Following up on last week’s post, there is a report of a third person visited by the FBI in California. The FBI appears to be seeking information on an animal rights activists believed to be known by those visited.
In this latest incident, the person was an ex-vegan, and the FBI attempted to capitalize on this “revision of belief” by requesting this person speak to them. The person reportedly refused to talk. The FBI stated in this interview attempt that they were aware this person was no longer vegan.
It is clear the FBI is attempting to exploit weaknesses and conflicts in our movement to gather intelligence which will aid them in their goal of imprisoning the A.L.F., and other facets of our movement they deem a threat. It should be expected the three reports received so far are only the tip of the iceberg, and that many more activists or former activists have been contacted.
Information is still coming in, but today the FBI visited at least two individuals in California apparently seeking information on another activist. The FBI reportedly left a business card on the doorstep of one person, and contacted the parents of a second. The person the FBI is apparently seeking information on has been a recent and visible FBI target in connection with an out-of-state Animal Liberation Front action. More information will be posted as it is available and cleared to make public.
It is important to make news of FBI visits immediately public and bring a spotlight on FBI intrusion into our movement.
Animal rights group sue police after unlawful order to disperse at nation’s largest fur feed cooperative, targeted four times by the Animal Liberation Front.
On May 8th, approximately 15 activists from the Salt Lake Animal Advocacy Movement (SLAAM) converged on the Fur Breeder’s Agricultural Cooperative in Sandy, Utah, the largest fur farm feed cooperative in the country. After 30 minutes of protesting (including chants reminding the FBAC their building was burned to the ground by the A.L.F. in 1996) police arrived and gave an order for activists to disperse.
Fur Breeders Agricultural Cooperative
After capturing the unlawful order on video, this week SLAAM sued the police of unincorporated Salt Lake County. The lawsuit includes a formal complaint against the police, a restraining order against police who issued the orders, and permanent injunction against two officers, as the complaint states the group members are “legitimately afraid” of them.
The Fur Breeder’s Agricultural Cooperative (FBAC) has been targeted by the Animal Liberation Front at least four times, including one arson and bombing which thoroughly destroyed one of its buildings. Other actions at the site have included two releases of mink from the experimental fur farm located at the southwest of the facility, where feed is tested on mink. The book Operation Bite Back also details an attempted arson by Rod Coronado in 1991. The incendiary device he placed failed to ignite.
Activists report that on May 8th, approximately 15 people gathered outside the experimental mink farm, on the south end of the FBAC property. Several employee cars pulled into the facility, parking beside a building with a faded sign reading “Fur Research Laboratory”. One of the people who arrived identified himself as the “owner” of the property. Soon after, police arrived and gave an order to disperse or be arrested. Activists documented the unlawful order on video and turned it over to attorneys. The lawsuit followed soon after.
The Fur Breeder’s Cooperative has been a frequent target because of its position as one of, if not the, most vital lynchpins in among the weakest animal abuse industries: fur. The feed supplier is crucial in keeping the nation’s second-largest mink farming state (after Wisconsin) afloat through the production of inexpensive feed. Feed represents 50 to 60% of the total cost of “producing” a mink. The FBAC plant is so significant, when the co-op stopped delivering to one remote Utah town, several mink farms were forced to close.
They arrest activists when they illegally burn down their buildings. They arrest activists when they legally protest. In this “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” catch 22, it should come as no surprise to police and animal abusers when activists make the reasoned assessment to use those tactics which offer both the highest impact and lowest chance of arrest. When protesting becomes illegal, the only avenue left for change is that which animal abusers fear most. A point best made visually, with a photo from inside the Fur Breeder’s Cooperative the morning after its 1997 bombing by the A.L.F.:
A.L.F. again becomes scapegoat in vandalism case of a researcher who doesn’t experiment on animals
Just after the Animal Liberation Front was falsely blamed for the release of a kangaroo from a roadside zoo, this week investigators are hinting the A.L.F. may be behind the sabotage of a UC-Santa Cruz researcher’s car. The punchline? The researcher doesn’t experiment on animals.
The story: Early May 23rd, person(s) unknown severed the brake lines on an SUV as it sat in a Santa Cruz driveway. The owner was someone described only as a “UC-Santa Cruz researcher”. The FBI and police swarmed the scene. There were no reports of graffiti, and no claim of responsibility by any underground group. By all appearances, it was a case of generic-brand vandalism. The San Jose Mercury News admitted:
The scientist’s research did not involve animals
In light of this admission, the Animal Liberation Front should be immediately ruled out. Yet sill, investigators immediately hinted at a possible animal liberation motive.
