000 have been offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the bombings. She said law enforcement officials consider the attacks to be acts of domestic terrorism. Dr. Jerry Vlasak, a surgeon and spokesman for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, an animal-rights group, said it is the researchers who are the terrorists. "They take these sentient and intelligent beings and lock them up in sealed cages ... and eventually kill them and chop them up in little pieces." Asked whether he supports the use of violence in furthering his goals, he likened his mission to those of anti-apartheid and civil rights activists. "I understand why they're willing to do things like that when all attempts at public discourse and reason and discussion have been quashed," he said. "I understand why people would take it to the next level." more...
Activist Jordan Halliday Indicted on Contempt Charge by Federal Grand Jury in Utah	October 5, 2009
*Fox News Channel 13*: A federal grand jury has indicted an animal rights activist who refused to testify about the release of thousands of mink from Utah ranches. Jordan Halliday, 22, served several months in jail for contempt of court after he said he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination. When he was released in June, he was handed a federal grand jury indictment for contempt. The indictment accuses Halliday of willfully and knowingly disobeying an order by U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell on two separate occasions in March. Halliday was subpoenaed as part of an overall investigation into the release of thousands of mink. He believes he had a right to exercise his constitutional right to refuse to testify. more...
Jeff Leurs Released from Prison, Then Put Back In as State Continues its Repression	October 2, 2009
*Oregonian: Jeffrey Luers The man who drew the longest prison sentence in U.S. history for eco-sabotage walked out of prison this morning. After years of appeals, Jeffrey M. Luers, known to Eugene's anarchist clan as “Free,” was just that. But just as quickly, he was sent back to prison. The Oregon Department of Corrections acknowledged today that it mistakenly allowed Luers to take advantage of a new law, House Bill 3508, which grants reduced sentences for certain classes of inmates. Luers' sentence for arson made him ineligible for early release, said prisons spokeswoman Jennifer Black, in Salem. more... Associated Press*: Self-proclaimed anarchist Jeff "Free" Luers has been battling for years to reduce his prison sentence for setting three SUVs on fire because they contributed to global warming. After a few hours of freedom on Friday, he was back in custody. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jennifer Black says a mistake was made in calculating the amount to time off Luers could get for good behavior. Luers was sentenced in 2001 to 23 years in prison, but the Oregon Court of Appeals later ruled that was excessive and reduced it. Luers was release from a Portland prison Friday morning, but was taken back into custody when he checked in with his parole officer in Eugene. His release date is Dec. 16.
Mexico On Fire- Attacks on Animal/Earth Abusers Astound the Mainstream	September 30, 2009
*Right Side New*s: At approximately 2 a.m. on Sept. 25, a small improvised explosive device (IED) consisting of three or four butane canisters was used to attack a Banamex bank branch in the Milpa Alta delegation of Mexico City. The device damaged an ATM and shattered the bank's front windows. It was not an isolated event. The bombing was the seventh recorded IED attack in the Federal District - and the fifth such attack against a local bank branch - since the beginning of September. The attack was claimed in a communique posted to a Spanish-language anarchist Web site by a group calling itself the Subversive Alliance for the Liberation of the Earth, Animals and Humans (ASLTAH). The note said, "Once again we have proven who our enemies are," indicating that the organization's "cells for the dissolution of civilization" were behind the other, similar attacks. more...
Primate Importer Attacked by ALF; Previously Served Prison Time, Paid Fines for Smuggling Orangutans	September 29, 2009
*New Times (Palm Beach, FL)*: It's been almost 20 years since the notorious "Bangkok Six" incident, when investigators at a Thailand airport intercepted a crate marked "live birds," only to find that it contained six tightly-packed endangered orangutans destined for Russia from Indonesia. Only two of the orangutans survived. A Miami primate dealer named Matthew Block -- proprietor of World Wide Primates, who'd started his business of raising animals for research while still in high school -- eventually pled guilty to charges for his role in the case, paid a $30,000 fine, and was sentenced to 13 months in prison. This week, the Animal Liberation Front received a communique that activists targeted a Miami Beach house they believed to belong to Block's wife Brooke. "We punctured 4 tires on a car in the driveway and poured red paint over the car and on the front door of the house," authors of the communique stated. (Matthew Block, now in his late 40s, is no longer a registered agent for Worldwide Primates; rather, his wife Brooke and mother Gertie are listed officers on the paperwork.) more...
"Set Us Free" Painted on Turkey Farm in Clark's Summit, Pennsylvania	September 24, 2009
*WNET-TV*: Set us free! That's the writing left on a building in Lackawanna County. The graffiti was found on a turkey barn at Pallmans Farm near Clarks Summit (1511 Summit Lake Road), Pennsylvania. The barn houses approx. 2,500 turkeys. . The graffiti was spotted Thursday morning. more...
In Defense of Animals Wins Legal Battle; Forces FDA to Turn Over Records on Animal Abusers at HLS	September 18, 2009
*IDA E-News*: After a seven-year court fight, including the first trial in years involving the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was ordered by a federal judge on September 18 to disclose 1,017 pages of records obtained during an investigation of controversial toxicology lab Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) to In Defense of Animals. more...
Two Animal Abusers at Yale University Stop Torturing Animals; Vivisector Killed, Lab Technician Jailed in Her Death	September 17, 2009
*New York Daily News: A domineering Yale mouse-keeper traded the lab for a cage Thursday as he was charged with murdering grad student Annie Le , officials told the Daily News. After his morning arrest, Raymond Clark 3rd was tossed into solitary confinement in a Connecticut lockup - then transferred hours later to a maximum-security facility. "He's just somber," said Lt. John Bernard of the New Haven Community Correctional Center , which was Clark's first stop. "It's his first time in jail. This is all new to him. He hasn't cried. He hasn't said a word to anyone." Co-workers told police Clark was a "control freak" who viewed the research facility and its mice as his fiefdom, a law enforcement official told the Associated Press . Clark did mostly janitorial work in the lab, while Le conducted complicated experiments with implications for cancer treatment. more... NPR: Some 70 video surveillance cameras monitor the medical school complex where Yale University graduate student Annie Le's body was found last weekend. That type of electronic equipment has increasingly become part of the regular framework of animal research labs — in part because of threats from animal rights activists. The heavy security measures are designed to protect people and property as well as the animals that provide valuable information for researchers conducting scientific experiments. more... New York Times:* Before there was blood, the high-tech lab at 10 Amistad Street at Yale University was a model of efficiency. The mice and rats and rabbits stayed locked in cages. The technicians responsible for their well-being circulated like emergency room nurses. Researchers hunched over the cages for hours, intent on claiming a breakthrough. The two groups interacted in professional if perfunctory ways, but on Thursday, the authorities charged a technician, Raymond Clark III, with murdering one of the graduate researchers, Annie M. Le . Ms. Le, 24, was strangled on Sept. 8, and her body was found on Sunday hidden behind a wall, out of view from the immaculate corridors of the lab. With its cutting-edge facilities, the Amistad building, which opened in 2007, is a place technicians dream of working. It is home to about 4,000 mice alone, Mr. Russell said, on a campus that also keeps hamsters, gerbils, cats, dogs, pigs, sheep, fish and monkeys. On a daily basis, technicians must also make the rounds looking for green neon tags — the mark signifying that an animal needs to be euthanized. They take the animals to the basement, lock them in a cage, and turn on the carbon dioxide machine. The university provides counseling to help employees cope with having to kill animals on a regular basis. more... *New York Times:* Prosecutors do not have to know a motive to win a conviction, but it does not hurt. It also helps the public make some sense of the senseless. Still, Chief James M. Lewis of the New Haven police said in an interview on Friday that the authorities may never be able to establish why Annie M. Le , a Yale graduate student, was killed. more...
Utah Activist Pleads Guilty to 2008 Mink Liberation	September 3, 2009
*Deseret News (Utah): A 23-year-old Layton man who was charged with damaging and interfering with animal enterprises after he and another man were accused of raiding local mink farms pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to one of the raids. William James Viehl was indicted on two counts of damaging and interfering with the operations of an animal enterprise in March after he and Ogden resident Alex Jason Hall, 21, raided one mink farm in South Jordan and attempted a second raid on a similar farm in Heber, said U.S. Attorney spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch. The raid to which Viehl pleaded guilty took place at the McMullin mink farm in South Jordan in August 2008. Rydalch said the raid consisted of releasing minks and spray-painting parts of the farm, including a barn. She said the plea agreement "stated the damage and loss to real and personal property at the farm exceeded $10,000." more... ELP Extra*: Statement by BJ Viehl on recent guilty plea. Read it here.
National Lawyers Guild Offers Resource for Animal Activists	August 26, 2009
*The* *Examiner:* Animal welfare activists have found a friend in the legal system. Due to the intense scrutiny and increased investigations into animal rights workers, the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) has created a free online legal guide, “ Operation Backfire: A Survival Guide for Environmental and Animal Rights Activists.” This 16-page document explains why there has been such a recent interest in the work of animal advocates, and the rights of those who find themselves under investigation. more...
HLS Supporter Novartis: CEA Strikes Back at Activists Who Stole Mother's Ashes and Torched his Hunting Lodge	August 11, 24, 2009
*BNET: Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella and his company spokespersons have hit back at animal rights activists who burned his Austrian vacation home and stole his mother's ashes from a grave: “How far do things have to go before you can speak of terrorism?” Vasella told a Swiss newspaper. The attack seems to have gotten the attention of Novartis management, and caused a change of strategy, from quietly dealing with threats to publicly criticizing them. On the other side, arsonists seem to be enjoying the attention. The arsonists are part of the campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences, which does animal testing for drug companies. more... BNET*: Animal rights activists have published photographs of Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella 's vandalized family grave, and threatened to flush his mother's ashes — taken in a July raid — down a toilet. The threats were published on Bite Back , an online magazine that publicizes direct action groups' anonymous threats. In July, activists demanding Novartis sever its ties to Huntingdon Life Sciences – a contract lab that conducts experiments on animals — also burned Vasella's vacation home in Switzerland . The activists — whom Vasella has labelled terrorists — also said: The first grave was rearranged as a warning for his coming 56th birthday. Plants were ripped out and two extra crosses naming Daniel and his wife Anne-Laurence Vasella were added to the grave. And the second grave - holding the remains of his immediate family - was dug in order for an urn of ashes to be removed. more...
UC Irvine Vivisector Attacked; University in Full-Spin Mode to Deny Animal Torture Despite Documentation	August 10, 2009
*New University (UC Irvine)*: UC Irvine professor and researcher Micheal Selsted had his property vandalized by the American Liberation Front (ALF) on the night of July 10, 2009. One of Stelsted's cars had paint-stripper poured over it while the other two were covered with red paint. In addition to the damage done to his automobiles, the ALF also spray-painted “killer” on his garage door and splattered additional paint across his driveway. Selsted is an award-winning Warren L. Bostick Professor and Chair of Pathology in the UCI School of Medicine and is primarily involved in research with immunology. This research, which involves animal testing, is the reason why the ALF attacked his University Hills property. more...
HLS Supporter Novartis: Activists Steal Ashes of CEO's Mother, Torch his Hunting Lodge	August 4, 2009
*San Francisco Examiner:* Drug maker Novartis AG said Tuesday that animal rights activists have stolen the ashes of its CEO's mother and set fire to his Austrian hunting lodge. Swiss authorities, however, said they didn't know who was behind the attacks. In the latest incident, CEO Daniel Vasella's Tyrollean lodge in Bach, Austria, was badly burned early Monday morning. "It was arson with a professional fire accelerator," Novartis spokeswoman Isabel Guerra said in Basel. One week earlier, someone dug up an urn containing the ashes of Vasella's mother, who died in 2001, and took them from her grave in the eastern Swiss city of Chur, leaving behind the spray-painted message "Drop HLS Now" in red letters on the gravestone. more... *SwissInfo.ch:* Although police do not know who or what caused the fire early on Monday morning in the Tyrol, there is speculation that it is the work of the same group that took the urn of Vasella's mother on July 27. Her gravestone was defiled with a message saying the Basel pharmaceutical company must sever its ties with Britain's Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), the largest contract animal-testing company in Europe. On Tuesday evening Austrian police confirmed they were "probably" dealing with a criminal act and that they were investigating all possible angles – "including SHAC". A spokeswoman for SHAC denied any involvement in the recent events, but added that the organisation had many sympathisers "who support our goals". In a statement SHAC said it was willing to meet Novartis and discuss these issues, "but our campaign against them will continue until they stop using HLS". more... *London Times Online:* Novartis, the Swiss drugs group, is convinced it has come under attack from British animal rights extremists after the Austrian hunting lodge of Daniel Vassela, its chief executive, was set on fire and his mother's ashes stolen from a tomb. Novartis said investigators at Mr Vasella's burnt-out hunting lodge in Austria's Tyrol region had found a “fire accelerator" - an inflammable fuel such as petrol - that was likely to have helped the fire to spread and indicated arson. It is understood the words "Death to Vasella" were spray-painted on a church in the Swiss village where Mr Vasella lives, and the words "Vasella is a killer. We are watching you" were spray-painted on the road outside his house. more... *GenevaLunch:* Austrian police are investigating a case of possible arson at a hunting lodge in Bach , Austria, near Innsbruck, that belongs to Daniel Vasella, CEO of phamaceutical giant Novartis . More than 100 firemen put out the blaze, which witnesses say broke out early 3 August out after a dull explosion was heard at the property. According to a Novartis spokesperson, a “professional fire accelerator” was used. more... *Nature:* The CEO of drug company Novartis has had his mother's ashes stolen by animal rights activists in Switzerland. Because nothing says “my cause is righteous” like a bit of grave robbing. more... *Reuters:* Animal rights activists claimed responsibility on Thursday for burning down the holiday home of Novartis ( NOVN.VX ) Chief Executive Daniel Vasella as Swiss police said a second grave of his family had been desecrated. Vandals sprayed a Vasella family gravestone with the slogan "Drop HLS Now", police said, a reference to the British animal-testing laboratory Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) that has been a major target for protests by animal rights activists. They also stuck two wooden crosses in the ground, the spokesman said. He declined to confirm Swiss media reports the crosses carried the names of the Novartis CEO and his wife. more... *The Telegraph:* Daniel Vasella, the CEO of Novartis, has been targeted by militants because of the Swiss company's ties with the controversial British animal testing company, Huntington Life Sciences (HLS). HLS is Britain's largest animal research centre, with facilities in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire and Eye, Suffolk. It experiments on around 75,000 animals every year – including rats, rabbits, pigs, dogs, and primates – testing pharmaceutical products, agricultural and industrial chemicals and foodstuffs. more...

