A.L.F. prisoners Jonathan Paul and Alex Hall are released from prison
While formal announcement have not been made by either party, two A.L.F. prisoners have been released in recent weeks.
Jonathan Paul released after burning down a slaughterhouse
Jonathan Pau has been released to a halfway house after being sentenced to 4 years for his role in burning down the Cavel West horse slaughterhouse. The 1997 arson in Redmond, Oregon, claimed by the Animal Liberation Front, destroyed the building and resulted in its permanent closure.
As part of his non-cooperating plea bargain (one of the only plea bargains in the string of “Green Scare” cases that did not require the prisoner to testify against others), Jonathan Paul also admitted to a role in numerous A.L.F. actions going back into the 1980s. Included were his admitted roles in the 1988 raid of Loma Linda Unversity, and being a getaway driver for the largest laboratory liberation to date: the 1989 A.L.F. raid of the University of Arizona, in which over 1,000 animals were rescued.
Mink liberation prisoner Alex Hall released
After serving a 21-month sentence for the A.L.F. liberation of 650 mink from a Utah fur farm, Alex Hall has also been released from prison.
View the Bureau of Prison’s notice of Hall’s release here.
Welcome home to both.
Two animal liberation prisoners remain
Of prisoners currently incarcerated for Animal Liberation Front / overt animal rights activity in the U.S., only Kevin Kjonas and Walter Bond remain.
Walter Bond is requesting supporters attend his sentencing in Denver, Colorado on February 11.
Bond will be sentenced for the Animal Liberation Front arson of the Sheepskin Factory outside Denver, Colorado. After the sentencing, Bond will be moved to Utah to face charges for setting fire to two animal exploitation businesses: Tandy Leather and Tiburon (foie gras restaurant).
Day: Friday, February 11, 2011
Time: 1:30 pm
Place: Alfred A. Arraj United States Courthouse , 901 – 19 th Street, 6 th Floor, A602, Denver, Colorado
An anonymous tipster reports the Animal Liberation Front-raided Ide Fur Farm is now closed.
Good news for Christmas: an anonymous Christmas tree shopper finds no animals and empty sheds at the Ide Christmas tree / mink farm in Illinois.
Earlier this month, Animal Liberation Front-line reported on how to visit a fur farm legally (see: “How To Visit a Fur Farm – Without Being the A.L.F.“). The article covered several mink farms that also operate cut-your-own Christmas tree farms, offering visitors the opportunity to explore the property and (possibly) get a close look at a mink farm – without being the Animal Liberation Front.
One anonymous Christmas tree shopper read the Animal Liberation Front-Line article, visited the Ide Christmas Tree Farm (also the site of the Ide Fur Farm), and submitted an anonymous report.
Their findings: The Ide Fur Farm is closed.
To quote the report I received:
“I saw no caged animals on the property. It’s a small tree farm… I walked the fencing perimeter easily.”
The report describes the former mink farm’s layout:
“There were three main areas with buildings in the middle of the christmas trees. One was their house with the kid’s turtle thing in the back yard. That leads to a gate behind that, where the abandoned mink shed is. “
Numerous photos of the farm were submitted with the report (posted below), showing one gutted shed and many empty cages.
The Animal Liberation Front raided the Ide Fur Farm during Labor Day weekend in 1997, releasing 4,000 mink. Because the anonymous report is the first news of the farm’s closure, it is not known how long the farm has been closed, or what role the A.L.F. raid may have played in the farm’s demise.
View the photos of the empty sheds below, and this Christmas celebrate the closure of one more mink farm.
– Peter Young
Endnote: Animal Liberation Front-Line is interested in receiving reports on the effects of Animal Liberation Front raids on their targets. If you work inside a previous A.L.F. target, know someone who does, or have other information on the short or long-term effects of Animal Liberation Front raids, please submit your information (anonymously if you wish) to peter@animalliberationfrontline.com.
E.L.F. prisoner and long-time vegan Steve Murphy is requesting help from the outside in receiving vegan food. Steve’s prison is currently on lockdown following an unknown incident, and he has been unable to receive an adequate vegan diet. Steve’s support group put out a request for calls and faxes to the prison asking Steve be given vegan food.
Contact information for the prison:
Direct Phone: 409-727-0101
Fax: 409-720-5000
General (202) 307-3198
STEVE MURPHY
39013-177
FCI BEAUMONT MEDIUM
Message from Steve Murphy:
“Well, Scrooge has let us out today for 20 minutes to use the showers, email and use the phones. I am not certain when i will be able to write again thou it could be several days. i am also not certain (more…)
Below is a message from the support group of Walter Bond, who plead guilty to an Animal Liberation Front (A.L.F.) arson at Sheepskin Factory in Dever. Walter Bond is scheduled to be sentenced on February 11th, and is requesting letters to the judge asking for the lowest possible sentence.