So far, it has been a case of “indictment by suggestion”, with investigators indirectly implicating the A.L.F. by stating the perpetrators “may not necessarily be an animal rights group”. The subtext being: not necessarily, but probably.
Here is the quote from Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Rick Martinez:
“It may not necessarily be an animal-rights group and it may not necessarily be an environmental group,” he said
The media covering this case is the larger part of the problem, with local papers sparing no opportunity to point out “UCSC researchers whose work includes testing on animals have been targeted in recent years.”
There is major precedent for police and FBI in Santa Cruz blaming the animal liberation movement for actions for which there isn’t a hint of evidence. Remember the attempted home arson of a UCSC animal researcher in 2008, where the smoke hadn’t even cleared before the FBI called it a case of “attempted murder” by animal rights activists. No claim of responsibility was ever made, and no other motives or suspects were entertained in investigator’s statements to the media.
There are two forces at work allowing this false and deceptive blame on animal liberation activists:
1) The media’s complete inability to understand the motives of the A.L.F. (to save animals)
2) The Animal Liberation Front making an easy scapegoat in the absence of something better.
There could be several reasons to blame the A.L.F.for generic property crimes. One, it raises the status of an investigation, giving police and FBI a sense of cowboy-style bravado in being involved in a “terrorism” investigation. Two, it could remove the burden from law enforcement for their failure to catch generic-brand vandals: failure to catch a nebulous, shadowy underground group is more easily understood.
As stated on Animal Liberation Front-line several weeks ago, animal abusers and the FBI may have discovered the most convenient of scapegoats in generic vandalism cases: the A.L.F.
More news and photos emerge from mysterious fire that destroyed a sheep skin merchant in Denver.
Investigators have estimated damages from the arson fire that destroyed a sheep skin seller at $500,000. The building is being called a “total loss”.
Also revealed is that the owners of Sheepskin Factory had no insurance. While they claim to be reopening, they must absorb all costs from the arson fire which destroyed the building, equipment, and all inventory.
Police released photos of a person they say “may” have set the fire, taken from security camera footage around the time of the fire. The images show only a person with a backpack and hood, with no face or other identifiable features visible.
As of yet, no group has claimed responsibility for the fire. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is still investigating.
Over 42 firefighters responded to a blaze at Sheepskin Factory April 30th in Denver, Colorado. The fire reportedly broke out at 3:15am and gutted the building. It has been ruled arson.
Agents from the the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the fire.
To date, neither the Animal Liberation Front nor other clandestine animal liberation group has claimed responsibility. Reporting on this action is not to be taken as a speculation of an animal liberation motive. Rather, I wish to offer what may be a broader and more accurate view of the scope of underground animal liberation activity.
Numerous unclaimed but “suspicious” actions are reported at animal abuse sites every year. For example the 2009 explosion at the only Slim Jim production facility in the U.S., for which a cause was not determined.
Similar unclaimed actions have been reported in Colorado. On January 13th, 2002, another sheepskin business went up in flames north of Denver in Greeley. The building was burned to the ground. No claim of responsibility was made in that fire either, but the fire was deemed suspicious due to A.L.F. graffiti threatening arson being found at a similar plant in Denver the previous month. This latest arson marks the second burned down sheep skin business in Colorado.
Two weeks ago, it happened again: two 100-pound African lion cubs escaped their cages, and were found wandering in Bemidj. It was the second animal escape at the zoo in six months, and the third since 2007.
Lion cubs and kangaroos are non-native species, unlikely to survive in North America. As such, they would not be released into the wild by the Animal Liberation Front, whose only concern is for the animals’ well-being – not just their freedom.
This detail did not stop the owner of Paul Bunyan’s Animal Land from blaming the escapes not on her own ineptitude as a zookeeper, but on the Animal Liberation Front. In a statement on the escaped animals, owner Caara Holstrom said:
“The lion escape was a result of criminal activities which include tampering with the caging holding the cubs. Their escape was not a result of negligence on the part of Animal Land in any way shape or form. At animal land’s request, a criminal investigation has been opened with multiple law enforcement agencies…”
She believes animal rights activist has been loosening screws on the pens and releasing the animals.
It seems Caara did not do her research on the A.L.F. before making the claim: activists concerned with saving animals would not release lions and kangaroos into the Minnesota wilderness.
To cover for an animal abuser’s negligence, the A.L.F. makes an easy scapegoat. Another example occurred in 2001, when cows escaped from a farm in South Dakota. The farmer immediately pointed the finger at the A.L.F.