UCSC Bombings: No Animal Liberation "incidents have had such a chilling effect on biomedical scientists"; Peter Young Highlighted

August 2, 2009

Santa Cruz Sentinel: The night before masked demonstrators rattled the door of a UC Santa Cruz biomedical researcher's home in February 2008, famed animal rights advocate Peter Young gave a speech at the Louden Nelson Community Center. The 32-year-old Los Gatos native, who served two years in prison after being convicted in 2005 of setting minks free from farms in the Midwest, had returned to Santa Cruz just four months earlier. "There is a very good reason someone would have to go to the home of a vivisector and do whatever in their means to stop what they were doing. If you see someone in your neighborhood beating their wife, you are going to intervene." more...
Santa Cruz Sentinel: A year ago today, UC Santa Cruz molecular biologist David Feldheim and his wife woke up at 5:45 a.m. when a firebomb exploded on their front porch of their town home on Village Circle, a small enclave of modest housing near campus. Minutes later, outside a cluster of faculty residences on campus, a second firebomb ripped through an unoccupied Volvo station wagon belonging to one of Feldheim's colleagues. Because the incidents occurred just four days after the discovery of fliers threatening harm to UCSC scientists who use animals in their research, it was immediately clear to police what likely motivated the attackers. At the time of the firebombings, authorities had been investigating a string of animal-rights incidents targeting the University of California, including firebombings of vehicles connected to UCLA scientists, as well as trespassing and vandalism at the homes of professors and lab aides at UCSC and UC Berkeley. But no one expected the kind of violence that would follow. In her 30 years advocating for what she calls "humane and responsible animal research," Trull said few other incidents have had such a chilling effect on biomedical scientists as the firebombings. more...

Animal Liberation Front: "We Warned Lab"

July 24, 2009

LA Weekly: Today the North American Animal Liberation press office distributed a communique, dated July 21 , which it said it received anonymously from the Animal Liberation Front. In the message, ALF claims responsibility for a July 18 "visit" to a Torrance animal-lab supplier. Compared to previous visitations, which have included torched automobiles, this one was relatively benign. The group, in fact, said it had merely left a "calling card" at the office and lab complex belonging to Phenomenex Inc ., which supplies chemical and biochemical purification systems to laboratories. The only physical damage seems to have been a few knocked-over signs and dug-up planters outside the building, while some fliers were taped to its front doors. ALF says it singled out the company because it supplies equipment to British-based Huntingdon Life Sciences , whose laboratories' use of animal testing has put it in the cross-hairs of radical animal rights groups. HLS says its mission is to serve "the pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, chemical, crop protection, veterinary and food industries." The message ended with an oblique threat to other HLS suppliers, including "anyone from Staples to Novartis and GSK." When contacted by L.A. Daily, Karen Brauneck, a spokeswoman for Phenomenex, said the company would have no comment on either the ALF visit or its business relationships with other companies. She stated that Phenomenex does not conduct animal testing.

More Animals Tortured, Killed in Vivisection Laboratories Than Ever Before; Should Animal Liberationists Continue to Stand Idly By?

July 23, 2009

The Guardian (UK): The government has been assuring us for many years that animal experiments are only sanctioned for high priority medical research, as a last resort. We were told that the trend was for fewer laboratory procedures using animals. Indeed, the government boasted that it was committed to big cuts in animal-based research through the development of replacement methods. This seemed to be the case for several years, when the use of lab animals steadily declined . It therefore comes as a major surprise to learn that in 2008 the number of medical experiments involving animals has shown the largest rise since modern records began. Home Office figures state that nearly 3.7m experiments were performed on animals last year, a rise of 454,000 or 14% on the previous year. This is the steepest increase in animal use in medical research since 1986, when the government introduced new recording and monitoring procedures. more...

Judge to Rule on Animal Terrorism Protection Act

July 16, 2009

Orange County Register: The animal rights group known as the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) has claimed responsibility for vandalism that was done to the property of an internationally renowned UC Irvine pathologist, campus officials say. Sgt. Shaun Devlin of the UCI Police Department confirmed that an act of vandalism occurred and that the department is investigating. Susan Bryant, vice chancellor of research, also confirmed that there was an incident. She added that, “We're mystified why this person was targeted.” The attack was made against the property of Michael Selsted , a UCI professor who recently took a leave of absence to become the chair of pathology at the University of Southern California. But Selsted — who specializes in studying pathogens that can cause disease — has not formally left the Irvine faculty and he maintains a residence in UCI's University Hills. “The … incident has been reported to UCIPD and is under investigation. The Professor involved has taken a leave of absence from UCI beginning 7-1-09 to work at another university although he still lives in University Hills at UCI. This professor conducts research on rats and mice at UCI but may currently be collaborating on non-human primate studies at another institution. more...
Orange County Weekly: On July 10, the shadowy Animal Liberation Front (ALF), an animal rights group that has waged a campaign of vandalism against academics in California, splashed both paint and paint thinner on a trio of cars in a residential area of the UC Irvine campus. The vehicles belong to Michael Selsted, a pathologist currently on leave from the university and who is now the chair of USC's pathology department. Both the UC Irvine police and the FBI are investigating the incident. A press release issued today by the Animal Liberation Press Office , which claims to receive anonymous alerts of ALF activities, described Selsted as a "UC Irvine vivisector" although a university spokesperson claimed Selsted has only performed research on rats and mice and hasn't worked with even those animals in years. more...
Inside Higher Education: Underground animal rights activists issued a statement Wednesday claiming credit for having vandalized the home of researcher at the University of California at Irvine, by spray-painting "KILLER" across his garage door and pouring red paint on three of his cars. The statement said the researcher was being punished for working with animals and that the action was taken so "all his neighbors could see what a cruel, sick person they live near." A spokeswoman for Irvine confirmed the attack, which she said took place Friday, although she said only two cars were covered with red paint. The spokeswoman said that the research maintains a lab at Irvine but teaches elsewhere. She said he does work with animals: rodents.

Judge to Rule on Animal terrorism Protection Act Concerning Santa Cruz Activists

July 13, 2009

San Jose Mercury News: A federal judge in San Jose on Monday sent mixed signals over the fate of a new law designed to target violent animal-rights protests, indicating he will rule later in the nation's first direct legal challenge to Congress' attempt to protect animal researchers and scientists from serious safety threats. During an hourlong hearing, U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte suggested that the 2006 Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act may be legally vulnerable, but he also left doubts about whether the current lawsuit is the right path to take on the law in its entirety. more...
AlterNet: Under the AETA, if you and a friend go on the web to research a company whose practices you plan to protest, you may have just become a terrorist. You may not have heard of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, because the very first prosecution under the 2006 law is currently underway in San Jose, California. In the case, USA v. Buddenberg , four animal rights activists are accused of chanting, making leaflets and writing with chalk on the sidewalk in front of a senior bio-researcher's house, as well as using the internet to research the company whose actions they planned to protest. Under the AETA, they are charged with acts of animal enterprise terrorism. more...

Animal Abusers Worry About Mink Liberators

July 10, 2009

Utah Park Record: Summit County Sheriff's Office deputies who suspect animal-rights activists are behind a rash of threats leveled at fur farms on the East Side have stepped up their "mink patrols." Officers have closely monitored area mink ranches since the threats began in June. "It's interesting that they would consider these threats, when really all these people are saying is that they're going to come and liberate these captive mink that are being kept in small cages, having all of their natural, wild instincts thwarted," said Jerry Vlasak, a spokesman for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office. more...

Ungar Furs Attacked in Portland, Oregon

June 15, 2009

Portland IndyMedia: This morning around 9:30am I was traveling on the MAX reading a book and I saw bright red from the corner of my eye. I looked up to see bright red paint splattered across a building like blood. Then I noticed it was Nicholas Ungar Furs. So I got off the train to get some photos and info for this article. The entrance, the sidewalk, the windows, and the sign on the front of the building were significantly splattered. The Police arrived very shortly after I did leading me to believe that perhaps this just happened last night. I was not able to get the photos off of my camera but others will hopefully post some soon. As of this posting I have not seen a communiqué from this anonymous guerrilla artist so I will attempt to piece together an understanding of why such an action has been taken. Ungar Furs, the last remaining furrier shop in downtown Portland located on 1137 SW Yamhill, has been targeted many times by local animal rights advocates. As the name implies they are a furrier shop and a particularly nasty one. They have even been busted by Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife for illegal sales of pelts from endangered/banned species. The profits apparently make the fines look like an acceptable loss. more...

University of Iowa Plans $11 Million Underground Animal Lab; ALF Liberated 401 Captive Animals There in 2004

June 11, 2009

Iowa City Press-Citizen: Iowa state Board of Regents approved plans to build an underground vivarium for animal research at University of Iowa. The plans were approved as part of a request to increase the budget to build the Iowa Institute of Biomedical Discovery by $11.2 million to $133.7 million. The 35,200 square foot vivarium will be built under a central courtyard between the biomedical discovery facility, Carver Biomedical Research Building and the Medical Education Research Facility on the west side of UI campus. The underground laboratory would provide a more secure location for animal research. In 2004, vandals broke into animal research laboratories housed in Spence Laboratories and Seashore Hall on UI campus causing $450,000 worth of damage. Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the incident.
Associated Press: The Iowa Board of Regents has approved more than $11 million for an underground animal research laboratory at the University of Iowa . Jordan Cohen, interim vice president for research at Iowa, says linking the buildings means researchers will never have to transport animals above ground. Cohen says security is a huge issue for biomedical research. A break-in at animal research labs at Spence Laboratories and Seashore Hall in 2004 cost about $425,000 and stalled some research. The Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the break-in.

UCLA Primate Vivisector David Jentsch Feels the Wrath of Animal Liberators

June 3, 2009

Fox News.com: It was 4 o'clock in the morning when David Jentsch, a neuroscience professor at UCLA, awoke to a loud bang and the sound of his car alarm. He hurried to his bedroom window and saw the orange glow of his new Volvo luxury sedan burning in his yard. He suspected immediately that it was the work of animal rights activists. Jentsch, who experiments on monkeys and rodents in his studies on mental disorders like drug addiction and psychosis, is one of a growing number of victims in a renewed and intensified campaign by animal rights activists. In what law enforcement officials are calling a wave of militancy, groups like the Animal Liberation Front and another called The Justice Department are going after scientists personally, both at work and at home, and threatening the safety of their families. "A lot of activists are frustrated. They've exhausted the legal means, and they've decided to take it to the next level," said Jason Miller, a press officer with the North American Animal Liberation Front (sic), which acts as a mouthpiece for the militant animal liberation movement but claims no direct affiliation with the groups themselves. "As with any social justice movement, when met with resistance from the state, violence becomes inevitable. There is nothing unique about this movement." more...

UCLA Restraining Order Against Protesters Made Permanent; Demos and Underground Actions Remain Unabated 15 Months After Original TRO

May 27, 2009

Santa Monica Daily Press: A Santa Monica judge issued a permanent injunction that aims to protect UCLA researchers from threats and other forms of harassment by aggressive animal rights activists opposed to the use of animals in research. Superior Court Judge Terry B. Friedman ruled in UCLA's favor on Wednesday, ordering that when demonstrating, four defendants and three organizations respect a 50-foot buffer surrounding the residences of UCLA personnel involved in animal research, and a 150-foot buffer after dark. "The injunction is aimed at above-ground protesters who are exercising their constitutional right to free speech," said Dr. Jerry Vlasak, a spokesman for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, the office that loosely represents the radical animal rights activists. "By making it difficult for these people to speak freely, and by making them stay an unreasonable distance [from the residences of researchers], they are only increasing the number of people who are willing to break the law for this cause." Vlasak went on to say that the individuals targeted by the injunction are "solid citizens" and that such laws have little bearing on the actions of those individuals responsible for harassing and threatening researchers. more...
UCLA Daily Bruin: A permanent injunction was issued on Wednesday that seeks to prevent animal rights activists from harassing university researchers. Jerry Vlasak, an Animal Liberation Front spokesman, called the ruling an impingement of civil liberties. “Anyone who boycotts what another person is doing can be said to be affecting them, but it's a constitutional right for someone who sees something wrong to protest it,” Vlasak said. “The university says it is a bastion of free speech, but it is prohibiting people from speaking out.” Vlasak said the injunction has been in place for more than a year and has not been effective. more...

Fugitive Andreas San Diego Still "Most Wanted" by FBI

May 27, 2009

Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association: A U.S. citizen suspected of violent animal rights extremism has been added to the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists list. It is the first instance of a domestic terrorist being put on the list, which includes international terrorists such as al-Qaida's Osama bin Laden. The FBI announced April 21 that Daniel Andreas San Diego, 31, had been added to the most wanted list because of his links to bombings at two Northern California biotechnology companies in 2003. Investigators say San Diego targeted both companies because he believed they had connections to Huntingdon Life Sciences, an international research firm headquartered in the United Kingdom with an office in New Jersey. The animal rights group Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty has been trying to force Huntingdon out of business for years. more...