The message from Walter Bond’s support group is as follows:
“Write a letter today to Judge Arguello, requesting the minimum sentence for Walter Bond. (more…)
Justin Samuel turns up as programmer for new Firefoxinternet browser
Where is former Animal Liberation Front prisoner and FBI informant Justin Samuel now? Designing the internet browser you may be using to read this.
This week I was shown a video advertising the new Firefox 4 browser, and asked if the “Justin Samuel” in the new Mozilla Firefox promotional video is the Justin Samuel who entered a grand jury in 2000 and implicated me in six fur farm raids.
It was.
Watch the video at this link (click “watch video”). Justin Samuel is the second person speaking. The man who verifiably worked (or works) with the FBI is now ensuring the new Firefox browser “is the most secure browser out there”. Raising the question: how secure can a browser be when the man assigned to make it secure has a working relationship with the FBI?
Justin Samuel’s grand jury testimony
In 1997, myself and Justin Samuel orchestrated a series of mink releases across South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. After our indictment, Justin Samuel was the first to be arrested and offered his testimony against me in exchange for a reduced sentence.
You can read 86-page Justin Samuel’s grand jury transcript at this link. His testimony and promise to testify at trial was a major factor in my eventual prison sentence.
A.L.F. snitches: where they are now
While “where are they now” rumors of Animal Liberation Front / Earth Liberation Front informants abound, ranging from former straight edge mink feed cooperative bombers gone 7-11 employee drug addicts to SUV-firebombers gone SUV-drivers, the resurfacing of Justin Samuel is among the more timely and confirmed updates on just where A.L.F. informants end up when they betray their friends, their movement, and the animals.
In August I wrote about the curious micro-trend of Animal Liberation Front informants going into the computer security field. Darren Thurston, who implicated several people in Animal Liberation Front and Earth Liberation Front arsons, is now a computer security consultant. Justin Samuel, on his UC-Berkeley graduate student profile, posts several articles he authored on computer security before surfacing on the Mozilla Firefox 4 team.
It is not unreasonable to speculate this may be more than a coincidence. The FBI would have an interest in placing its prized “ecoterrorist” assets in privileged positions of root-level access into our digital lives – after they’ve burned all bridges in our real ones.
Animal Liberation Front informants in the computer security field: Coincidence, or strategically placed “men on the inside”?
Open letter to Mozilla Firefox
A few questions that might be posed to Justin Samuel’s current employers at Mozilla (these are really three ways of asking the same thing):
*Do you feel employing Justin Samuel, someone who has has worked with the FBI as an informant, to be a credibility-compromising to your product, and trust-eroding among its users?
*Can you brand Firefox a “safe and secure” browser with someone who signed a plea agreement obligating him to provide information directly to the FBI?
*Can anyone feel comfortable using Mozilla Firefox 4 knowing a person responsible for making it “secure” has a working relationship with a federal law enforcement agency?
‘ While I don’t believe in “internet security”, I’m still going with another browser… starting now.
Another copy of the secretive Extremist Watch newsletter leaked
For the second time, Animal Liberation Front-line has been provided a copy of the little-seen publication Extremist Watch, published for law enforcement and animal researchers. Never meant to be seen by the eyes of the public, this week another issue was submitted to Animal Liberation Front-line anonymously. Extremist Watch covers both above-ground animal rights activism and the Animal Liberation Front.
Last month, I posted two previous copies of Extremist Watch. These issues printed intelligence on the animal rights movement such as activists home addresses, which activists were dating, details about the personal lives of activists, and more. It was the first time the newsletter had been seen publicly.
The latest issue I have been provided focuses on two subjects:
1) Recent photos of mutilated primates inside Primate Products, leaked by the Animal Liberation Investigation Unit.
2) How to increase security at animal research labs.
Part one: leaked Primate Products photos
In August, the Animal Liberation Investigation Unit publicized gruesome photos leaked from inside Primate Products, a notorious breeder of primates for animal research labs. The photos showed badly mutilated animals inside their Florida facility.
The Primate Products / Animal Liberation Investigation Unit analysis in Extremist Watch focuses on the implications of the leaked photos, and offers advice for animal abusers to prevent future public relations crisis’.