While police and the FBI might best look at Paul Bunyan’s Animal Land itself, the owner’s claim diverts their attention to “ecoterrorists”, and the Animal Liberation Front. And what better scapegoat? The A.L.F. is clandestine by nature, and unable to publicly speak for themselves. When placing blame on the A.L.F., animal abusers have entered into a one-sided debate in which the accused can’t respond.
With ex-prisoners setting up friends for fraudulent mink farm raid plots to get off probation early, and animal researchers pointing fingers at animal rights activists for a Santa Cruz home-arson when no evidence of an animal liberation motive existed (and pointing the blame to drive through tough anti-animal rights activism laws), we may see false blame on the A.L.F. become an emerging trend for those who wish to avert blame themselves.
After the limited print-run, soft-release of the book last fall, I have redone the layout, given the book an ISBN number, and updated the content. It was a major undertaking, and I’m extremely happy with the final product.
The book includes:
*Complete list of reported actions, broken down by year.
*Unclaimed actions reported in the media.
*Reprinted news coverage of A.L.F. actions.
*The first comprehensive look at the history of the underground animal liberation movement in the United States.
The specs are: 8.5″ x 11″, color cover, perfect bound.
This is the first opportunity to view the entire recorded history of the Animal Liberation Front in the U.S., from broken windows to lab raids. It can now be purchased from:
Several future book projects were derailed after the confiscation of the original files by the FBI, but we are in the recovery process and will be rolling out several new books in the coming months.
Government challenges release of A.L.F. activist, citing letters to former animal liberation prisoner
In early-April, lawyers for William Viehl (sentenced to two years for an A.L.F. mink liberation) filed a motion for his release pending the appeal of his sentence.
Last week, the government challenged the motion, citing letters from Viehl seized during the March 15th FBI raid of my home. The government claims an alleged correspondence between myself and Viehl makes him a “danger to the community”. In the response to the motion, filed with the court, the government states this about the letters:
…hand-written correspondence from the defendant to Peter Young illustrating a close, ongoing personal relationship founded upon animal rights extremism.
It is true: among the many boxes of items removed from my home were numerous letters from animal liberation prisoners. Also true: I once served prison time for actions similar to Viehl’s. But what is the significance?
The government asserts that, solely because of alleged letters between a former and current animal liberation prisoner, Viehl is a “danger to the community”. This is worth repeating: the government is citing letters alone as reason to label William Viehl a “danger”.
“Terrorists” like Viehl break into farms to rescue animals, do so in the middle of the night to avoid conflict with the animals’ captors, and do so unarmed. The FBI breaks into my home to steal my property in broad daylight, and does so brandishing lethal weapons.
Grand jury implicates Scott DeMuth in 2006 mink farm raid
In a little-publicized move this week, a grand jury expanded the ndictment of Scott DeMuth to include a 2006 mink liberation in Minnesota. This third version of the original indictment adds yet another allegation to the original charge – an alleged role in the A.L.F. liberation of 401 animals from the University of Iowa psych labs in 2004.
The new superseding indictment alleges DeMuth’s unspecified role in a 2006 raid of Lakeside Ferrets, a former mink farm in Howard Lake, Minnesota.
On April 29th, 2006, anonymous activists cut holes in the fence, entered the breeder shed, and released hundreds of mink. In a communique issued soon after, the A.L.F. took credit. The communique read, in part:
Finally, to all fur farmers, furriers, and profiters of death, this
is the last warning: close down your buisnesses, or with
boltcutters, fire, and storm, we’ll do it for you. You can try to
scare us, you can try to imprison us, and you can even try to kill
us, but the day we stop will be the day that the last animal has
been freed from its cage.
The Fur Commission USA claimed after the raid that activists mistook ferrets for mink, and in fact the “mink farm” was actually a ferret farm. While there is evidence to suggest the farm is now a ferret farm, the location in Howard Lake was at one time called the Latzig Mink Ranch. The farm was the site of one of the first-ever mink releases in the U.S. in 1996, when 1,000 mink were liberated.
The first two versions of the indictment accused DeMuth only of an unspecified role in the rescue of 401 animals from the University of Iowa in 2004. The latest version adds an additional accusation of a role in the mink release.
As with the two preceding indictments, the new indictment fails to specify what exactly Scott DeMuth is charged with. The document alleges only that DeMuth caused or attempted to cause “physical disruption to the functioning of animal enterprises including but not limited to the Spence Laboratories at the University of Iowa and Lakeside Ferrets Inc. in Minnesota, and other animal enterprises elsewhere”. No more specific information is given.
