Landmark A.L.F. / animal liberation film makes its Northern California debut
I haven’t talked about Bold Native for awhile for one reason: the rest of the world already is.
You’ve already heard the buzz from the people who have seen screenings of Bold Native, the first animal liberation-themed feature film. I want to make sure everyone is aware of this week’s San Francisco premier, worth it for the speakers alone. Here are the details:
What:
Bold Native San Francisco screenings x2
When:
November 18th
7pm & 9:30pm
Who:
Speakers include filmmakers Casey Suchan and Denis Hennelly, former SHAC prisoner Jake Conroy, and author John Robbins.
The article is published in ALN, a trade publication for animal research labs. The magazine focuses solely on animal research, with articles on everything from new cage cleaning devices to threats from the animal rights movement.
The author carried out a security audit at several unnamed research labs, in which he attempted to gain access. He then reported some of his findings in the ALN article, titled “Determined Aggressor Assessment“.
Here are a few findings from the author’s attempts to access animal research labs:
Using a fake ID
“Using an Avery label, a hotel’s color printer, and Microsoft Word, I was able to make a realistic photo ID badge within one hour, which allowed me to gain access to the facility…. I was never challenged at any time”.
After over a year and a half in prison on stalking charges, yesterday Kevin Olliff was released.
Kevin was charged with “stalking” for his role in the POM Wonderful and UCLA campaigns in Los Angeles. Tuesday a judge sentenced him to three years in prison. In California’s prison system, prisoners serve about half their sentence. The three-year sentence translated to his immediate release.
Very little news on Kevin’s case was publicized during his incarceration. With the lack of updates made public, the case of Kevin Olliff was sadly under-publicized and under-noticed by the animal rights movement, despite its serious implications (Kevin was convicted merely of participating in home demonstrations). Most of the news on Kevin Olliff was dominated by exaggerated and inaccurate news reports, claiming Kevin was a “member of the Animal Liberation Front”. In fact, at no point were any such allegations made by the prosecution.
Kevin has five years of probation ahead of him, but he is out of prison. Welcome home.
Read copies of secretive newsletter: “Extremist Watch”, published for animal researchers and law enforcement
Animal Liberation Front-line has been leaked copies of a little-known newsletter for animal researchers called Extremist Watch. The publication prints intelligence on the animal rights movement, including activists home addresses, who is dating who, details about the personal lives of activists, and much more.
Little-seen outside of private animal researcher and law enforcement circles, I am making two issues of Extremist Watch available publicly for the first time.
Here’s a teaser: If your name isn’t in these newsletters, the name of someone you know probably is.
I have made many redactions from the two issues I have obtained, to protect personal information and security of people mentioned. View both issues here:
This is a long article, so here is a sampling of what will be covered:
*INA spying with fake Facebook profiles
*”Extremist Watch” publishing activist’s home addresses
*Activists speak out on inaccuracies in “Extremist Watch”
…and more.
Extremist Watch: An introduction
Extremist Watch is a secretive publication published by private intelligence firm Information Network Associates. INA is the company responsible for a recent conference on “animal rights extremists”, as exposed last month on Animal Liberation Front-Line. The publication’s primary goal appears to be (more…)
Animal rights activist receives prison sentence for refusing to testify to a grand jury investigating the A.L.F.
Today, Jordan Halliday was sentenced in federal court to 10 months in prison for his refusal to answer questions during a grand jury investigating A.L.F. mink releases in Utah.
Jordan Halliday will serve 10 months in prison, in addition to the nearly four months he has already served – without credit for time served. Fortunately, he was able to walk out of the courtroom today, and will remain free until January, when he must turn himself into prison.
Halliday’s only “crime” was answering “no comment” or pleading the fifth to a series of questions relating to Animal Liberation Front activity in Utah.
Two Utah mink releases were being investigated by the grand jury: the release of 650 mink from the McMullin fur farm in South Jordan, and the release of 7,000 mink from the Lodder fur farm in Kaysville. William Viehl and Alex Hall plead guilty to carrying out the first raid. The raid of the Lodder fur farm remains unsolved. The government even expressed that Halliday is not considered a suspect in the mink releases, and is being imprisoned solely for his refusal to testify.