INA’s “analysts” (who seem to source all their “intel” from the internet) carry on the same fear mongering we saw in the two previously issues, even getting an entire paragraph of mileage out of a video for a song called “Firebomb” posted in the Facebook page of a Florida activist.
Extremist Watch also describes concerns that animal rights activists will obtain employment inside Primate Products, admitting the impact the leaked photos had –
“…a leak of proprietary information could be just as damaging to a company as undercover videotape footage if released to the public, as evidenced in the release of the photographs allegedly ‘leaked’ from a source inside PPI.”
Extremist Watch’s “analysts” urge screening of all applicants for positions in animal research labs who have direct contact with animals.
Part two: Increasing security at animal research labs
In the second section,various Animal Liberation Front (A.L.F.) preventatives are outlined.
The section starts bymentioning recent reports of “suspicious behavior” at animal research labs.
“In one case, an unidentified individual approached a staff member and questioned the type of work being conducted within the facility and sought information on the building’s layout before being asked to leave the premises.”
And another example:
“In other cases, unidentified individuals avoided company personnel and fled when confronted by the staff.”
“In nearly every case” (of suspicious activity), Extremist Watch states individuals were observed taking photographs of the animal research labs.
To prevent against Animal Liberation Front raids, the article recommends decreasing blind-spots at animal facilities, increasing physical barriers along the lab perimeters, adequate lighting, creating single entry points / exits, installing fence motion sensors, and more.
Implementing certain security features, according to Extremist Watch, can
“…give the illusion of more security than actually exists and deter criminal acts.”
The article also recommends animal research labs prevent the public from seeing or hearing animals:
“It is often not advisable for outsiders to be able to view or hear laboratory animals.”
Use of security decoys are also encouraged, including –
“…false, lighted windows to create the appearance of insiders monitoring the outside of the facility.”
In a comic moment (and there are many among the three issues I have been provided), the “experts” at Extremist Watch clearly underestimate the motivation of the Animal Liberation Front , claiming –
“…activists, are unlikely to attempt crossing a section of desert, uneven ground, rocks or other physical features during the dark of night.”
So despite the A.L.F.’s history of cutting through windows, sawing through doors, and dropping through skylights, Extremist Watch assures its clients that activists working at night are unlikely to cross “uneven ground”.
Animal rights Wikileaks
Animal Liberation Front-Line is happy to post any future copies of Extremist Watch, or other damning documents from animal abusers. If you have copies of Extremist Watch, the Fur Farm Letter, other insider animal abuser publications, or incriminating documents, please send to Animal Liberation Front-Line.
Get a look at a mink farm – without being the Animal Liberation Front
Here is a secret fur farmers don’t want you to know: how to get a close look at a mink farm – legally.
There is an odd trend among the small number of fur farms left in the U.S.: several of them are also cut-your-own Christmas tree farms.
These tree farms invite members of the public onto their property to find the perfect Christmas tree. This invitation could offer the prospective Christmas tree buyer a glimpse of a fur farm rarely experienced outside of Animal Liberation Front (A.L.F.) raids.
One such fur farm is the Gengel Mink Farm. A recent article on Christmas tree farms in the Chicago area stated:
“A mink farm year-round, the 60-acre Gengel site was first planted with evergreen trees in 1964 and has been known to sell up to 500 trees annually.”
The Blueprint fur farm list categorizes the Gengel Mink Farm as being an open, active mink farm.
By their nature, Christmas tree farms encourage exploration of the property to find the perfect tree, offering an otherwise impossible opportunity to see a mink farm up close.
The website for the another tree farm – the Ide Christmas Tree Farm – invites visitors to explore:
“Hike as much or little as it takes to find the ‘Perfect Tree’ for your family.”
What the website doesn’t say is that this tree farm is on the same property as the Charles Ide Jr. fur farm in Downer’s Grove, Illinois. This fur farm is rumored to be closed, but this has never been confirmed. Going tree shopping at this farm would allow anyone to get close to the sheds and confirm its status once and for all.
A third fur farm – Mildbrand Mink Ranch in Medford, Wisconsin – also operates a Christmas tree farm. While this farm appears to be located around the corner from the mink sheds, this would still be one place to not buy a tree this year.
For the others, this is one opportunity that cannot be passed up: mink farmers inviting the public onto their property.
Christmas tree shoppers are invited to send their reports to Animal Liberation Front-line.
Investigation into the Animal Liberation Front raid of UI labs is “officially closed”
Six years, over 200 FBI interviews, and several house raids and jail terms later, the FBI has officially closed the investigation into the 2004 Animal Liberation Front raid of the University of Iowa – without a conviction.