Animal Liberation Front Destroys Office of Non-Human Primate Importer in Reno, Nevada; Incendiary Devices Cause $300,000 in Damages

May 27, 2009

Associated Press: Animal rights activists have claimed responsibility for a fire that gutted the Reno business office of a company that ships monkeys from China for scientific research in the United States and elsewhere. Reno police and fire officials began investigating the arson claim by the Animal Liberation Front after The Associated Press sought comment about an e-mail the group circulated to media outlets and posted on a Web site. No one was injured in the fire that broke out about 4 a.m. on May 18 and caused an estimated $300,000 damage to offices of Scientific Resources International Inc. just southwest of downtown Reno, Frady said. The North American Animal Liberation Front Press Office, which posts messages from groups taking credit for animal rights violence, said on its Web site Tuesday that it received an "anonymous communique" last week indicating ALF was claiming responsibility for the fire. more...

Update: Activists Facing Long Prison Terms for Protest Activity: Leafletting, Chanting, Chalking Sidewalks

May 23, 2009

FireDogLake: Today four Northern California animal rights activists await Federal criminal trial for ghastly crimes including leaving a stack of leaflets in a cafe, chalking slogans on pavement, and chanting. Oh, and using the internet to locate the individuals they were protesting. Yes, the world's only superpower can't be bothered to defend us against banksters' usury or death from want of health care, but when it comes to leaflets in cafes, chalked slogans, and Google searches, they're here for us. To shut us up. more...

Update: Utah Grand Jury Resisor Remains Jailed for Refusing to Cooerate with Unjust, Secret Interrogations

May 21, 2009

Deseret News: An animal-rights activist jailed for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury will remain behind bars. During a hearing Thursday in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City, Jordan Halliday was ordered to remain in jail until the grand jury finishes its term at the end of June. U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell also asked federal prosecutors to provide Halliday's attorney with dates of grand-jury sittings, should he change his mind and decide to testify. Halliday, 21, was one of two animal-rights activists subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury that is presumably investigating a series of Animal Liberation Front raids on mink farms in the area. Halliday has denied involvement in the raids, but prosecutors believe he knows something about it. more...

Trial Begins in Utah for Activists Accused of Liberating Captive Mink

May 11, 2009

KSL Channel 5: The federal trial of two men accused of releasing hundreds of mink from a South Jordan farm began Monday in Salt Lake. William Viehl and Alex Hall have both pleaded not guilty to charges of damaging and interfering with animal enterprises. Prosecutors allege the men, both members of the Animal Liberation Front, are responsible for a raid on the McMullin Mink Farm in August 2008. If convicted, Viehl and Hall could spend up to six years in prison and pay a $350,000 fine. [Note: Trial date has been rescheduled to July 27th, 28th, and 29th]

Reward Increased for Capture of Animal Liberationistsin Los Angeles; UCLA and Their Pawns in Law Enforcement Desperate

April 30, 2009

Daily Breeze: The Los Angeles City Council offered $100,000 in rewards today in hopes of tracking down the vandals and arsonists -- believed to be members of animal rights extremist groups -- who have targeted UCLA medical researchers. The rewards were approved a week after two reputed associates of the Animal Liberation Front were charged with conspiracy and stalking in connection with crimes against UCLA researchers who use animals in their work. Linda Faith Greene, 61, and Kevin Rich Oliff, 22, have pleaded not guilty to 10 felony charges. A grand jury indictment alleges that an unidentified co-conspirator placed an incendiary device on the front porch of a home two doors away from UCLA professor Lynn Fairbanks' Los Angeles residence in June 2006. The device, which was left at the wrong house, failed to ignite. The council signed off on a $20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of whoever left that incendiary device. A total of $110,000 in reward money is available in that case, with the FBI, UCLA and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also contributing funds. more...

Century City High-Rise Evacuated After Bomb Threat; Animal Liberation Front Takes Credit in Later Communique

April 23, 2009

Daily News: Someone planted a facsimile of a bomb in a Century City office tower and called in a threat, causing police to evacuate at least part of the building, authorities said today. The threat to 1901 Avenue of the Stars was called in just before 4 p.m. Thursday, according to police spokesmen. As police searched the 20-story building, they found a ``suspicious item'' in a restroom on the 15th floor, Los Angeles police spokesman Officer Jason Lee said. Bomb squad officers spent several hours at the building, and Leslie said the LAPD's criminal conspiracy unit would pursue suspects in the case. more...
Los Angeles Times: Police evacuated several floors of a Century City high rise on Avenue of the Stars this afternoon after a suspicious package was found in one of the building's restrooms, authorities said. Once the building was cleared, bomb squad officers began investigating the package, which was discovered about 4 p.m. in a restroom on the 16th floor. No further details were available.
Defamer: Word into Defamer HQ reveals that a bomb threat has been received by multiple tenants at MGM Tower, indicating that "the device would be activated at noon." The LAPD has been notified, evidently, but with the threat having yet to be verified, the building superintendents are reportedly evacuating the building from 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. We hear ICM is out already. Please be advised that another tenant in the MGM Tower has received a bomb threat. The Los Angeles Police Department has been notified and is on site. Although the threat indicated that the device would be activated at noon, nothing has been verified at this time, as a precaution we have decided to evacuate the building between 11am and 2pm. You will be evacuated by the Floor Warden's two floors at a time.

Supporters of Animal Abuse, Some Deluded, Some Just Greedy, Rally at UCLA as Animal Rights Supporters Decry Animal Suffering

April 22, 2009

Associated Press: Hundreds of supporters and opponents of animal research held rallies Wednesday at the University of California, Los Angeles, where authorities say scientists have been the targets of stalking, threats and arson attacks. Advocates of animal research wore T-shirts with the slogan "Stand up for science" while foes across a street chanted and held signs such as "End the animal holocaust." Each group then moved to separate areas under police watch. Proponents of animal testing cheered David Jentsch, a UCLA psychologist and neuroscientist whose parked car was targeted in a March 7 firebombing for which a group called the Animal Liberation Brigade claimed responsibility. Among supporters was a researcher who works for Jentsch. She spoke with a reporter on condition that only her first name, Stephanie, be used because she fears being attacked or having her car firebombed. The animal rights protesters brought signs showing research animals and slogans such as "Animal experiments scientific fraud" and "I am not a research tool." more...
Los Angeles Times: Competing rallies at UCLA today over the controversial issue of animal research are peaceful so far, with supporters of the research appearing to outnumber opponents by more than 10 to 1. As numerous police officers stood by, the pro-research group briefly traded slogans across Westwood Boulevard with a smaller, rival rally of about 30 animal rights activists on the intersection's northeast corner. Opponents of the research contend that UCLA scientists ignore the suffering of primates and other animals used in the experiments. Among likely speakers at the pro-research event is UCLA neuro-scientist J. David Jentsch, whose car was set ablaze and destroyed last month and who then organized the Pro-Test group. Jentsch uses monkeys in his research on schizophrenia and drug addiction, and although he kills some for postmortem exams, he says the animals do not suffer. more...
CNN: On Earth Day on Wednesday, Dr. David Jentsch marched at the head of a column of UCLA students and faculty members to the chant of, "Stand up for science!" Across the street a smaller but equally vocal group of animal rights advocates chanted, "U-C-L-A, how many animals have you killed today!"Until recently, Jentsch had never dreamed he would lead a political demonstration. But Jentsch's life took a sharp turn last month when his car was firebombed in his driveway. A radical group of animal rights activists claimed responsibility for the act. It was the latest in a string of arson attacks against UCLA researchers who use animals in medical research projects. Since 2006, there have been seven attacks aimed at researcher's homes or cars. No arrests have been made in the cases, which are being investigated by an FBI lead task force on terrorism. DeRose, founder of Last Chance for Animals, says he doesn't condone firebombing researchers' homes, but he doesn't condemn it either. Watch people against animal research at protest » "The reason these people are doing it is because they have been pushed ... nobody is listening ... over a hundred million animals a year are killed in universities and major hospitals in this country," he said. more...

UCLA Daily Bruin: In response to numerous acts of violence against UCLA researchers by animal rights activists, faculty and students have joined together to form UCLA Pro-Test. The group, organized by David Jentsch, an associate professor of psychology, is aimed at promoting the university's advocacy of animal research and showing solidarity for researchers who have been subject to harassment. Jerry Vlasic [sic], a spokesman for the North American Animal Liberation Front and advocate of animal rights activists, said he disagreed with the university's endorsement of animal research. “(UCLA) continues to advocate outdated research techniques instead of more modern, humane alternatives. They're wasting hundreds of millions of dollars and killing more animals every year. There's no science behind it,” Vlasic said. Vlasic argued that UCLA Pro-Test was formed to trick the public into sympathizing with animal researchers and avoid talking about substantial issues. “These are the similar stale tactics that have been utilized before to advocate uneducated techniques – it's the behavior of people who are unwilling to change or compromise,” he said. He said activists only resorted to violence against researchers after years of failed attempts to negotiate with the university. In a message posted on their Web site last Thursday, members of the Animal Liberation Front challenged Jentsch and other UCLA Pro-Test founders to a debate over the merits of animal research. UCLA has shrugged off the challenge to debate. more...

David Jentsch

New York Times: Hundreds of supporters and opponents of animal research held rallies at the University of California, Los Angeles, where the authorities say scientists have been the targets of stalking, threats and arson attacks. Proponents of animal testing cheered David Jentsch, 37, a U.C.L.A. psychologist and neuroscientist whose car was singled out in a March 7 firebombing for which a group called the Animal Liberation Brigade claimed responsibility. “Six weeks ago, when I looked out the front window of my living room, I saw what I believed was truly one of the worst faces of humanity looking back at me,” Mr. Jentsch, who does research on rodents and primates, told the crowd. “But now as I look out and see your faces, I see what I believe is the best face of humanity looking back at me.” The rallies came days after an indictment charging two animal rights activists with stalking and other crimes against researchers at U.C.L.A. and a juice company was unsealed.
NPR: Over the last few years, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, have received death threats, had their cars firebombed and had their homes vandalized by activists who want to stop animal testing. This week, one UCLA professor said enough is enough. But not all animal rights activists are terrorists, says Elliot Katz, who attended the rally to protest animal research. Katz, a veterinarian and president of the group In Defense of Animals, says he worries that extremists are getting all the attention, while Jentsch is the real problem. more...

Animal Liberation Fugitive Andreas San Diega Makes FBI "Top Ten Terrorists" List; Feds Seek Animal Advocate Instead of Bin Laden and his Gang

April 21, 2009

CNN: The FBI for the first time has placed an animal rights activist on the bureau's "Most Wanted Terrorists" list. The FBI announced Tuesday the addition of Daniel Andreas San Diego to the list, hoping a burst of international publicity associated with the move will help investigators find him after six years on the run. San Diego, 31, may appear to be out of place on a terrorist list with familiar names like al Qaeda's Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Adam Yahiye Gadahn. The "strict vegan," according to the FBI, is charged with bombing two corporate offices in California in 2003. The blasts caused extensive property damage but no deaths. Vegans eat no meat or any other food containing animal products. more...
Associated Press: The FBI has added Marin County animal rights extremist Daniel Andreas San Diego to its "Most Wanted Terrorists" list for bombing two Bay Area biotech firms. San Diego, now 31, has eluded authorities for nearly six years. The hope is that national publicity about his case, as well as a reminder of the $250,000 reward, will lead to a surge of new tips about his possible whereabouts. But it's also a sign that the FBI takes "domestic terrorism" as seriously as threats from abroad. The Most Wanted Terrorist list includes Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri, as well as several other Muslim terrorists. San Diego is only the second American citizen and the only domestic terrorist to appear on the FBI's list. more...
Washington Times: An investigation that has "basically come to a dead end" led the FBI to add the first domestic-terror suspect to the bureau's list of Most Wanted Terrorists. Daniel Andreas San Diego, a 31-year-old animal rights activist, is under indictment for the 2003 bombings of two San Francisco Bay Area companies linked to an animal-testing laboratory. "Basically, we have no idea where he is," Michael Heimbach, assistant director of the bureau's counterterrorism division, said during a news conference Tuesday announcing the addition. "The leads on him have gone stale." The FBI hoping to find San Diego with the help of the publicity generated by adding him to the list, which also features such notorious international terrorists as Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahri and Adam Gadahn, the American-born al Qaeda spokesman. Before the addition of San Diego, the list, created in the wake of Sept. 11, had previously included only Islamist terrorists. more...
San Jose Mercury News: The FBI hoped to elicit new tips when it added Daniel Andreas San Diego to its "Most Wanted Terrorists" list on Tuesday, but the move was also partly political: By adding its first domestic terrorist to the notorious list — which includes Osama bin Laden — authorities are equating animal rights extremists such as San Diego with the type of people who terrorize nations. San Diego, 31, has been a fugitive for nearly six years and is wanted for the 2003 bombings of Chiron and Shaklee, two Bay Area biotechnology companies. While no one was killed in those incidents, animal rights protests have grown increasingly violent in recent years — one of the bombs linked to San Diego was wrapped in nails, and authorities are still searching for those who firebombed a Santa Cruz biologist's home last year. "It's absurd," said Christine Garcia, a San Francisco attorney who regularly represents animal rights activists. "By putting San Diego on this list, the FBI is basically supporting animal cruelty." "This is an activist who has compassion for animals who [allegedly] made a statement with nothing more than a large firecracker," said Jerry Vlasak of the North American Animal Liberation Press Office. "To equate him with the likes of terrorists who destroy buildings full of people is ridiculous at best." more...
New York Times: This week, the Federal Bureau of Investigation announced that it had added a 31-year-old American animal rights activist named Daniel Andreas San Diego to its list of “Most Wanted Terrorists.” Describing Mr. San Diego as a “domestic terrorist,” the F.B.I. warned that he “should be considered armed and dangerous.” According to the bureau, Mr. San Diego is wanted for the role he may have played in the bombings of two San Francisco-area office buildings. The F.B.I. was careful to stress that it considers Mr. San Diego, and other extreme animal rights activists, worthy of being placed on a list headed by violent extremists like the leaders of Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al Zawahiri: more...

