New Information in Case of Man Arrested Trying to Free a Whale

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Read the police report in the arrest of Chris Lagergren, caught allegedly trying to free a whale

Some new information is coming out about the allegations against the man arrested on vandalism and trespassing charges at the Marine Mammal Conservancy in Florida. News reports have been vague, but have indicated that Chris Lagergren was arrested tampering with a fence in an attempt to free a captive whale. The police report sheds more light on the allegations, which include, among other things:

*The FBI alerted local police that Langraum was in town, was “affiliated” with the Animal Liberation Front, and was going to “attempt to release any caged animals/mammals into their natural habitat”.

*Police had observed Lagergren “for the past two weeks standing on the Hampton Inn property, video taping the Marine Mammal property and its staff”.

*Lagergren and another unidentified male were observed by police vandalizing the whale holding area by “damaging and taking apart the fence which was in the water. The males pulled several PVC pipes and metal rebars out of the water and threw them on the rocks, causing damage to the pieces. Their intentions were to make a hole in the gate to the fenced area”.

The full text of the police report reads as follows:

“On 08-21-2011 at approximately 0416 hours, I responded to the Marine Mammal Conservancy located at 102200 Overseas Highway in Key Largo, Florida in reference to a criminal mischief.
(more…)

Man Arrested For Vandalism at Florida Whale Holding Facility

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Man arrested at gunpoint at Marine Mammal Conservancy, held on $30,000 bail

In a news article short on details, the Keys Net news site is reporting a man has been arrested at a whale holding facility in Key Largo, Florida on four misdemeanor charges. Christopher Lagergren, 41, of Miami is charged with four counts of trespassing and vandalism. He is described as being “affiliated” with the Animal Liberation Front. No specific conduct is alleged, except that the man is accused of tampering with a fence.

Chris posted bond and has been released from jail. He is currently trying to raise money for an attorney.

More details posted as I get them.

– Peter Young

Write the Judge for Accused Animal Liberation Front Prisoner Walter Bond

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Walter Bond requests letters to his judge asking for the lowest possible sentence

Walter is facing sentencing for two Animal Liberation Front arsons: Tandy Leather Factory and Tiburon (foie gras restaurant), both near Salt Lake City. Sentencing is set for October 13th, and Walter Bond is requesting you write a letter to the judge.

From SupportWalter.org:

“Write a letter today to Judge Stewart, requesting the minimum sentence for Walter Bond. Your letter will help to give a more 3-dimensional and personal perspective on the positive character attributes Walter possesses and how highly he is valued by his friends and associates. The judge who handled Walter’s case in Denver made a point to say that she read over 50 letters people like you and me sent her way before handing down the minimum penalty.

Address a formal business letter to:
The Honorable Judge Ted Stewart (more…)

Scott DeMuth Released From Prison After Six Months

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DeMuth released after serving time for raid that shut down ferret farm

News of this came in late and without much fanfare, but last month Scott DeMuth was quietly released from federal prison. He served six months for the Animal Liberation Front-claimed ferret liberation at a former fur farm in Howard Lake, Minnesota. The prosecutor in the case stated in court the action shut down the farm for good.

Scott DeMuth was originally charged with a role in the 2004 Animal Liberation Front raid of the University of Iowa, in which 401 animals were liberated and $500,000 damages done to the labs. When the prosecution failed to produce evidence of DeMuth’s involvement (he was 17 at the time of the raid), the charges were dismissed in exchange for DeMuth’s guilty plea in the Lakeside Ferrets action.

Reportedly a raid of DeMuth’s home turned up a computer which a computer forensics labs determined was used to look up the address of the farm prior to the raid.

The last month has seen two other animal liberation prisoners released –  Jonathan Paul and Kevin KJonaas. Presently, the only two A.L.F. prisoners who remain in jail are Walter Bond and Justin Solondz.

The action

The Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for the 2006 raid at Lakeside Ferrets. Reportedly, the communique mistakenly described the animals released as mink. The owner Eugene Latzig claimed he had left the mink farming business and began breeding ferrets at some time prior to the raid. The farm was formerly called the Latzig Mink Ranch, and was raided by the Animal Liberation Front in 1996.  The business changed its name to Lakeside Ferrets at some point in the years since.

Welcome home, Scott.

Read the full history of the case at the Davenport Grand Jury website.

– Peter Young

Memo Shows Prison Mail Screened by a “Counter-Terrorism Unit”

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Mistakenly released by the Bureau of Prisons, an internal memo reveals prison mail screening by an “intelligence analyst”

It’s no secret all prison mail in and out is read by prison employees, regardless of the prisoner’s crime. But a memo mistakenly included in a rejected letter to an ELF prisoner reveals interesting new information: her mail is screened by an “intelligence analyst” in a BOP “counter-terrorism unit”.

Read the memo here.
BOP Letter

The memo appears to have been inserted accidentally into an envelope for a rejected letter to Earth Liberation Front prisoner Joyanna Zacher when it was returned to the sender. The letter was rejected for being “unauthorized material”, according to the official form that was also included. The second document, viewed above, showed specifically who rejected the letter, and why: it contained a review of the film “If a Tree Falls“, a review which the “intelligence analyst” felt advocated violence.

The memo “analyzes” two other pieces of mail. One is cleared, and the second is rejected because a database search showed a former federal prisoner lives at the return address on on the envelope.

During my incarceration from 2005 to 2007, I cannot recall any instance of my mail being rejected based on content which “advocated violence”, and only one content-based rejection during my entire stay. The trend in federal prisons seems to be towards more restrictions on prisoner’s ability to communicate with the world outside, as this memo indicates.

The memo means absolutely nothing new to those who continue to support prisoners by writing them letters, and should in no way dissuade anyone from continuing to write. Incoming mail has always been read in federal prisons.

What is significant is:

1) The Bureau of Prisons has a central “counter-terrorism unit” selectively screening the mail of Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front prisoners, and –

2) They are rejecting mail for those prisoners based on content – content which is presumably allowable for prisoners not deemed “eco-terrorists”.

– Peter Young

Last SHAC Prisoner Released: Kevin Kjonaas is Free

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Kevin Kjonaas, the last of the “SHAC 7” prisoners, is released

In His First Court Appearance, Justin Solondz Pleads Not Guilty

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A brief update on accused ALF / ELF prisoner Justin Solondz

The man accused of participating in two arsons – one of them claimed by the Animal Liberation Front – pleaded not guilty to helping set fire to the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture. It was his first court appearance in the US since being extradited from China, where he was apprehended after spending years as a fugitive.

It is not clear when Solondz will appear in court to answer for the Animal Liberation Front-claimed arson charges. He has been charged with releasing wild horses and helping set fire to a BLM wild horse corral in Susanville, CA, in 2001.

Solondz is the latest fugitive apprehended as part of the FBI sweep dubbed the “Green Scare” case.

More updates will be posted as they come in.

-Peter Young

Pre-Prison “Vegan For Life” Flier by ALF Prisoner Walter Bond

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View a flier made and distributed by Walter Bond before his arrest for Animal Liberation Front arsons

This week I was sent this flier made by Walter Bond, before his arrest for Animal Liberation Front-claimed arsons at Sheepskin Factory, Tiburon, and Tandy Leather Factory. It is very reminiscent of literature that circulated among the grassroots movement in the mid-1990s.

You can download the flier here, or view below.

Vegan for Life Flier by Walter Bond

ALF Prisoner Jonathan Paul Released After Nearly Four Years

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Finishing a four-year sentence for burning down a horse slaughterhouse, Jonathan Paul is released from prison

After 3.2 years in a federal prison and 6 months in a halfway house, Jonathan Paul walked free on July 1st, 2011.

In addition to pleading guilty to the 1997 Animal Liberation Front arson that closed the Cavel West horse slaughterhouse in Redmond, Oregon; Paul also admitted a role in a slew of high-profile ALF raids going back to the 1980s. Among them, the raid on Loma Linda University in 1988, and the University of Arizona in 1989. The latter was the largest laboratory raid in US history.

He released this short statement after his release:

“After almost 3.2 years behind the fence and 6 months at the halfway

house at 5:30 am this morning on July 1, 2011 I have been released

and other than having probation I am finally free from the bureau of

prisons.  Thanks for all of your love and support! Yippee! See you

all soon!”

Pre-Arrest Interview With ALF Prisoner Walter Bond

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Interview with Walter Bond done one year before his arrest

Before Walter Bond gained attention for setting fire to three animal abuse businesses on behalf of the Animal Liberation Front, he was already known for another act of vigilante justice: burning down the meth lab of a dealer who was selling to his brother. Vegan straight edge band Earth Crisis heard his story, and turned it into the song “To Ashes” in 2009, making Walter well-known in the straight edge movement before his arrest for ALF actions in 2010.

I was sent this brief interview with Walter Bond done on July 28th, 2009, a full year before his arrest. To the best of my knowledge, it is the only existing pre-prison interview with Walter. It is being published here for the first time.

Earth Crisis song “To ashes” deal with a topic which is quite hard, and it concerns you. Can you tell us about it?

Sure, the song “to ashes” is about an arson charge that I received in November of 1997 for burning down the home of a meth dealer (more…)

ALF / ELF Fugitive Justin Solondz Arrested

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After three years in a Chinese jail, Justin Solondz is taken into US custody

Justin Solondz spent years on the run before being arrested in China three years ago. This week, after years in a Chinese jail, he was deported and taken into US custody at a Chicago airport.

He is being charged with a role in two actions: the 2001 University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture arson (claimed by the Earth Liberation Front), and the arson and attempted animal release at the 2001 Litchfield Wild Horse and Burro Corral in Susanville, California (claimed by the Animal Liberation Front).

Recently, Solondz’s former girlfriend, Briana Waters, entered into a plea deal in which she agreed to testify against Solondz at his upcoming trial.

A search for his name on the BOP Inmate Locator did not give any results, and his current jail address is not known.

View the FBI “wanted” poster for Solondz here.

With several cooperating witnesses, he faces a hard legal battle ahead. I will be posting his jail address as soon as it is available. For now, give your silent support to the three remaining fugitives from this FBI sweep dubbed the “Green Scare case”. They are somewhere out there tonight, continuing to be hunted as “terrorists” by the FBI.

– Peter Young

Walter Bond Pleads Guilty to Two ALF Arsons in Utah

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Walter Bond pleaded guilty yesterday to two Utah Animal Liberation Front arsons

In a hearing today, Walter Bond changed his plea to “guilty” in charges he set fire to two businesses in the Salt Lake City area. Prosecutors say Bond set fires at the Tandy Leather Factory Store and the Tiburon restaurant. Total damages were more than $10,000. Both were claimed by the Animal Liberation Front.

Bond is already serving a 5-year sentence after pleading guilty in Colorado to burning down Sheepskin Factory, a retail store that sold sheepskins.

This is a view of the burned-out Tandy Leather Factory in Salt Lake City:

A judge set Bond’s sentencing for Sept. 19, where he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Media reports were conflicting, but it appears prosecutors will not be asking for the Utah sentence to run back-to-back with his current Colorado sentence.

An excerpt from the Sheepskin Factory communique, which Bond took credit for:

“Be warned that making a living from the use and abuse of animals will not be tolerated,” ALF Lone Wolf wrote in the aftermath of the Sheepskin Factory fire. “Also be warned that leather is every bit as evil as fur, as demonstrated in my recent arson against the Leather Factory in Salt Lake City. Go vegan!”

Please write Walter a letter of support:

Walter Edmund Bond

Davis County Jail
Walter Bond 2011-03339
PO Box 130
Farmington UT 84025-0130

And check out Walter Bond’s support site:

Support Walter