To put it another way: the A.L.F. pulled off one of the largest lab raids in U.S. history – and got away with it.
“Despite an extensive FBI investigation, it is increasingly unlikely anyone will be prosecuted for a 2004 break-in at a University of Iowa lab where activists released hundreds of animals and destroyed years of research”
In a conversation last week, an AP reporter put it to me more succinctly:
“The FBI told me they have officially closed the investigation into the University of Iowa incident.”
And the FBI gives this “saving-face” quote:
“active investigation of the attack on the University of Iowa Laboratory has been completed”
One false arrest and several house raids later…
This news from the FBI comes less than three months after they dropped charges against Scott DeMuth, the only person charged for a role in the raid. DeMuth was charged just three days before the state of limitations was to expire, despite DeMuth being just 17 at the time of the raid.
During the investigation the FBI interviewed over 200 people, subpoenaed at (more…)
The much-anticipated A.L.F. film Bold Native is out on DVD.
(Update 11-30: the Animal Liberation Front-line store is now accepting international orders for Bold Native)
This is big.
After numerous sold-out screenings around the country, the first fiction feature film on the Animal Liberation Front is now out on DVD.
Much hyped and talked-about, the Bold Native DVD is in our hands and ready to ship from the Animal Liberation Front-line store: $19.95. The most appreciated, inspiring gift you will give this year.
If you haven’t yet heard of Bold Native, the film follows Charlie Cranehill, an animal liberator wanted for domestic terrorism, who emerges from the underground to coordinate a nationwide action as his estranged CEO father tries to find him before the FBI does.
All orders received by December 18th will arrive in time for Christmas.
I’ve seen Bold Native four times now, and behind all the celebrity endorsements and hype is an authentic, inspirational film with an urgent message made by sincere people.
DVD includes:
– The Movie!
– Deleted & Extended Scenes
– Behind the Scenes Features
– Filmmakers’ Commentary
– Farm to Fridge Doc (by Mercy For Animals)
– “Holy Crap! I Wanna Go Vegan” with Rory Freedman, John Salley, and Tonya Kay
– Where Are They Now? features on piglet Jumper and calf Casanova
Just before Thanksgiving, the Animal Rights Militia liberates 20 turkeys in Vermont
After a year that saw few liberations of domesticated animals, the Animal Rights Militia liberated 20 turkeys from a roadside pen in Vermont. The liberation came just hours before the turkeys were to be killed.
Tires on a mobile slaughter vehicle were also slashed.
“During the early morning hours of November 14th, members of VT ARM liberated 20 turkeys that had been cruelly forced into a small pen without shelter. The pen had been set up along side a road as a marketing ploy. The decision to liberate the turkeys was made after it was learned that they were to be murdered that morning. It took the extraction team less than 5 minutes to breach the fence and liberate the turkeys. As a parting gift members of ARM slashed the tires of the mobile slaughter house, which had been parked less then 20 meters away, while the drive sat in the front seat smoking. Uncle Sam spent thousands training us to be the best and now those who think they can profit off the suffering of animals will learn that we are. We will use whatever means necessary to liberate animals, prevent cruelty and punish those who commit acts of cruelty. To the Bushway criminals, Happy Thanksgiving.”
FBI attempts to bribe a man in the Iowa A.L.F. investigation with a $50 gift card.
FBI agents have visited one man in Iowa “a handful of times” (to quote him) in recent years, attempting to question him about the 2004 Animal Liberation Front raid of the University of Iowa animal research labs. Realizing he was not going to talk, this week they returned with a new incentive to cooperate: handing him a $50 gift card for a neighboring coffee shop.
The two agents first visited two weeks ago. They approached him at the business he owned in Des Moines, asking where they could get a copy of the A.L.F. film Bold Native. By their suspicious behavior, he immediately suspected them of being FBI.
The next week they returned. He describes the exchange from there:
They asked if I would sit down and have a cup of coffee with them. When I said no and that I wished for them to leave to continue running my business. I said, “who did you say you were with again?” to which they replied “we didn’t” with a smile.
After his fourth request for them to leave, they did.
They returned 10 minutes later, for yet another attempt at questioning. To grease the wheels, they handed him a $50 coffee shop gift card.
It didn’t work.
The lesson: It never pays to talk to the FBI. But it does pay to not talk, sometimes literally. And one man in Iowa has $50 in free drinks as a reward for his silence, courtesy of the FBI.
– Peter Young
Note: To be fair (despite the FBI never having been fair with me), the two men mentioned here did not identify themselves as FBI. The agency they were representing, whether government or private, is left to speculation.