Picketers Arrested in Los Angeles After Grand Jury Indictment; 10 Felony Charges, $450,000 Bail for Chanting, Leafletting

April 21, 2009

Los Angeles Times: Two animal rights activists have been charged with threatening and harassing UCLA scientists who use animals in their research, according to a Los Angeles County grand jury indictment unsealed Monday. Linda Faith Greene, 61, and Kevin Richard Olliff, 22, were charged March 27 with 10 felonies, including stalking and conspiracy to threaten a school employee. Along with targeting UCLA faculty members, they were accused of holding threatening protests against research near the homes of executives of the POM Wonderful Juice company. Greene, who is being held on $450,000 bail, and Olliff, in custody on $460,000 bail, pleaded not guilty to the charges. Neither could be reached for comment. The indictment alleged that Greene and others with the North American Animal Liberation Press Office posted claims from unidentified activists about an explosive reportedly left on the doorstep of UCLA psychiatry professor Lynn Fairbanks in June 2006. The device, which had been lighted but did not ignite, was actually planted at a neighbor's home. more...
Associated Press: Two animal rights activists were charged Monday with conspiracy, stalking and other crimes against researchers at University of California, Los Angeles and executives of a juice company. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office issued a statement calling the pair "alleged domestic terrorists" and describing them as associates of the Animal Liberation Front, an extremist animal rights group. A county grand jury indictment was handed up March 27 and charged each with three counts of conspiracy to commit stalking, three counts of stalking, two counts of conspiracy to threaten a public officer or school employee and two counts of threatening a public officer or school employee. They were arrested Thursday. One of the overt acts in the conspiracy was Greene, acting as press officer for an animal rights Web site, posting a "communique" by the ALF which took responsibility for what it called a "moletov cocktail," according to the indictment. more...
KABC Television: Two animal rights activists were arraigned Monday on charges tied to an attempted bombing at the home of a University of California, Los Angeles, researcher. Linda Faith Greene, 61, and Kevin Richard Olliff, 22, pleaded not guilty in Los Angeles Superior Court to three counts apiece of conspiracy to commit stalking, three counts of stalking, two counts of conspiracy to threaten a public officer of school employee, and two counts of threatening a public officer of school employee. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office issued a statement calling the pair "alleged domestic terrorists." more...

Primate Vivisectionist at UCLA David Jentsch Interviewed in Nature Magazine; Forms Group to Advocate for the Torture of Non-Human Primates

April 15, 2009

Nature: On 7 March David Jentsch, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), had his car firebombed outside his house by animal extremists. In response, he formed the group UCLA Pro-Test to oppose such extremism and advocate continued research on animals. The group will hold its first rally on 22 April on the university's campus. Did you immediately suspect extremists? I admit I didn't think of anything else but animal extremists. I am very close to other researchers at UCLA who have been attacked in the past. My immediate reaction was confirmed on Monday 9 March when the North American Animal Liberation Press Office posted a communiqué taking responsibility. The communiqué explicitly linked the attack to the arrests, saying: 'You hit us; we hit you back harder.' I think they would have come anyway. more...

David Jentsch

Maryland Restaurant Serving Foie Gras Attacked by Activists, Again!

April 14, 2009

WBAL Television: A Howard County restaurant vandalized three weeks ago because of an item on the menu was hit again. However, this time the owners of the Iron Bridge Wine Company on Route 108 in Columbia, said the people responsible were caught on camera. The owners said their restaurant was vandalized last time due to the controversial delicacy foie gras, or duck liver. They said they're fairly certain the people responsible for the first attack perpetrated the second. Two weeks ago the vandals broke windows, put glue into the locks and painted “get rid of foie gras” on walls. The owners said the vandals struck again on Monday morning, breaking two more windows and tried to get in through a side door. more...
Baltimore Sun: A Howard County restaurant that was vandalized last month in an apparent protest against the serving of foie gras has been hit again. Steve Wecker, co-owner of the Iron Bridge Wine Company in Columbia, said Monday that no references were made this time to foie gras. But Wecker suspects that the vandals who broke a window and damaged one of the front doors of the Route 108 property were trying to convey the same message as those who spray-painted "Get rid of the foie gras" while breaking several windows and gluing the front door lock on March 23. Since the first incident, which caused an estimated $3,300 in damage, Wecker has added "Foie Gras Friday" to the restaurant's menu and has servers wearing T-shirts reading "Got Foie Gras?" -- a takeoff on the popular milk slogan. "I'm sure that they're mad that we didn't cave in," Wecker said, referring to the vandals. more...

Peter Young Speaks to UC Berkeley Students on the Importance of the Struggle Against Vivisection

April 13, 2009

The Daily Californian: In a visit to UC Berkeley Wednesday, an animal rights activist spoke to a student organization about continuing to protest what he characterized as inhumane animal treatment at the campus, which regularly performs research on animals. Peter Young, who set at least eight thousand minks free from fur farms in October 1997, talked about his past experiences and encouraged members of the Berkeley Organization for Animal Advocacy to reevaluate their activist strategies, said Katie Cantrell, the organization's president. more...

Apologists for Animal Abuse at UCLA Plan Rally; Physicians Challenge Them To Debate

March 30 - April 13, 2009

Read Press Release Challenging Pro-Test to Debate: Click here.
The Scientific Activist: Via Tom Holder of Speaking of Research comes news that embattled UCLA scientists have formed their own chapter of the pro-research organization Pro-Test . And, they're already planning their first event: Following in the footsteps of the Pro-Test group in Oxford, UK, students and scientists at UCLA have pledged to stand up against the lies and misinformation of animal rights groups, and the violence of extremist organizations. They have formed the new group UCLA Pro-Test, which stands for science, reasoned debate and the belief that life-saving medical research must continue without violence and harassment from misguided activists. more...
KPCC Radio (NPR): A group of scientists at UCLA say they've formed a new organization to publicly counter opponents of animal research. Some of these opponents have tried to drive home their point with fire bombings, vandalism, and intimidation in several Southland incidents in recent years. KPCC's Adolfo Guzman-Lopez has the story. Guzman-Lopez: He's started a group called UCLA Pro-Test. Supporters plan to counter an animal rights rally on campus later this month. Jerry Vlasak is a Los Angeles physician who defends the extremists' tactics, serves as their spokesman, and says he doesn't engage in unlawful actions. He says his side's argument will carry the day at the rally. Jerry Vlasak: They're not likely to get very far because the public will wise up once we offer to debate them. Their literature will be ridiculed once it's available. And they're claiming that they're going to be doing somewhat of a counter-protest on April 22nd and the word is spreading wide throughout the animal rights community, and it's really just galvanizing the animal rights community. more...
KPCC Radio (NPR): Listen here to David Jentsch versus Jerry Vlasak, MD in radio interviews, Monday, April 13, 2009.
Los Angeles Times: In the last three years, UCLA has reported at least 10 arsons, attempted arsons and other acts of vandalism against its professors and researchers, along with many unrealized threats. In February, four animal activists were arrested on allegations that they were involved in attacking and harassing animal researchers at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, but no arrests have been made in any of the UCLA cases, according to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. She said the incidents are under investigation as acts of domestic terrorism. The UC system has spent several million dollars in recent years to improve security around researchers' homes, classrooms and offices. Citing security concerns, Jentsch declined to have his photo taken for this article. Two days after Jentsch's car was burned, a profanity-laced Internet message from the murky Animal Liberation Brigade took credit for the fire, as it had for past UCLA assaults. "The things you and others like you do to feeling, sentient monkeys is so cruel and disgusting we can't believe anyone would be able to live with themselves," the message read. "David, here's a message just for you, we will come for you when you least expect it and do a lot more damage than to your property." Jerry Vlasak, a Los Angeles-area physician and frequent spokesman for the animal rights movement, said he and fellow activists do not participate in the attacks and do not know who is behind them, although he sympathizes with the actions. Jentsch, according to Vlasak, "is hurting and killing non-human primates every day. And if it took harming him to make him stop torturing, it is certainly morally justifiable." Vlasak said that Jentsch's new group is a publicity stunt aimed at preserving researchers' federal funding and turning public attention from the nature of the researcher's own work, which involves addicting monkeys to methamphetamine. Vlasak and others said they want to meet Jentsch in a public debate, but the UCLA professor said he was willing to do so only with people who don't condone violence. more...

AETA-4 Arrests Portend Bad News for Civil Rights; Repressive New Laws Backfire as Animal Liberation Underground Gains Strength

March 25, 2009

San Francisco Bay Guardian: When does passionate protest become a terrorist threat? Is it when activists choose to target someone's house, or when the subject of the protest feels scared? Why single out animal rights activists for special treatment? And if the definition of terrorism is expanded for them, what group is next in these turbulent times? These are the questions being raised by the federal prosecution of four local animal rights activists. Joseph Buddenberg, Maryam Khajavi, Nathan Pope, and Adriana Stumpo pleaded not guilty March 19 to charges of using threats and violence to interfere with University of California animal researchers, in violation of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA). A coalition of civil liberties defense groups have come to their defense, arguing that the law is unconstitutional and that the activists were merely exercising their freedoms of speech and assembly. "The AETA has backfired, causing an increase in underground activism," says Los Angeles-based activist Jerry Vlasak, whose inflammatory language against animal researchers was quoted extensively during the 2006 Congressional hearing on AETA. Vlasak is a media contact for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, which operates a Web site featuring anonymous "communiqués" sent in by clandestine activists. In a posting dated March 6, a group called the Animal Liberation Brigade takes credit for burning the car of a Los Angeles primate researcher. "We will come for you when you least expect it and do a lot more damanage [sic] than to your property," the message reads. "Where ever you go and what ever you do we'll be watching you as long as you continue to do your disgusting experiments on monkeys. And a special message for the FBI, the more legit activists you fuck with the more it inspires us since wer're [sic] the people whom you least suspect and when we hit we hit hard." more...

Grand Jury Resister Remains Jailed in Utah; Punished for Unwillingness to Cooperate with Illegal, Secretive Inquisition

March 23, 2009

Deseret News: An animal-rights activist jailed for contempt of court is apparently still refusing to testify before a federal grand jury presumably investigating a series of attacks on local mink farms. Jordan Halliday, 21, is in the Cache County Jail - where he'll stay until he either testifies or the grand jury's term expires. He apparently refused to testify when called before the grand jury last week. Federal prosecutors declined to comment Monday on whether Halliday will be called before the secret panel again. "They said, 'Let us know if he does change his mind.' He's not going to," Halliday's lawyer, James Mouritsen said Monday. Mouritsen has filed an appeal on his client's behalf. The U.S. Attorney's Office for Utah declined to comment, citing rules about grand-jury secrecy. Halliday was subpoenaed last month in connection with an investigation into raids on mink farms across the state. He refused to testify, leading to him being jailed for contempt. more...

Maryland Restaurant Serving Foie Gras Targeted by Activists; $3000+ in Damages Should Remove Some Profit from Animal Torture

March 23, 2009

Baltimore Sun: Jean Poholsky looks forward to dining at Iron Bridge Wine Co. for the upscale ambience as well as for the food. So when she arrived at the Columbia restaurant for lunch with friends Monday, she was shocked to see glass shards covering a stone walkway that had been spray-painted in red with the words: "Get rid of the foie gras." An admitted lover of the French delicacy made from the livers of ducks and geese, Poholsky concurred with the restaurant's owners that whoever was responsible for the overnight vandalism could have expressed their opinion differently. Owners Steve and Rob Wecker, whose 80-seat roadside restaurant has been named by Baltimore magazine as among the area's best eateries five times in the six years since it opened, were also struggling to grasp why someone would cause such damage, estimated at $3,300. It went beyond the cost of replacing four shattered windows, sandblasting away the graffiti and switching out the front door locks that were ruined by glue. The debate centers how foie gras is made. The technique, called gavage, dates to ancient Egypt, when ducks and geese were force-fed grain to fatten them up before slaughter. Modern technology has made the process less invasive, Rossant said, but the controversy remains. Several U.S. cities have enacted bans on selling the dish, and California passed a law banning it in 2012. The Weckers said that they have received several e-mail complaints about foie gras over the past couple of years. Howard County police are investigating. more...
Columbia Flyer: Steve Wecker has encountered foie gras protesters before, but never have they made their opposition to the goose liver delicacy so tangible as they did this week. Sometime between the close of Wecker's Iron Bridge Wine Company Sunday night and the chef's arrival Monday at 7 a.m., someone smashed four windows at the establishment, jammed its locks with glue and painted in red across the stone entranceway, "Get rid of foie gras," according to Wecker, who serves as a managing partner along with his brother Rob Wecker. Foie gras is liver from a fattened goose or duck. Some groups say the manner in which the delicacy is produced is inhumane because it can involve over-feeding or forced feeding, and they therefore object to its sale. more...

Four Activists Arraigned in Federal Court for Alleged Violation of Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act

March 19, 2009

San Francisco Chronicle: Four animal-rights protesters pleaded not guilty today in federal court to charges that they harassed and threatened researchers at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz, saying they had been exercising their free-speech rights. Joseph Buddenberg, Maryam Khajavi, Adriana Stumpo and Nathan Pope are law-abiding citizens who are among the first defendants to be charged under a new federal statute that stifles the First Amendment by mislabeling legitimate speech as terrorism, their attorneys said outside court. "I am a victim of free-speech suppression," Khajavi, 20, of Pinole said after entering her not-guilty plea in U.S. District Court in San Jose. Khajavi, who said she plans to apply to law school and wants to become a civil-rights attorney, was surrounded by dozens of supporters, many of whom held signs that denounced University of California regents, the FBI and the U.S. attorney's office. more...
Daily Californian: Four animal rights activists who allegedly threatened UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz animal researchers were charged yesterday with violating the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. The activists, including Berkeley resident Joseph Buddenberg, 25, are charged with two counts of violating the act-conspiracy and the use of force, violence and threats involving animal enterprises. Buddenberg and the other defendants, Pinole resident Maryam Khajavi, 20, Adriana Stumpo, 23, and Nathan Pope, 26, pleaded not guilty because they feel they have the right to express their opinions, according to Kali Grech, an attorney defending Khajavi. "They're being charged because they exercised their right to express dissent, speaking out against the UC Regents' system that is using funds to torture animals needlessly," Grech said. more...
San Jose mercury News: Facing a new federal law enacted to stem violent animal rights protests, four activists pleaded not guilty in San Jose federal court Thursday to charges related to their alleged roles in threatening University of California medical researchers around the Bay Area in 2007 and last year. The case now sets up a challenge to the constitutionality of a 2006 law aimed at terrorism against scientists, researchers and others involved in using animals in their medical research. The San Jose charges are believed to be the second case in the nation brought under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, or AETA, approved by Congress to "prosecute animal rights extremists" with a tougher law that includes stiffer penalties. "We will vigorously defend her right to dissent," said famed San Francisco lawyer J. Tony Serra, who represents Maryam Khajavi, a 20-year-old UC-Santa Cruz graduate. "The government would be better off going after those who torture animals than idealistic youth." more...
San Jose mercury News: Four animal rights activists indicted by a federal grand jury for their alleged roles in violent demonstrations at the homes of UC biomedical researchers pleaded not guilty Thursday, then held a rally denouncing what they call an attack on free speech rights. At the rally, which occurred just outside the federal courthouse downtown, supporters waved signs that called the law -- known as AETA -- unconstitutional. Some signs dubbed the four defendants the "AETA 4." "This is not intimidation," Bloom said. "This is not threats. This is exposing people who are believed to be torturers." more...

Utah Activists Released from Jail Pending Trial; Charged with Liberating Hundreds of Captive Mink Last August

March 12, 2009

Associated Press: A federal magistrate judge is allowing two men indicted in a break-in at a South Jordan mink farm to be released before their May 11 trial. William James Viehl, 22, of Layton, and Alex Jason Hall, 20, of Ogden, were ordered not to have contact with members of the Animal Liberation Front or the Straight Edge movement. Court records show they also will be monitored electronically. In August, hundreds of mink were released and breeding records destroyed at the McMullin mink farm. Shortly afterward, the Animal Liberation Front posted a statement from a "local soldier out of Utah" taking credit for the incident. Each man has pleaded not guilty to one felony count related to the McMullin mink farm and one misdemeanor count related to an attempted attack at a mink farm in Hyrum on Oct. 18.
Standard-Examiner (SLC): A pair of Top of Utah men accused in federal court of committing sabotage against two Utah mink farms have been granted release from jail pending their trial. Prosecutors sought detention pending trial, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Brooke C. Wells released them. A spokeswoman for the office said prosecutors will not appeal her decision. William James Viehl, 22, of Layton, and Alex Jason Hall, 20, of Ogden, were ordered to have no contact with any members of the Animal Liberation Front or Straight Edge. Each will be subject to electronic monitoring, according to the release order.

Animal Liberation Brigade Torches Auto at Home of UCLA Primate Vivisector James David Jentsch

March 9, 2009

Associated Press: The FBI is investigating the firebombing of a vehicle belonging to a UCLA neuroscientist who uses animals to study schizophrenia and drug addiction, officials said Monday. A homemade explosive set the professor's car on fire as it was parked outside his home on Saturday, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. No one was hurt. The Animal Liberation Front posted a message in which the Animal Liberation Brigade claimed responsibility for the bombing on its Web site Monday. The bombing is the latest in a series of violent acts against UCLA researchers, university spokesman Phil Hampton said. more...
Los Angeles Times: The FBI Federal Bureau of Investigation is looking into the firebombing of a vehicle owned by a UCLA neuroscientist who was targeted by an anti-animal research group for using primates in his study of psychiatric disorders. The March 7 incident involving a homemade incendiary device took place outside the faculty member's home and caused no injuries, according to FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller. The UCLA professor, who researches treatments for schizophrenia, drug addiction and other disorders, was not identified. The firebombing is one in a series string of aggressive acts aimed at university researchers who use animals in medical studies, research, said UCLA spokesman Phil Hampton? said. In other cases, firebombs have been left on doorsteps, homes and vehicles have been vandalized, and researchers have received threatening phone calls and e-mails. more...
UCLA Daily Bruin: A vehicle was firebombed outside the home of a university researcher on Saturday, prompting Chancellor Gene Block to issue a statement condemning the attackers. Animal rights activists claimed responsibility for the firebomb in a statement released through the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, which speaks on the behalf of the activists. They threatened in the statement to continue to harass the targeted researcher - whose name was not released because of the ongoing investigation - until he stops his research. Saturday's firebombing was the latest in a series of attacks against UCLA researchers and vanpool vehicles by animal rights activists. Attacks include four firebombings since the beginning of 2008, which destroyed four vehicles and damaged the front door of one researcher's home, according to Daily Bruin archives. University police have since increased measures to apprehend violent activists, and UCLA obtained an injunction last April to help protect researchers and their families. Despite these efforts, no arrests have been made in connection to any attacks at UCLA. more...
KABC Channel 7: Animal rights activists have long targeted researchers at UCLA who use animals in their experiments. There have been threatening phone calls and e-mails and five separate firebombings. The latest attack was early Saturday morning, when a researcher woke up to a loud noise. He found that his car had been set aflame and destroyed. A group called the Animal Liberation Brigade claimed responsibility for the attack on a Web site. The group objects to the use of monkeys and other animals in university medical research. In its Web site posting, the group claims that the researcher addicts monkeys to methamphetamines and other street drugs. It also used the researcher's name in a warning it posted that said, "Here's a message just for you. We will come for you when you least expect it and do a lot more damage than to your property." "Wherever you go and whatever you do, we'll be watching you as long as you continue to do your disgusting experiments on monkeys," the statement said. more...
United Press International/ Wall Street Journal: Investigators are looking into the firebombing of a neuroscientist's car at the University of California at Los Angeles, officials said. The March 7 firebombing involved a homemade incendiary device, and took place outside the researcher's home, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. She said the incident will be investigated by a Joint Terrorism Task Force that includes the FBI, the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Fire Department, the UCLA Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. more...
US News and World Report: Animal rights activists have claimed responsibility for the Saturday firebombing of a vehicle outside a UCLA neuroscience researcher's home, the Daily Bruin reports. No one was injured in the latest in a string against scientists who use animals in their research. There have been at least four firebombings since the beginning of 2008. On Monday, the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, which says it speaks on behalf of the activists, posted a statement on its website that threatened to continue to harass the targeted researcher until he stops his study. more...
Los Angeles Times: On monday in Washington, President Obama heralded the return of what he terms "sound science" to the administration of federal policy. At that moment in Los Angeles, a joint federal and local law enforcement task force was investigating the latest incident in a 3-year-old terrorist campaign being waged against UCLA medical researchers. This time, a group that calls itself the Animal Liberation Front firebombed a car on Saturday belonging to a neuroscientist whose research into psychiatric disorders involves primates. This was the latest incident in a long-running war. Since July 2006, extremists who oppose the use of animals in any medical research have attacked UCLA scientists or their property in five actual or attempted arsons and five acts of criminal vandalism. Telephone threats have been made, and researchers' children have been followed to and from school. more...
Daily Breeze: Someone set fire to a vehicle owned by a UCLA researcher on Saturday, and a group opposed to primate research claimed responsibility for the crime, authorities said today. The Animal Liberation Front posted a message on its Web site from the "Animal Liberation Brigade," an allied group that claimed responsibility for the act. The vehicle was on Beverly Glen Boulevard, according to the Animal Liberation Brigade, which called the researcher an expletive "who addicts monkeys to methamphetamine and other street drugs." more...
Science: It can take a long time for the legal system to catch up with criminals. In Britain, seven animal rights activists, thought to be key figures in the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), were recently locked up, after waging a six-year campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences . Their tactics involved hoax bombs and false claims of child abuse. On Saturday, anti-vivisectionists targeted David Jentsch, a neuroscientist at the University of California in Los Angeles, by setting fire to his car outside his house . It's the latest in a wave of attacks against California researchers and despite the FBI investigating, no-one has been arrested. The US website of the ALF claims responsibility for the attack on Jentsch, who works on a range of devastating psychiatric conditions, including schizophrenia and addiction. more...
Christian Science Monitor: The recent fire-bombing of a university professor's car here appears to be part of a trend of animal-rights activists targeting the personal lives of researchers, rather than just the labs or companies where they work. The idea is to scare the scientists into reconsidering using animals in their research work. Despite tightening laws, California saw an uptick in attacks last year with 21 reported incidents - of 36 nationwide - ranging from vandalism to firebombs, mostly targeting University of California researchers, according to data compiled by the Foundation for Biomedical Research. By contrast, the state saw just four or five such incidents the previous two years. Meanwhile, some animal-welfare groups say violence against researchers could do the cause more harm. "The tactic backfires and instead of focusing attention on what the researchers are doing, it creates martyrs out of them," says Martin Stephens, of the Humane Society of the United States. The advocacy group adopted a policy against violence more than 20 years ago. But Jerry Vlasak, a spokesman for the Animal Liberation Front, said in an e-mail that activists who had turned to violent protest had done so partly because years of peaceful campaigning had failed. more...

Al Queda Operatives Get Shorter Prison Terms Than Environmental Activists

March 8, 2009

GNN.com: An Al-Qaeda operative charged with creating a weapon of mass destruction has received a lesser prison sentence than an environmentalist who set fire to an empty building. Christopher Paul, aka "Abdul Malek," is an Ohio native who joined Al Qaeda in the early 90s. According to the FBI , he:
- received training in "the use of assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and small unit tactics,"
- fought with the mujahedeen in Afghanistan,
- and returned to Ohio to recruit and establish a terrorist cell.
  He pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to use a weapon of mass destruction against Americans at home and abroad. His sentence: 20 years. By comparison, Marie Mason was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison, as a "terrorist," for property destruction in the name of defending the environment. more...

Two Activists Arrested in Utah for Fur farm Raids; When Grand Jury Fails, Arrest Someone, Anyone

March 5, 2009

KSL Channel 5: A grand jury has indicted two people for releasing hundreds of mink from a South Jordan farm and attempting to do the same in Hyrum. This indictment was unsealed today and charges William James Viehl, 22, and Alex Jason Hall, 20, with damaging and interfering with animal enterprises. It ties back to a case in August of 2008 when 300 mink were released from the McMullin Mink Farm in South Jordan, resulting in $10,000 in damages. The Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for that raid, as well as one the next month in Kaysville where 6,000 were released. In South Jordan, they spray painted "No More Mink, No More Murder" and "We are watching" on the farm. The two men are also charged in an attempted attack in October at a mink farm in Hyrum. As the prosecution goes forward, authorities are cautioning farms about possible sympathy attacks. more...
Associated Press: Two men have been indicted in connection with a break-in at a South Jordan mink farm last summer and a similar attempt at another mink operation two months later. more...
Salt lake Tribune: Two men have been indicted for allegedly releasing hundreds of minks from a South Jordan farm and destroying breeding records. Prosecutors say the crime resulted in more than $10,000 in damages. "While we recognize and respect the strongly held beliefs of those who advocate for animal rights, when their actions cross over the line into criminal conduct, we are going to take aggressive action," said U.S. Attorney Brett L. Tolman. "Regardless of your opinion, the fur industry is lawful and provides income for many Utah families." The Animal Liberation Front's Web site at the time of the release praised a Utah "soldier" for the act. more...
Deseret News: Two men have been indicted by a federal grand jury in connection with a pair of mink farm raids. The Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the South Jordan raid, crediting one of its "soldiers." Tolman refused to say if he believed the two were part of the ALF, a loosely knit collective of hard-core animal-rights activists. The FBI has branded the group a "domestic terrorist organization," but federal authorities also would not say if they considered Viehl and Hall "terrorists." Still, FBI agents said they are preparing for a pushback with so-called "sympathy attacks," from those carrying out attacks in the name of the accused. Jerry Vlasak, who acts as a spokesman for the ALF, said such actions are not uncommon. "They're putting the wrong people in jail," Vlasak told the Deseret News on Thursday. "These are people who care about innocent beings being tortured and killed for rich folks making a fashion statement." Federal prosecutors said the grand jury investigation is ongoing. Still unsolved is the September 2008 raid on a Kaysville mink farm that led to the release of 3,000 minks. Last month, two animal-rights activists were subpoenaed to testify before the federal grand jury, sparking protests outside the federal courthouse over the secret proceedings. Vlasak claimed the indictments of two people - who were not the ones called before the grand jury - is payback. "They bring in these two activists before the grand jury last month who refused to cooperate," he said. "Now they're trying Plan B." more...