The backstory:
After two Utah fur farms were raided in two months in the fall of 2008, a (more…)
In April, 1989, the Animal Liberation Front executed the largest raid of a U.S. lab in history: breaking into five buildings, setting two on fire, and rescuing over 1,200 animals. In this little-read article, the A.L.F. explains in detail how they carried out this monumental action.
This is being posted as a teaser for an upcoming book project. The details are private for the moment while the project nears completion, but this article (more…)
Information is sparse, but an anonymous communique received by the Animal Liberation Press Office today states there was a break-in last night at California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) labs near Los Angeles.
The message stated only that various documents were taken along with the codes for security doors at the facility.
Cal-Tech is a notorious research university in Pasadena, California, which kills thousands of animals annually. Read the 2008 USDA document listing the species and numbers of animals killed here (note the report does not list animals not covered under the Animal Welfare Act, including mice and rats, which make up over 90% of animals killed in most labs).
The three-line communique reads:
“Last night there was a break in at CalTech research facility. Various papers and door codes were taken. A note was left that states “YOUR TIME IS DRAWING NEAR.”
The communique does not appear to have been signed by the Animal Liberation Front, or other clandestine group.
The incident comes after a long lull in anti-vivisection actions in the Los Angeles area, which in recent years saw numerous arsons and other actions in the name of the A.L.F., Animal Rights Militia, and other groups.
Police pay activists $200 each after giving unlawful order at a frequent A.L.F. target
Staff at the Utah Fur Breeders Cooperative took offense to a recent protest by the Salt Lake Animal Advocacy Movement, calling police. Workers at the mink feed plant, targeted at least four times by the Animal Liberation Front (including the $1 million bombing in 1997), apparently objected to chants such as “What goes around, comes around – you got burned to the ground”.
Police arrived and ordered activists to leave. The order was unlawful, and activists promptly sued the Unified Police of Greater Salt Lake.
The police, fighting a case they couldn’t win, settled out of court and were ordered to pay more than$15,000. Included was an order for $200 to be paid to each activist.
While police work overtime to stifle lawful dissent and legal protests, images like these represent a rare moment of triumph:
The Fur Farm Intelligence Unit exposes the unpublished addresses of three mink farms, a feed supplier, and a new fur researcher.
In their third communique, the Fur Farm Intelligence Unit this week released more secretive fur industry data. Included were addresses for:
*Three unknown mink farms
*A feed supplier
*A new fur industry researcher
All were previously unknown outside the fur industry.
Having done heavy research into the fur industry myself, I can testify to how closely the fur industry guards these addresses. The new addresses do not appear to be internet-sourced, and in fact the communique (read in full below) states:
The Fur Farm Intelligence Unit is being leaked information from the highest levels of the U.S. fur industry.
This is the third communique from the Fur Farm Intelligence Unit, which apparently functions to distribute unpublished, sensitive information on the fur industry. In its first communique, the FFIU released a list of attendees for the 2010 Canadian Mink Breeder’s show in Madison, Wisconsin – including the exact dates some farmers would not be at home to guard their farms. In its second communique, the F.F.I.U. exposed a previously unknown mink farm in Turner, Oregon.
With an industry as small as the fur industry, every possible target within it has major significance. Two addresses exposed in the latest communique in in particular have potentially immense significance to the survival of the fur industry.
New feed supplier: The FF.I.U. exposed the address of Shoreline Farms, a previously unknown Utah mink feed supplier. Feed represents 50% to 60% of the cost of raising a mink, and is a mink farmer’s largest expense. Without suppliers delivering inexpensive, specially blended feed (which guarantees quality pelts), the U.S. fur industry would not be able to survive. Not since www.finalnail.com exposed the Astoria, Oregon location of Northwest Farm Foods has a new feed supplier been discovered in the U.S. All mink feed suppliers have tremendous significance, and this is a major discovery. (Read the full list of known fur feed suppliers in The Blueprint)
New researcher: The F.F.I.U. also exposed the new (possibly soon-to-be) fur industry researcher Branson W. Ritchie. He is said to be working on the “Mink Genome Project” to eliminate Aleutian Disease. AD is perhaps the greatest fear of any fur farmer (possibly eclipsing the A.L.F.), and can wipe out an entire farm in less than two months. The elimination of Aleutian Disease would eradicate one of the biggest threats the fur industry faces. This research would be a crucial lynchpin in the survival of the fur industry, and is a significant discovery. (Read the full list of known fur industry researchers in The Blueprint).
In addition, the Fur Farm Intelligence Unit released addresses of three farms owned by the Carson family of Highland, Utah.
This is the full Fur Farm Intelligence Unit communique, as received by Bite Back:
“Fur Farm Intelligence Unit Communique #3
The Fur Farm Intelligence Unit is making public these never-before published fur industry addresses:
New mink farms
The addresses of these three farms have never been published. All three are owned by the Carson family of Highland, Utah. There are two new Utah farms owned by Larry Carson, and a third Idaho farm owned by his son Nathan Carson. The Carsons also own mink feed supplier Shoreline Farms.
LS CARSON MINK RANCH, LLC
Location #1
1553 No 950 East
Richfield, Utah 84701
Notes: Mink farm
LS CARSON MINK RANCH, LLC
Location #2
6199 South 2800 West
Spanish Fork, Utah 84660
Notes: Mink farm
New mink feed supplier
Shoreline Farms
6245 So 2800 West
Lakeshore, Utah 84660
801-756-0106
Notes: Owned by Larry Carson. Feed suppliers are essential for the survival of the U.S. fur industry. There are only 10 other confirmed mink feed suppliers.
New fur industry researcher
Branson W. Ritchie
Department of Small Animal Medicine
College of Veterinary Medicine
University of Gerogia
Athens, GA
Notes: Richie has volunteered his research skills to the mink industry as part of the proposed Mink Genome Project. This project aims to alleviate the industry of one of its biggest threats: aleutian disease. He has offered cell mediated research to isolate mink genes that are resistant to AD. This research will be done in partnership with Dr. John Easley of Plymouth, Wisconsin, who is also a leading expert in mink disease. Ritchie is awaiting funding from the Fur Commission USA’s research committee before the Mink Genome Project is launched.
The Fur Farm Intelligence Unit does not inflate the impact or significance of leaking secretive information as a tactic. The intelligence organ of this movement will never be more than an auxiliary service to the movement’s teeth: Those who take these addresses and use them to achieve true animal liberation.
Despite efforts at secrecy over the location of their farms, feed manufacturers, equipment suppliers, and research facilities, we are approaching the day when every address in the fur industry is revealed and available for use by individuals who will bring its collapse.
The few murderers of animals for fur whose business addresses remain unexposed will soon be driven from hiding. The Fur Farm Intelligence Unit is being leaked information from the highest levels of the U.S. fur industry. This will become apparent in future communiques. More to come.
News coverage from Animal Liberation Front raid on an Oregon deer farm
Watch news coverage on this week’s raid of a deer farm in Molalla, Oregon. In this video, the farmer claims no deer were released from the outdoor pen where fences were cut by the A.L.F. September 9th. The portion of farm where fences were cut, he says, housed no deer that night.
I have commented recently on the trend of A.L.F. targets denying raids occurred, or downplaying the success of A.L.F. actions. It is worth asking if that is the case here.
While admitting to raising the deer for the purpose of killing them, the farmer says of releasing the animals:
In a communique received today by the Animal Liberation Press Office, the Animal Liberation Front took credit for cutting fences and releasing an entire herd of deer from a farm in Molalla, Oregon.
This is the second recorded deer liberation in the U.S. The first occurred in 2005, when the A.L.F. liberated an entire herd of deer from the GNK Deer Ranch in Monterey County, California. The communique in that raid stated, in part:
The pen was located in the rear of the property and over 1/4 of the fence was cut away, releasing the deer into the mountainous countryside.
This A.L.F. action is the first reported in Oregon since the July arson at the Ylipelto’s Fur Farm, in which several pieces of equipment, a vehicle, and a building were set on fire.
The full communique for this week’s Oregon deer liberation is as follows:
“On the morning of October 9th, we raided a deer farm located at 32155 S Grimm Road in Molalla, OR. A large section of fencing was stripped away allowing the captive deer herd a chance to escape into the surrounding forest. The venison meat industry remains small in this country, but as long as they exploit sentient animals, they will remain a target of the ALF. For the animals enslaved, mutilated, and murdered by this society: we will be tearing down the fences to set them free. –Animal Liberation Front”
Today I received an urgent call for support for vegan prisoner Steve Murphy, serving a five years sentence for an attempted E.L.F. arson in 2006. Steve is currently having a difficult time in prison. Please read the following call for support and the statement from Steve, and write him a needed letter of support.
The following was sent by a friend of Steve’s:
“Steve Murphy is a dedicated social justice, animal rights, environmental activist and all-around good guy who now needs our support. He’s in prison for us, and we need to be there for him now.
Steve would love letters, cards, and postcards from old friends, new friends, strangers who he would love to befriend, etc. Please write him a quick note and let him know you’re thinking of him and believe he can make it through his time in prison. This is very important because right now Steve is in a bad, dark place mentally – he needs every kind word he can get in order to lift his spirits.
He’d also appreciate books dealing with radical politics, environmentalism, animal rights, civil rights, atheism, anarchist history and theory, etc. These have to be new softcover (paperback) books, mailed straight to his address from the bookseller or publisher. (more…)
In a ruling that affects all of us, in August the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that placing tracking devices on cars does not violate the Fourth Amendment. Law enforcement only has to believe you are a criminal, and can place a GPS tracking device on your car without a warrant – even if your car is parked in your own driveway.
GPS tracking device have been used in numerous animal rights legal cases, including the cases of Andreas San Diego and Kevin Olliff. This recent ruling is affects law enforcement rules in nine western states, and allows the FBI and other law enforcement in Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, Oregon, Nevada, Arizona, Alaska, and Hawaii to place tracking devices on vehicles without a warrant. Another circuit court has disagreed, and the issue will likely end up in the Supreme Court.
Until then, in the above-mentioned nine states, the FBI now has free reign to track us warrantlessly. The best defense now is to know what FBI GPS tracking devices look like. If you find devices like these on the underside of your vehicle (often held with magnets), you are being tracked by police or the FBI:
Over a week after information surfaced about 400 mink being released from a Washington fur farm, the Animal Liberation Front issued a communique taking credit.
The full communique is as follows:
“In the early hours September 9th 2010 the ALF paid a visit to the Beck’s fur farm in Granite Falls, WA. Thanks to the news reports we know that we released aprox. 400 of the mink there and all we can say is that it wasn’t enough. We wish that there had been time that night to free all the prisoners that hell hole contains. We are heart broken for everyone left behind but take solace in the fact that we will do better the next time.
This action is dedicated to one who will only be known as
x/one blue/one brown/all heart/x
ALF”
Industry sources first reported that 400 mink were released from an unnamed fur farm on September 9th. Local media soon reported the target as the Harvey Beck mink farm in Granite Falls, Washington.
The last reported fur farm raid in Washington state was in November, 2007, when an estimated 150 to 200 mink were released from a mink farm in Deming, Washington owned by Dale Marr. The largest mink release in Washington occurred in 2003, when 10,000 mink were released from the Roesler Brothers fur farm in Sultan.
Time for mink on America’s fur farms is running short. Animal liberators will feel increaing urgency in the coming months as late-November approaches, and the pelting season will begin. As the clock ticks towards execution day for all mink on fur farms, the next two months mark the last of the unofficial fur farm raiding season.