Read the 10-page plea agreement in the Walter Bond A.L.F. case
After being set up by his brother for three A.L.F. arsons, Walter Bond pleaded guilty last Thursday to arson and Animal Enterprise Terrorism charges for his role in burning down the Sheepskin Factory store in Denver.
The newly-released plea agreement sheds some new light on the case, including:
*That Bond acted alone in the Sheepskin Factory arson
In the plea agreement, the government submits the following (some of which Walter Bond contests):
*Walter Bond broke through a door, entered, and set the Sheepskin Factory store on fire
*The fire destroyed the building, and damages were $500,000
*Walter Bond appeared to match the general height and weight of a person caught on surveillance video near the scene
*In a phone call, Walter Bond referred his brother to Animal Liberation Front-Line (formerly Voice of the Voiceless) when asked what he’d “been up to”.
*Walter Bond’s brother setting up a monitored meeting with Bond, in which Bond confessed to three A.L.F. fires. Video and audio of the entire meeting was surreptitiously videotaped by the ATF.
*Walter Bond using a stolen library card to send a communique from a library computer, sending the communique “to a party in Florida to have it posted”.
“Facts” in dispute
Towards the end, the plea agreement lists three “exceptions” to the “agreement”, allegations which Walter Bond denies. These are:
*Referring his brother specifically to Animal Liberation Front-Line (formerly Voice of the Voiceless), rather than to other news articles on the Sheepskin Factory arson.
*”Posting” any message about two other Utah fires.
*”Communicating via websites and posting information via third parties”.
Suspiciously, the government seems to be attempting to put words in Bond’s mouth on a seemingly insignificant point: Whether he told his brother specifically to look up Animal Liberation Front-Line (formerly Voice of the Voiceless), or merely to look up articles on the Sheepskin Factory fire in the general sense. Bond states the latter, while the government submits the former. What their interest in naming Animal Liberation Front-Line in the plea bargain is remains to be seen.
Animal Liberation Front-Line named again
The plea agreement states erroneously that Walter Bond “posted” a communique on Animal Liberation Front-Line (formerly Voice of the Voiceless). In fact I never received any communiques for this or any other “A.L.F. Lone Wolf” action, and all communiques posted were borrowed from other websites. I’m sure the FBI has subpoenaed all email records for this website, and in submitting “facts” they know to be false, they have perjured themselves.
Bond’s likely sentence
The plea bargain concludes with a sentencing computation. Given Bond’s criminal history and mandatory minimum sentence, the sentencing guidelines call for a prison term of 5 to 8 years. The judge has discretion to go above the guidelines, and this range is merely a suggestion.
Bond’s sentencing is set for February 11th in Denver. He has requested the attendance of his supporters. Information on the court date will be posted as the date approaches.
In court today, Walter Bond pleads guilty to burning down a Denver sheepskin dealer
In court Thursday, Walter Bond pleaded guilty to one count of “using fire or explosives to damage property involved in interstate commerce and of using force, violence or threats involving animal enterprises” under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. He faces five to 30 years in federal prison. His sentencing was set for February 11th.
The guilty plea comes after Bond allegedly confessed to his brother that his was responsible for three A.L.F. arsons: Sheepskin Factory in Denver ($500,000 damages), Tandy Leather Factory in Salt Lake City ($30,000 damages), and the Tiburon Restaurant in Sandy ($10,000 damages). His brother had been working with the ATF, and the entire hotel room conversation was monitored. Bond was arrested soon after.
The Animal Liberation Front communique for the Sheepskin Factory fire stated the arson…
was done in defense and retaliation for all the innocent animals that have died cruelly at the hands of human oppressors.
Read the government’s criminal complaint against Walter Bond here, outlining the allegations and evidence against him. The complaint breaks down the time-line of events leading up to Bond’s arrest.
In the courtroom Thursday was the owner of Sheepskin Factory. The store has since moved to a nearby location, but the owner stated his profits are down “thousands of dollars”.
Bond still has outstanding charges in Utah for the remaining two arsons. It is expected he will be extradicted to Salt Lake City to start the process again, following his sentencing in Colorado.
Most media reports have falsely stated Bond has not yet been charged with the Utah arsons, and that he is merely “under investigation”. However Bond has in fact been charged in those fires. Read the indictment for the Utah arsons here.
An FBI agent in charge had this to say:
“Our priority with acts of terrorism remains to be proactive and preventative. But when acts do occur, they will be pursued to justice.”
Walter Bond continues to be held in a Colorado jail. Please write him a letter at:
