Breaking: FBI Raids Utah Activist House for the Second Time
The FBI raids my home for the second time in five months.
Today I awoke at 9am to FBI & ATF agents raiding my home in Salt Lake City. This is the second time my home has been raided in an A.L.F. investigation in five months.
Ten agents with the FBI and ATF corralled myself and my roommates into the living room, handed us a search warrant, and spent the next five hours removing belongings from our home.
The warrant indicated they were seeking evidence in recent Animal Liberation Front arsons, including two in Utah.
The warrant called for seizure of the following (language borrowed directly from the warrant):
“Documents, correspondence, or computer files relating to:
• communications regarding criminal acts or plans to commit criminal
acts in the name of animal rights;
• claims of responsibility for criminal acts, including correspondence
between Walter Bond and animal rights extremist groups, such as the
Animal Liberation Front, the North American Animal Liberation
Press Office, and Animal Liberation Front-Line (formerly Voice of the Voiceless);
• individuals or groups involved with illegal animal rights extremist
acts;
• the arsons at the Tandy Leather store and Tiburon restaurant in Salt
Lake County, Utah, and the arson at the Sheepskin Factory in the
Denver, Colorado area;
• animal rights extremism tenns, such as “go vegan,” “straightedge,”
“A.L.F.,” or the moniker “Lone Wolf;”
• correspondence between Walter Bond and Peter Young;
• mechanisms, tools, and field guides/instruction manuals used to
facilitate illegal animal rights extremism acts; and
• evidence that Walter Bond lived at the residence in 2010.”
(Note: Walter Bond is in jail in Colorado, accused of burning down a Sheepskin Factory store in Denver).
The warrant also sought “evidence of accelerants used in the arsons in Utah”, computers, phones, and all electronic storage media.
Every member of the house was taken outside by an FBI agent individually and asked if they wished to “cooperate”. As every member of the house responded with some variation of “no comment”, an FBI agent asked questions including: if they had information to provide about Walter Bond or the “Lone Wolf” arsons, inquiries about other roommates, and offers to have seized items returned quickly in exchange for informing on Walter Bond and others. One female at the house was told “you could really help us” by accepting an informant role and secretly providing information about me.
(In a post next week, I will cover my experiences with the FBI using women as paid informants to target male activists.)
Also mentioned repeatedly by agents during their attempted questionings was their belief that Walter Bond was a one-time resident of the house (the assertion is completely false).
Every person questioned was told in various ways that, while Walter Bond was the ostensible target of the warrant, an unstated target was myself. One roommate was told – “I know what the warrant says, but you know who we’re really here for. We want Peter Young”.
During their attempted questioning of me, an FBI agent stated he realized the chances of me cooperating were “not very good”, but that it was “time for (me) to grow up” and “put this behind (me)” by giving them information for their investigation. I was also told erroneously that because I was not under arrest, I did not have the right to speak to an attorney.
As stated, this is the second raid of the residence – an established Salt Lake City activist house – in five months. The first sought evidence in the 2004 Animal Liberation Front raid of the University of Iowa, in which 401 animals were rescued. The FBI attempted to link me to the action, both tangentially, and by assumptions of very poor footing. They successfully argued probable cause to a judge who granted a warrant, and in March the FBI spent 7 hours searching my home.
The warrant indicated that the Animal Liberation Front-Line reporting done on the recent A.L.F. “Lone Wolf” arsons may be a factor in the raid. The warrant specifically calls for seizure of “documents, correspondence, or computer files” relating to “communications between Walter Bond and…. Voice of the Voiceless”.
When the raid concluded, the FBI severely damaged the rear of their vehicle when exiting the driveway by hitting a pole.
– Peter Young
I’m speechless, and outraged. Now I know why true criminals walk free, FBI waste time (and money) for this absurd persecution. I’m sorry Peter, we know you are a wonderful person and we are always by your side
Glad to hear about the damage done to the FBI’s car at least.
😉
Im soo sorry to hear of these idiots coming in2 yr hse and doing all this…do they really carry out all that they have done to you with totally no understanding of what they are trying to stop…for standing up for our voiceless real friends on this earth?? Im glad that happened wen they left i hope they feel its a sign…it most likely was, for being so heartless, evil, uncaring, thick, nasty and pathetic humans..the world turns…
I feel the same sentiments as aloredan. Everyday there are countless postings on Facebook and in the media of harm and cruelty done to animals. Why are the FBI spending time persecuting the people who want to be a voice for the voiceless? They could be investigating labs who are faking reports and absconding with millions ….dog fighting….outrageous cruelty on factory farms…any of those would help!!
I did not know about Voice of the Voiceless until a friend posted this article to Facebook today (and I will in turn post). My compassion to you for enduring this harassment. Maybe this invasion was a gift in a weird way — to get you more publicity. I wholeheartedly support giving animals a voice and fighting for their protection in a world that views them as a commodity. Thank you for caring for them. God bless you.
What a shame, FBI. thanks for wasting our tax dollars.
Injustice is self-defeating eventually. All liberation warriors are to be exonerated and eventually celebrated by the broad public. The truth rarely immediately sets the enslaved free, however the brave action of Peter Young and others does in moments what decades of advocacy can gradually accomplish. Works are louder than words. The best moment for awakening is always NOW! Causing suffering begets suffering, selfishness, the insane aversion to Truth is an inner enemy that takes outside help to subdue. To the creative intelligence of the cosmos every natural animal is of self-same, equal value although the incongruous anomalies are prone to natural deselection.
I couldn’t find any recent posts about the UTAH2 case. I was hoping you could update folks on this. On the prisoner support sites, it appears Alex Hall’s address has not been updated. the BOP site inmate locator (www.bop.gov) now has him at Englewood Federal Correctional Institution in Colorado with a BOP release date of 1-11-2011
They were looking for TIKI TORCH OIL?????? I have tons of that. I use it in…..wait for it….TIKI TORCHES! How is that evidence of anything?
Does this website log my IP address so when the fbi raids your house and steals your computer, they can track me down too by my IP and harass me just for commenting? I hope not.
ok I am sorry you are being harrassed, but unless you are a true vegan, shut the hell up! I don’t like animal abuse either, but come on! We eat meat! Are you gonna tell a lion he can’t kill a gazelle? It is the natural order of things! Get those people who really do abuse animals! Who have so many that is it is unreal! Animals should never be used for experiments either…. test on people! I found this web site from looking for starting a rabbit farm for meat. sorry!
Wtf? How come you let douchelords like the above commenter comment, but you don’t let all my comments up? No fair!
I second that.