Tuscon Activists Target Vivisector, Copper Mining Executive

March 3, 2009

Wilder Press: Tucson vandals claiming to act in the name of animal rights and the environment have begun targeting the homes and cars of earth destroyers and animal exploiters. In two separate incidents on Feb. 19, a researcher at the University of Arizona had her water valve cemented shut, and an employee of a mining company had her tires flattened and her windows etched with hateful sayings. A group called Tucson Hooligans Attack at Night, Duh - or, Tucson H.A.A.N.D. - claimed responsibility for the acts in a news release on an independent media Web site. No phone number for the group was listed. The post said the group cemented the water meter of researcher Katalin Gothard because of her research with monkeys, and that Kathy Arnold's car tire was slashed and her window etched because of her job with Augusta Resources Rosemont Copper Project. Augusta wants to open a 1.2-square-mile open-pit copper mine in the Santa Rita Mountains. more...

UCLA Wallows in Self-Pity as Activists Continue Campaign to Halt the Suffering, Torture and Murder of Non-Human Primates

March 2, 2009

Daily Bruin (UCLA): Attacks on UCLA researchers by animal rights activists have become more common and increasingly violent, prompting law enforcement officials to pursue new tactics to protect researchers and arrest suspects. The Animal Liberation Front has declared a campaign of harassment against UCLA's animal research facilities and UCLA vanpool vehicles, and they have stated that attacks will continue until UCLA puts a complete stop to its animal research program. As a result, UCLA has stepped up measures to protect researchers and arrest those responsible for illegal acts, although no arrests have been made yet in connection to violent crimes, said university police Captain John Adams. To combat attacks, UCPD has organized patrols in the neighborhoods of targeted researchers. Security guards have been placed at the homes of some researchers, and enhanced security systems have been installed in other locations, Adams said. He added that the drivers of vanpool vehicles have been warned to check their vans for incendiary devices and to notify police if they see anything suspicious. Peccei said he believes the activists are a small group of people who are "hell-bent on creating some havoc." He said he does not think any of the activists are UCLA students. A team of investigators is working on identifying the activists, Peccei said, adding that police hope to catch them in the act of committing or attempting to commit a crime. "We have taken certain measures which we cannot make public that we hope will eventually lead to us arresting some of the perpetrators," he said. more...

Get the Inside Scoop on How the FBI Thinks Activists Think; In Their Own Words, Just 25 Years Late

March 2, 2009

InfoShop News: Tactics Used by Eco-Terrorists to Detect and Thwart Law Enforcement Operations. Environmental extremists consistently study and disseminate the methods, tactics, and legal guidelines under which law enforcement officials operate in an effort to expose law enforcement undercover agents, sources, and cooperating witnesses. Literature appearing in print form or on websites sympathetic to the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), Earth Liberation Front (ELF), Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), and anarchist groups provides detailed instructional material on a variety of topics, including ways to evade and/or thwart law enforcement methods. One of the earliest examples of this type of instructional material is David Foreman's Eco- Defense: A Field Guide to Monkeywrenching, segments of which continue to circulate on the Internet within the anarchist and radical environmentalist communities. Foreman was a founding member of Earth First in the 1980s. Despite being written in 1985, the book is still referenced by anarchists and animal rights/environmental extremists as a useful "how-to" manual. more...

UK ALF Infiltrator Exposed; Snitch Dressed Up Like a Beagle

March 1, 2009

London Times: ONE November night in 2005 a Jaguar saloon carrying two animal rights activists and their getaway driver turned into an estate of executive homes in Surrey. Their target: a comfortable, mock-Tudor house behind a screen of trees. Within five minutes, the pair had wrecked three vehicles. They had also daubed abuse all over the front of the property. It was a raid like countless others carried out by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF). Speaking for the first time last week, Adrian Radford described his three years inside the group that terrorised scientists and suppliers linked to animal laboratories in a relentless onslaught. Radford was nicknamed “Captain Nancy” because of his flamboyant character and past work as a gay rights activist. He was widely known for the trade-mark beagle costume he wore at demonstrations. This had been supplied by the police. “I have 100% sympathy with people genuinely concerned at the plight of animals,” said Radford, who worked at the ALF under the name of Ian Farmer. more...

Activists Appear in Court After Arrests by FBI for Picketing

February 27, 2009

Daily Californian: Two of the four animal rights activists arrested last week for allegedly threatening UC researchers appeared in court yesterday to discuss preliminary details of their cases. Berkeley resident Joseph Buddenberg and Maryam Khajavi-along with Adriana Stumpo and Nathan Pope, who did not appear in court-are accused of violating the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which calls for the prosecution of those interfering with animal enterprises. The judge ruled Buddenberg will remain in a halfway house, a secured facility where detainees are permitted to leave for work, until his court date. Tony Serra said Khajavi appeared in court to identify Serra as her attorney. Khajavi was released on $20,000 bail earlier this week. more...
San Jose Mercury News: Two animal rights activists accused of making threats during protests in front of the homes of UC Santa Cruz and UC Berkeley researchers appeared in federal court in San Jose on Thursday. Joseph Buddenberg, 25, of Berkeley, and former UCSC student Maryam Khajavi, 20, of Pinole both came before Magistrate Judge Richard Seeborg while about a dozen young supporters sat in the courtroom gallery. Two other animal rights activists arrested by the FBI in connection with the protests -- one-time Cabrillo College student Nathan Pope, 26, of Oceanside and former UCSC student Adriana Stumpo, 23, of Long Beach -- are making their way back to California from North Carolina, where they were arrested Friday. They were released late Wednesday and are expected to be in court next week. more...
IndyBay: After reading the federal complaint for the arrest of animal rights activists on Animal Enterprise Terrorism charges, which I wrote about yesterday, this case still doesn't add up. Some of you have posted comments that if these activists had actually assaulted someone, or if there was an imminent threat of violence, they would have been arrested long ago. Instead, the FBI spent time and money building a case based on supporting evidence that includes First Amendment activity like chalking, flier distribution, and protests. I've written about the government's seven-step process for convicting environmentalists as terrorists in property crimes cases. The recent Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act arrests are different from Earth Liberation Front or Animal Liberation Front arrests, though. These are above-ground and lawful-yet controversial-activists. However, I think the same model is being used. more...

Activists, Research Facilities Taking Disclosure Battles to the Courts

February 26, 2009

Wall Street Journal: Public Safety vs. The Public's Right to Know. That's how the Journal's Dionne Searcey frames the issue in a fascinating article today on animal-rights activists and the research institutions they often rail against. In order to avoid the wrath of activists, public universities and research institutions are disclosing less information about their projects than they once did. It's in an effort to protect the scientists from the wrath of the animal-rights activists. In response, animal-rights groups, who worry institutions are covering up inhumane practices, are turning to the courts for help. Animal-rights activists accuse the institutions of exaggerating potential public-safety problems to skirt the law. "The new tactic is, don't let them see anything so that they can't make us look bad," says Kathy Guillermo, director for laboratory investigations at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. more...

Attacks by Animal Liberators Increase on Abusers Exploiting Animals for Food

February 25, 2009

Drover's: Attacks on the global food chain from animal-rights and environmental extremists jumped 42 percent - from 155 in 2007 to 220 in 2008 - according to Arlington, Va.-based Animal Agriculture Alliance. Worse yet, claimed attacks on food retailers in the United States from groups like the Animal Liberation Front exploded 377 percent. The alliance indicated that Bite Back magazine was its main source for compiling data on terrorist acts claimed by Animal Liberation Front; Earth Liberation Front; DBF, a branch of ALF found in Sweden and the Netherlands; and other animal-rights terrorist groups. But independent media reports and state agriculture groups also provided critical information. more...
Hoosier Ag Today: The Arlington, Virginia-based Animal Agriculture Alliance reports that during 2008, attacks on the global food chain from animal rights and environmental extremists jumped 42% - from 155 in 2007 to 220 last year. Much of the increase came from the Animal Liberation Front. Those attacks exploded 377 percent. Information compiled by the Alliance indicated there were 640 acts of sabotage, vandalism and arson in 2008, up from 467 the previous year. The overall level of animal rights extremist attacks in the USA on businesses that use animals - including medical research, consumer product safety, pets, circuses, rodeos, fur shops, hunting stores, farmers, ranchers, food retailers - surged nearly 40%. Destruction or defacement of property were the most frequently used techniques in their attempts to intimidate food chain businesses to shut down. Also, extremists claimed responsibility for the "liberation" of thousands of animals during the year, and millions of dollars in damage. Still, Mexico appears to be an emerging center for animal rights terrorism. In 2008, extremist groups in Mexico claimed more than double the number of attacks than were claimed in the USA.
QSR Magazine: Animal activist attacks on food retailers increased 377 percent in 2008 from the year before, according to the Animal Agriculture Alliance. The attacks jumped in number from 9 in 2007 to 34 in 2008 and included mainly smashing and etching windows and paint bombing buildings, vans, and billboards. According to a report issued by the alliance, McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, and Hardee's locations were especially popular targets. Bite Back magazine was the alliance's main source for compiling data on the acts claimed by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), and other animal rights groups. The report found that the groups claimed 640 acts of sabotage, vandalism, and arson in 2008 against businesses that use animals, which include medical research institutions, consumer product–safety companies, farmers, fur shops, and food retailers. more...

Feds Arrest Peaceful Animal Rights Protesters as Animal Liberation Front, Other Clandestine Groups Proliferate

February 20, 2009

FBI Press Release: Read the complaint here. On February 19 and 20, the Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested four animal rights extremists suspected of terrorizing University of California researchers. A complaint filed in federal court in San Francisco on Thursday alleged Adriana Stumpo, 23, of Long Beach, California; Nathan Pope, 26, of Oceanside, California; Joseph Buddenberg, 25, of Berkeley, California; and Maryam Khajavi, 20, of Pinole, California used force, violence, or threats to interfere with the operation of the University of California in violation of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. more...
Oakland Tribune: A terrorism task force has arrested four animal-rights protesters suspected of threatening researchers at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz. Federal and local authorities arrested Pinole resident Maryam Khajavi, 20, Berkeley resident Joseph Buddenberg, 25, Long Beach resident Adriana Stumpo, 23, and Oceanside resident Nathan Pope, 26. They were charged under the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Authorities said the harassment began with an October 2007 demonstration outside the El Cerrito home of a UC Berkeley researcher. None of the four suspects could immediately be reached, but a spokesman for the animal-rights movement, Los Angeles surgeon Dr. Jerry Vlasak, said the protesters should be congratulated. "We applaud anybody who steps up to the plate," he said.
Santa Cruz Sentinel: Federal authorities have arrested four suspected animal rights activists in connection with violent protests in Santa Cruz and Alameda counties, a federal terrorism task force reported Friday. Three of the four were linked to the Riverside Avenue home police raided after the home invasion attack of a University of California-Santa Cruz researcher a year ago, according to Santa Cruz police spokesman Zach Friend. Santa Cruz Police Chief Howard Skerry said the arrests came "due to the tenacity of investigators," but declined to speak specifically about the probe, evidence collected or any future arrests. Santa Cruz police were involved in the investigation, but the FBI was the lead law enforcement agency handling the case. more...
San Jose Mercury News: Federal authorities have arrested four animal rights activists suspected in violent protests in Santa Cruz and Alameda counties, a federal terrorism task force reported Friday. None of them has been charged, however, in what authorities consider the most egregious of animal rights-related incidents targeting UC scientists during the past year: two August 2008 firebombings at the homes of UCSC biomedical researchers. The scientist whose California Street home was the scene of the attempted home invasion did not return several messages Friday and has been reluctant for the past year to discuss the case. However, Skerry said police detectives notified her family of the arrests. The suspects will be charged at least in part under the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which carries a penalty of up to five years for each violation. It wasn't immediately clear how many counts the suspects will face when they appear in U.S. District Court later this month. Berkeley scientists who use animals in their research have reported a string of vandalism attacks at their homes since then. UCLA researchers have also been the target of firebombings.
Crimes arrested activists are accused of:
Oct. 21, 2007: A group of 20 protesters demonstrated outside of a UC Berkeley professor's home in El Cerrito. Some wore bandanas to hide their faces. They trespassed on his front yard, chanted slogans and accused him of being a murderer because of his use of animals in research.
Jan. 27, 2008: Demonstrations, including chalking, in front of the homes of several UC researchers
Feb. 20, 2008: A group of five protesters tried to forcibly enter the Westside home of a UC Santa Cruz researcher during a child's birthday party. The researcher's husband was hit during the demonstration.
July 29, 2008: Fliers left at Caffe Pergolesi in Santa Cruz that contained the names, addresses and telephone numbers of several UCSC scientists. The fliers said the researchers were "murders and torturers alive and well in Santa Cruz" and stated "We know where you live. We know where you work. We will never back down until you end your abuse." more...
Los Angeles Times: Four animal activists have been arrested for their alleged roles in attacking and harassing animal researchers at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz over the last 18 months, the FBI announced Friday. The arrests are a breakthrough in the investigation of attacks against a number of University of California animal researchers that have long frustrated police and school officials. None of the suspects, however, was charged with participating in the most serious violence against UC scientists, including the firebombing of the homes of researchers at UCLA and UC Santa Cruz. Extremists' attacks at the three UC campuses have been intended to halt researchers' use of animals in experiments, according to a website that advocates violent action to protect lab animals. UC officials defend their researchers, arguing that the use of animals in experiments is carefully regulated and essential to advancing medical science. more...
New York Times: Federal authorities say they have arrested four animal rights activists in connection with incidents involving University of California researchers. The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Friday announced the arrests of the four on suspicion of violating the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Those arrested were Nathan Pope, 26, of Oceanside; Adriana Stumpo, 23, of Long Beach; Maryam Khajavi, 20, of Pinole; and Joseph Buddenberg, 25, of Berkeley. The agency says Mr. Pope, Ms. Stumpo and Ms. Khajavi tried last February to break into the home of a researcher at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Federal investigators say Mr. Pope, Ms. Stumpo and Mr. Buddenberg put out fliers focusing on researchers at Santa Cruz days before the homes of two university scientists were firebombed. The four activists are also accused of harassing and intimidating researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, at their homes.
Indybay: Since the passage of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), a sweeping new law labeling animal rights activists as "terrorists," corporations and industry groups have been pushing the federal government to use their new powers. On February 19th and 20th, the Joint Terrorism Task Force of the FBI arrested four animal rights activists as "terrorists." Details of the arrests and charges are still coming, but this is believed to be the most sweeping expansion of the War on Terrorism and the "Green Scare" to date. more...
GreenisthenewRed.com: It was only a matter of time. Since the passage of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act , a sweeping new law labeling animal rights activists as "terrorists," corporations and industry groups have been pushing the federal government to use their new powers. For more than two years, the law has sat on the shelf. The government has finally put it to use. As background, a fierce campaign is being waged in California against animal research at the University of California system. There has been a wide range of both legal and illegal tactics. Illegal tactics have included the destruction of UC vans. In August, an incendiary device was left at the home of a UC researcher; no animal rights group has claimed responsibility for this crime, but the university, the FBI and others have recklessly attributed it to activists. These "terrorism" arrests are not related to that bombing, though. And they're also not related to the destruction of property. These activists-Nathan Pope, Adriana Stumpo, Joseph Buddenberg, and Maryam Khajavi- were arrested for First Amendment activity. more...
Inside Higher Education: The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Friday announced the arrests of four people charged with harassing and endangering University of California researchers who work with animals. In one incident, those arrested are charged with trying to enter the home of a researcher in Santa Cruz. In another incident, three of those arrested have been linked to fliers that publicized the home addresses and personal information of university researchers who work with animals - two of whom then had firebombs left at their homes. "With so many legal options to make their voices heard . it is inexcusable and cowardly for these people to resort to terrorizing the families of those with whom they do not agree," said Charlene B. Thornton, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Francisco office, in a statement. The Animal Liberation Press Office sent an e-mail to reporters saying that those arrested had engaged only in peaceful and legal protest.
Santa Cruz Sentinel: Supporters of the four animal rights activists arrested by the FBI last week say the activists were exercising their free speech rights as nonviolent objectors trying to increase the public's awareness of animal cruelty in University of California research centers. "It's strange. They act like these people are speaking completely out of context," said attorney Christine Garcia of the Animal Law Office in San Francisco. "These people are just vocalizing the reality of what these vivisectors are doing." Garcia, who is representing Joseph Buddenberg, 25, of Berkeley, said what her client and his co-defendants -- one-time Cabrillo College student Nathan Pope, 26, of Oceanside and former UCSC students Adriana Stumpo, 23, of Long Beach and Maryam Khajavi, 20, of Pinole -- are accused of doing are actually constitutionally protected activities. Vlask, a physician, said he and his organization, which is not directly affiliated with any activist group, believe the research is unnecessary. "I can tell you we're not going to learn anything torturing these animals in labs," he said. "These people are wasting millions of dollars injecting methamphetamines and making tweakers out of monkeys." more...
City on a Hill: Four animal rights activists suspected of attacking University of California researchers were arrested by federal authorities, the FBI reported Feb. 20. None of the activists have been charged with playing a hand in the August 2008 firebombing of UC Santa Cruz researchers' residences. Authorities used provisions of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) to make the sweeping arrests. President George W. Bush signed the bill into law on Nov. 27, 2006. Groups like the Animal Liberation Front see direct action as a key part of their struggle on behalf of animals. The leaderless activist network issued its own press release in response to the crack-down. "These arrests have targeted above-ground, legal animal rights protesters and blatantly abrogate their First Amendment rights," the press release stated. Jerry Vlasak, the press officer for the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, sees rough times ahead for animal rights activists. He is confident the four will win their case, but warns that the battle over research animals is far from over. "Whatever they throw at us," Vlasak said, "will never compare to what they are doing to our nonhuman brethren behind those prison walls." more...
GreenisthenewRed.com: When I first reported on the arrest of four animal rights activists in California under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act , few details were available. The only information was the FBI press release (which mainstream media outlets have regurgitated nearly verbatim as news articles). I now have a copy of the criminal complaint written by FBI special agent Linda Shaffer (who specializes in "eco-terrorism"), and it has some more details of the case. more...

Grand Jury in Salt Lake City Subpoenas Two Animal Activists in Secretive Inquisition

February 18, 2009

Deseret News: A pair of animal rights activists have been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury presumably investigating the release of thousands of minks from a pair of Utah farms. Jordan Halliday, 21, and another activist were subpoenaed to testify before the secret panel on Wednesday. "I have no idea what it's about," Halliday told the Deseret News just before walking into the federal courthouse. "I've been told not to assume anything." The young man was accompanied by his father and an attorney, having been handed a grand jury subpoena two weeks ago from an FBI agent. Halliday's father said the federal agent asked him about the August 2008 release of 300 minks from a South Jordan farm. Halliday said he had refused to talk to the FBI but would not say if he would refuse to testify before the grand jury. more...

UK Activist Mel Broughton Sentenced to 10 Years for Opposing Useless Animal Research

February 13, 2009

Oxford Mail: Animal rights campaigner Mel Broughton has today been sentenced to 10 years plotting firebomb attacks against Oxford University. The jury at Oxford Crown Court convicted the 48-year-old of conspiracy to commit arson. Broughton was charged following the discovery of firebombs found at Templeton College in February 2007 and an attack on The Queen's College sports pavillion the previous November. Broughton has been the public face of the anti-vivisectionists' campaign against the construction of an animal experiments laboratory in South Parks Road. more...
BBC News: Activist Mel Broughton dedicated his life to fighting for animal rights. As a leading figure in campaign group Speak, he was determined to stop plans to build an animal research laboratory at Oxford University. But in order to achieve his aims he waged a "fierce campaign" against people and institutions involved in planning the centre, jurors at the city's crown court were told. They convicted the 48-year-old of conspiracy to commit arson, after hearing he was behind two petrol-bomb attacks on university buildings. It was the second trial Broughton had faced over the allegations. A jury was discharged in November 2008 after failing to reach a verdict. more...

Systems Administrator For IndyMedia Site Arrested in UK for Exposing Judge Who Sentenced Activists

February 10, 2009

UK Indymedia: A Sheffield man has been released on police bail after being questioned in connection with comments posted to the activist news website Indymedia, which included the personal details of a prominent High Court judge. The man, in his 40s and thought to work as a systems administrator, was arrested on Monday and questioned for about eight hours. He has been bailed without charge to appear at a police station in May. His home was searched and computer equipment and paperwork seized. The comments at the centre of the investigation were critical of Mr Justice Neil Butterfield for the landmark blackmail sentences he handed down to seven animal rights extremists last month. One posting encouraged other Indymedia users to use the personal information to contact Butterfield and "to let this friend of [animal testing firm Huntingdon Life Sciences] know exactly what you think about him". more...

Guerrilla Tactics Paramount in Campaign to Halt Primate Torture at UCLA

February 10, 2009

Daily Breeze: An LAPD bomb squad was sent to Westwood today to inspect a UCLA commuter van targeted Feb. 2 by the Animal Liberation Front, authorities said. The van was towed away, but police did not say why or what evidence may have been found. ALF took responsibility Saturday for putting paint stripper on a UCLA van found parked along a San Clemente street and leaving a "surprise underneath." The group has left mock bombs under vehicles in the past. Los Angeles police Officer Ana Aguirre of Media Relations said police went to check out the van, parked near Malcolm and Ohio avenues, at the request of UCLA police about 7:45 a.m. today. About 90 minutes later, the area was declared safe, she said. Phil Hampton of UCLA said the van was the same one targeted in San Clemente. Apparently, a driver took it on rounds this morning before parking it near Malcolm and Ohio avenues. ALF, which claims to have damaged more than 20 UCLA vans, is opposed to medical research involving primates at UCLA Medical Center.
UCLA Newsroom: A UCLA commuter van targeted by anti-animal research extremists was declared safe by bomb specialists who searched it today for explosive devices in a West Los Angeles neighborhood. Explosives experts with the Los Angeles Police Department and the FBI searched the vehicle near Emerson Middle School, where the driver is an employee. The van, which had minor damage to its paint, was towed to an undisclosed location where the FBI, in cooperation with UCLA police, is continuing the investigation. As part of a campaign of illegal harassment directed at UCLA personnel in recent years, anti-animal research extremists have claimed responsibility for firebombing a UCLA commuter van in Irvine, torching vehicles in the driveway of a Palms-area home and, on several occasions, placing improvised incendiary devices under the vehicles and on the doorsteps of UCLA researchers. more...

North American Animal Liberation Press Office Releases 2008 Year-End Report of Animal Liberation Direct Action

February 9, 2009

Couch Potato Revolution: The North American Animal Liberation Press Office has published a report covering 2008 actions , a discussion of future directions, and a section on prisoners and snitches. From letter bombs sent to John Hopkins, Poultry shop windows smashed, banners dropped, Slaughterhouse trucks burned, dogs and rabbits liberated, computers hacked, trucks sabotaged, and a Leather Expo burned to the ground, the Animal Liberation Front has had an active of year of direct action. more...
Download the 2008 Year- End Report Here.

Eco-Saboteur Sentenced to Nearly 22 Years Behind Bars; Increasingly Desperate Measures by State Confirm Activists Effectiveness

February 5, 2009

WLNS Channel 6: Lansing authorities are on high alert as radical environmental protestors are expected to show up for the sentencing of a woman who admitted to starting a fire at Michigan State University over 9 years ago. According to the Lansing Police Department, the FBI and US Marshals on hand to handle security at the Lansing federal courthouse. They expect members of the eco-terrorist groups, the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front to gather and protest. It's all surrounding one woman, Marie Mason of Ohio. She has been connected to the eco-terrorist group Earth Liberation Front and she admits responsibility for the fire at the MSU Agriculture Hall more than nine years ago. Mason says she set the fire to protest research on genetically modified plants. The building was engulfed back when the incident happened on December 30th, 1999. Now the government wants Mason to receive a 20 year prison sentence for her part in the fire.
Fox News: An activist who committed arson at Michigan State University as a radical protest against crop research was sentenced Thursday to nearly 22 years in prison in a case that was prosecuted as domestic terrorism. The explosion and fire caused more than $1 million in damage to Michigan State's Agriculture Hall on New Year's Eve 1999. No one was injured. It was the most serious incident in a series of fires and tree spikings committed by Mason and ex-husband Frank Ambrose from 1999 to 2003. The Cincinnati woman acknowledged the other acts in her plea agreement, and the judge could consider them in setting a sentence. The investigation was cold until spring 2007 when a man looking for scrap cardboard found gas masks, an M-80 explosive, maps and anti-government writings in a suburban Detroit trash bin. They belonged to Ambrose, who apparently was trying to shed remnants of his past. The FBI subsequently searched his home, and he became an informant, blowing the whistle on himself and Mason and going undercover to record 178 conversations with other activists. Maloney, however, went higher: 21 years and 10 months. He described Mason, 47, as a "high risk" to repeat her crimes and said it's "beyond the pale" for her to list Rod Coronado as a "hero" on a MySpace page. Coronado was convicted of a 1993 arson aimed at animal research at Michigan State. Mason and Ambrose admitted destroying homes under construction in the Detroit area and in Indiana, among other acts. Their spree began in 1999 when they traveled to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to set fire to two boats owned by a man who formerly raised minks. Total damage: $4.1 million. more...

Animal Liberationists Target UC Berkeley Animal Torture Center; Contractors on New Building Persuaded

February 4, 2009

East Bay Express: Looks like local animal rights activists are expanding their campaign to stop animal testing at the new UC Berkeley Li Ka-Shing Life Sciences Center, currently under construction. Over at the radical left Web site Indybay , a call has been put out to pressure Hanson Concrete, one of the companies building the new center, to back out of the construction project. "Hanson has contacts all over the country. Please let them know that assisting in construction of a facility that will include basement-level animal torture facilities is unacceptable," writes "Stop Cal Vivisection," who also includes contact information for the company.

FBI Tip: Eco-Sabotage Fugitive Rebecca Rubin Spotted in British Columbia

January 22, 2009

The Oregonian: A woman suspected in eco-sabotage attacks across the Pacific Northwest may have been spotted recently in Canada, the FBI said today. Authorities in the United States and Canada received a tip that Rebecca Rubin, 25, linked to an environmental terrorism group known as The Family, was spotted near Vancouver, B.C., where she has relatives, said Beth Anne Steele, an FBI spokeswoman in Portland. The Family has been accused of attacks in the name of the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front between 1996 and 2001 in Oregon, Washington, California, Colorado and Wyoming. more...

Activists Sentenced to 4-11 Years in UK for Exposing Animal Cruelty at HLS

January 22, 2009

New Scientist: Seven of the UK's most active animal rights extremists were jailed on Wednesday, receiving sentences of up to 11 years. "These sentences signal the end of the long dark era of animal rights extremism," said Simon Festing of the pro-research organisation, Understanding Animal Research. Globally, however, the situation is far from resolved. In the US, attacks are intensifying and researchers are expecting the new administration to clamp down on offenders. In the UK, the activists were tried for their parts in a six-year campaign to close Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), a company based near Cambridge that undertakes animal research for pharmaceutical companies. more...
Wales Online: THE parents of a Welsh animal rights activist jailed for 11 years for plotting to blackmail firms linked to animal testing, last night launched a staunch defence of their daughter's motives. Heather Nicholson, 41, of Dunvant, Swansea, was among seven people given long sentences yesterday for intimidating companies associated with Huntingdon Life Sciences in Cambridgeshire. But speaking from his home in the West of Swansea last night, Nicholson's vegan father, retired teacher George Barwick, 73, originally from Neath, insisted his daughter "would not harm a fly". He said: "She formed SHAC (the Stop Huntingdon Life Sciences campaign) simply because the thought of animals being tortured for financial gain broke her heart. The campaign group she formed had every right to stick up for trusting animals being subjected to pain. In my view, she's a saint." Nicholson's ex-husband Gregg Avery, 41, and his wife Natasha Avery, 39, of Hampshire admitted conspiracy to blackmail and got nine years each. more...

Animal Liberation Activist Sentenced for Threatening Researcher (With the Same Treatment Dispensed Daily to Animals in His Laboaratory)

January 22, 2009

San Jose Mercury News: An animal-rights advocate who threatened a Larkspur professor over his medical research was sentenced to six months in Marin County Jail. Justin Bhagat Thind, 33, also received three years of probation during a sentencing hearing Wednesday before Judge Faye D'Opal. Thind's lawyer, Robert Casper, said the sentence was "fair and appropriate." The case began in 2007 after someone obtained the phone numbers and personal information of several University of California at San Francisco researchers who used live animals in their work. Threatening phone calls were received by several UCSF researchers, including a Larkspur resident who was called repeatedly in the middle of the night. The researcher used live animals in studies on congestive heart failure. more...
San Mateo County Times: A 33-year-old man has been sentenced in San Mateo County Superior Court to six months in county jail and three years probation for threatening two scientists who perform research on animals. Justin Bhagat Thind, of Capitola, was sentenced Monday after pleading no contest in December to one felony count of threatening a public official and one misdemeanor count of making threatening phone calls. Before the plea deal, he had been facing several more felony counts, including stalking. Thind called the researchers "day and night" between Sept. 6, 2007, and Sept. 10, 2007, according to Chief Deputy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. He is alleged to have told the researchers they would suffer the same way they made the animals suffer, Wagstaffe said. more...
Marin Independent Journal: An animal-rights vigilante who threatened a Larkspur medical researcher has been sentenced in a related case in San Mateo County. Justin Bhagat Thind, 33, of Capitola made several threatening phone calls to researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, including one who lives in Larkspur and two others in San Mateo County, authorities said. On Jan. 22, a Marin County judge sentenced Thind to six months in jail and three years of probation for the threats against the Larkspur professor. On Monday, a judge in Redwood City sentenced him to another six months in jail for the San Mateo County cases. The judge also placed Thind on three years' probation and ordered him not to join any animal-rights groups.

Animal Liberation Comes to the Dakotas

January 19, 2009

InForum (Fargo, ND): WEST FARGO, N.D. - Police here are investigating a weekend incident of spray paint vandalism on Catherines Plus Sizes and Old Navy. Authorities received a report Sunday night of spray paint on the two buildings in the 1500 block of 13th Ave. E. The messages mentioned the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front, Assistant Chief Mike Reitan said. The spray paint was not of a permanent nature and has been cleaned up, Reitan said. Authorities believe the vandalism occurred between 7-11 p.m. Sunday, he said.
Press- Dakotan: A measure that sought to give university researchers and workers extra protection from terrorist acts by animal-rights extremists was rejected Wednesday by a South Dakota House committee. The State Affairs Committee voted 11-2 to kill the bill after panel members said current law already makes it a crime to commit all the acts covered in the measure. Some said the measure also went too far in closing state government records and could have made it a crime for a newspaper to publish a story about a research project. Supporters said the bill is needed because extremists in other states are stepping up the use of violence and intimidation in an effort to shut down research projects that use animals. Such terrorism is likely to spread to South Dakota, they said. Robert Doody, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in South Dakota, said the bill also might violate the constitutional guarantee of free speech. The U.S. Supreme Court has said speech can be prohibited only if it is likely to produce imminent lawlessness, he said. more...

LongHaul BookShop Sues University of California Over August Raid

January 15, 2009

San Francisco Chronicle: An activist group in Berkeley sued the University of California and law enforcement agencies Wednesday over an August raid in which officers trying to trace alleged threats by animal-rights advocates broke into the group's offices and seized its computers and records. The searches of Long Haul and East Bay Prisoner Support, an unaffiliated organization in one of the offices, were illegal intrusions on groups that were not suspected of any wrongdoing and also violated their constitutional rights as publishers of their own newspapers, said the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. Long Haul operates a library, a bookstore, public computer terminals and meeting rooms at a two-story storefront on 3124 Shattuck Ave. UC Berkeley police, accompanied by one or more sheriff's deputies and FBI agents, entered the building with a search warrant on Aug. 27, breaking in while the office was closed, the suit said. more...
Berkeley Daily Planet: Attorneys for two civil rights group filed a federal court lawsuit Wednesday charging numerous violations by local law enforcement and the FBI in an Aug. 27 raid of Berkeley's Long Haul Infoshop. Representatives of the FBI's Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force, including UC Berkeley police, the Alameda County Sheriff's Department and the FBI conducted the two-hour-long raid. Filing the action were attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF), which specializes in civil rights arising in the realm of electronic communication. The civil rights groups charge that the raid violated the constitutional rights of the Infoshop and East Bay Prisoner Support. They were seeking information about the origins of threatening e-mails sent to UC Berkeley animal researchers by anonymous animal rights activists, according to an affidavit signed by campus police Detective William Kasiske, one of the named defendants in the action. Other defendants included the UC Board of Regents, Alameda County and the FBI. Other named individual defendants are UC Berkeley Associate Vice Chancellor and Police Chief Victoria Harrison, three other campus police officers (Detective Wade MacAdam, Corporal Timothy J. Zuniga and Officer Bruce Bauer), Alameda County Sheriff Gregory J. Ahern and Lt. Mike Hart and FBI Special Agent Lisa Shaffer. The plaintiffs are seeking to regain control of all information seized in the raid, to preserve its confidentiality, to bar any retaliation or surveillance resulting from the information and to obtain "compensation for the invasion of those interests that has already occurred." more...

Letter Bombs Mailed to Primate Vivisectors at UC Davis- California National Primate Research Center

January 12, 2009

Associated Press: University of California, Davis, officials are on alert after an animal rights group says it sent letter bombs to two researchers. The scientists work in the university's Primate Research Center. A group calling itself Revolutionary Cells - the Animal Liberation Brigade posted the bomb warnings on the Internet on Saturday. Authorities say the group used pipe bombs in 2003 against an Emeryville business that was doing work for an animal testing company. The bombs did minor damage and no one was injured. The group also was blamed for an unsuccessful attempt in 2007 to blow up a UCLA researcher's van. The FBI considers it a terrorist organization. University spokesman Andy Fell says no suspicious packages had been found as of Monday.
News-10 (ABC): Police at UC Davis are on high alert while they are investigating a threat made on a controversial Web site targeting two of the university's researchers. According to UC Davis spokesman Andy Fell, the "Revolutionary Cells Animal Liberation Brigade" posted on a Web site that they had sent mail bombs to the UC Davis researchers late Saturday. The researchers work at the California National Primate Research Center, which conducts tests on primates to try and benefit human and animal health. The center does studies on HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, asthma, autism and Alzheimer's disease. The original threat was posted on www.indybay.org but has since been taken down. So far, no suspicious packages have been found, but all researchers, faculty and staff have been warned. more...
Opposing Views.com: The University of California, Davis, is on high alert after a radical animal rights group -- known as "Revolutionary Cells Animal Liberation Brigade" -- posted bomb warnings on an Internet site on Saturday. Two scientists working at the university's California National Primate Research Center were called out by name and home street address. "We are the Revolutionary Cells Animal Liberation Brigade," said the statement. "And we could not stand by and let the atrocities continue. We chose two primate vivisectors and mailed them letter-bombs." The group says this is "not a hoax" and that it is "the beginning of our campaign against UC Davis and the CNPRC and we will not end until the torture and killing of primates ends." more...
MSNBC: An animal rights group has claimed that it has sent letter bombs to two University of California, Davis researchers, the school said. The claim was made late on Saturday in a posting on an activist Web site, but the group was not named by authorities. Police notified the two researchers named in the posting -- both who are affiliated with the California National Primate Research Center -- early on Sunday morning. more...
CBS-2 (Chicago): Radical animal rights activists have threatened to send letter bombs to two University of California at Davis researchers, according to authorities. The group has reportedly carried out a bombing in the past. An online posting by a group calling itself the Revolutionary Cells Animal Liberation Brigade identified the two university researchers by name on Saturday night, saying that they had sent them a nasty surprise through the mail. The threat accuses the two researchers at the California National Primate Research Center of torturing primates. "It worries me a little bit," said one of the researchers, Edward Schelegle. "I mean, anytime someone threatens you physically I think it causes worry." UC Davis security is on high alert. The group that made the threat is the same group that claimed responsibility for bombing an Emeryville building and a failed car bombing attempt on a UCLA professor. No suspicious packages have been found in either researcher's mailbox, and Schelegle said his mail is being screened at the post office. Other researchers at the Primate Center have been warned to be careful when opening their mail. more...
California Chronicle: Davis, CA - A National Research Watchdog Organization has accused the University of California, Davis of negligence and of lying to the public about how it treats animals used in research on the campus. Internal UC Davis records - obtained under the state records act by SAEN, a national research watchdog group that monitors labs like those at UCD - reveal that the many Primates on the campus are suffering from serious illnesses and injuries, including broken bones, starvation, dehydration and amputations. "UC Davis is ignoring these primates and allowing them to needlessly suffer and die," said Michael A. Budkie, A.H.T., Executive Director, SAEN, a national non-profit based in Ohio. "University documents reveal that many of these animals are seriously ill or have suffered traumatic injuries." Post mortem reports for 404 primates, said Budkie, show 117 diagnosis of colitis, inanition, a bodily condition which resembles starvation, 108 times. Dehydration is discussed 91 times. Treatment records for these animals disclose 403 instances of traumatic injuries. 143 amputations occurred. There were 387 wounds, 221 bites, 70 abrasions, and 40 fractures. "These animals endure a lifetime of suffering which often leads to madness," added Budkie. "Their only escape is in death. In many instances the post mortem records reveal conditions which were not only untreated, but even negligently unnoticed when they were alive in the labs," added Budkie. All university records are available upon request, said Budkie.
Sacramento Bee: Police are investigating claims that two UC Davis researchers this weekend were targets of threats from a California-based animal-rights group. The Revolutionary Cells-Animal Liberation Brigade claimed in a posting on an activist Web site that it sent two letter bombs to UC Davis researchers who work with the California National Primate Research Center, said Andy Fell, a UC Davis spokesman. The researchers, whom Fell declined to identify, both are members of the university faculty. Much of the work at the center is with rhesus macaques, he said. The threat was quickly pulled from the Web site but later popped up on other sites, Fell said. The amount of animal-rights activity has increased in recent years throughout the U.S., Fell said. The center houses about 4,700 monkeys for research and breeding. The majority are rhesus macaques, but the center also has small populations of cynomolgus monkeys and South American titi monkeys, according to the center's Web site. more...

Notorious UCLA Vivisector Edythe London Receives Dangerous Package

January 12, 2009

The Daily Bruin (UCLA): The Animal Liberation Front released two statements from anonymous people in the last month detailing threats and vandalism against UCLA professors and property. The threats were made in an effort to end the inhumane treatment of animals in research, the group said in a statement. One statement, released Jan. 8 by the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, an organization that communicates the actions of animal liberation groups, said that UCLA Professor Edythe London had received a card in the mail containing blood, a threatening note and razor blades covered in rat poison. Jerry Vlasak, a press officer for the Animal Liberation Press Office, said he was not surprised UCLA denied the claims. "UCLA has denied pretty much everything, and the only time they have not is when there are photographs," Vlasak said. London, a professor of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences and molecular and medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine, conducts research involving nicotine and methamphetamine tested on animals. The Animal Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for flooding her house and placing an incendiary device on her doorstep in the past year and a half. The ALF also claimed responsibility for the card. Vlasak said animal liberation groups began with peaceful means but have had to take more drastic action to achieve their ends. "People have gotten frustrated when (researchers) won't listen to reason," he said. "We want to force her to stop the atrocities she is committing against these animals." Hampton said that all research done on animals is subject to strict oversight by university and federal regulations and that the results of animal research done at UCLA have enhanced the treatments and diagnosis for AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and many others. However, Vlasak said UCLA is not using research money efficiently. He said UCLA uses large sums of money on addicting primates to methamphetamine, instead of on research. "They are wasting money that could be used to really help people," he said. more...

Santa Cruz Activist Pleads Guilty to Threatening Vivisector With Same Treatment Given Animals

January 1, 2009

The Californian: Justin Bhagat Thind from Santa Cruz County is facing jail time after he admitted he made threatening phone calls to scientists at UC San Francisco according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Thind pleaded no contest as a part of a plea deal to a felony charge of threatening goverment employees. Thind was also charged with a misdemeanor of making threatening phone calls to the scientist's homes threatening them that they would die the same way they made the animals suffer.
Thind was arrested after investigators tracked the calls to his cell phone. The Capitola man is facing up to six months in jail when he's sentenced in February. He's also facing similar charges in Marin County.