This is the latest chapter in the Midwest A.L.F. investigation that continues to get more bizarre and desperate at each step. Eventually, the government will be forced to reveal specific allegations in the case, including what “other animal enterprises elsewhere” DeMuth (a non-vegetarian bow hunter) is alleged to have targeted.
Accused mink liberator pleads guilty, two year sentence expected
Over 18 months after the release of 650 mink from a Utah fur farm, Alex Hall plead guilty this week for his role in the action.
Earlier this year, Hall’s codefendant William Viehl plead guilty to the same action, accepting a deal for “6 to 12 months”, with the prosecutor recommending six. The judge quadrupled the recommended sentence, giving Viehl two years. It is expected Hall will receive the same exorbitant sentence.
The case, called “The AETA 2”, has brought the first sentences handed down under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. The AETA 4 case, in which activists face federal charges for home demonstrations, is still pending.
Hall accepted a plea deal in exchange for prosecutors dropping another charge, for an alleged attempted raid at Blackridge Farms in Hyrum, Utah. In that incident, the FBI alleges Hall and Viehl were seen surveilling a mink farm by the farmer after midnight. They were identified after being followed by the farmer and subsequently stopped by police.
Hall will be sentenced on June 30th.
– Peter Young
Write Alex:
Alex Hall Inmate #2009-06304
Davis County Jail
800 West State St.
Farmington, UT 84025
“The first step to effectively protesting an industry is knowing the addresses that make up its architecture”.
The Blueprint: Fur Farm Intelligence Project Report is the product of the 2 month, 13,000 mile investigation of over 75% of the fur farms in the country. It represents the largest-ever collection of fur industry intelligence to date.
Included in the 64 page document:
*Massively updated state-by-state fur farm address list
*Photos of nearly 100 mink, fox, and lynx farms.
*Anonymous reports and photos from clandestine visits to fur farms and industry research sites.
*Massively updated closed farm database.
*Detailed data and status updates on over 200 fur farms.
The Blueprint: Fur Farm Intelligence Project Report is the most comprehensive document of fur industry info ever attempted. It was compiled with the intent of mapping the entire supply-side and infrastructure grid of the industry: from auction houses to feed suppliers, fox farms to research facilities.
Included in The Blueprint are addresses and detailed data on:
*Fox farms
*Mink farms
*Lynx farms
*Fur industry research farms
*Fur feed suppliers
*Auction houses
Another A.L.F.-targeted facility denies it was raided by activists
When the Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for liberating 72 chickens from a Utah egg farm Friday, the farm’s response wasn’t condemnation, but denial.
Shepherd Egg Farm was raided for the second time by the A.L.F. on the night of April 1st, 2010, and 72 chickens were rescued. When contacted by the media, both the egg farm and police have refused to acknowledge the raid ever took place.
“(The egg farm) cannot verify that any chickens were released,” a Utah County sheriff said.
Of course no chickens – or any other non-native, domesticated species that won’t survive in the wild – is every “released” in an A.L.F. action. They are placed in homes. That aside, it is nothing new for a targeted animal abuser to refuse to acknowledge an A.L.F. raid. In fact, when they think they can get away with it, it is standard protocol.
Public scrutiny and media attention are two things no animal abuse facility benefits from, and it is always in their best interests to deflect both. Two cases come to mind.
After the A.L.F. raid of E-L Labs (March, 1989), in which 40 rabbits were liberated, the lab refused to acknowledge the raid had occurred. Photos of activists with animal liberated from the lab were later published.
The University of Iowa also kept silent about activists raiding the Spence psychology laboratories in 2004 – referring to the break-in as unspecified apolitical vandalism, despite animal liberation slogans being painted on walls. Only when denial became impossible, and an Animal Liberation Front communique surfaced, did the lab admit animals had been taken.
It is possible the farm found no evidence of a break-in, or missing animals. In a farm with tens or hundreds of thousands of birds, not noticing the absence of 72 of them is plausible. Whichever the case, the denial by Shepherd Egg Farm of an A.L.F. raid makes a case for the A.L.F. to release documentation to the media in the form of photos or video. These will both educate the public, and make the raid irrefutable to abusers.
The farm states there is no evidence of a break-in or tampered cages.
Police have said they are stepping up patrols at the farm.
Animal liberation prisoner expected to plead guilty to mink release
Over one year since being indicted on Animal Enterprise Terrorism charges, Alex Hall is expected to plead guilty this week to his alleged role in the freeing of 650 mink from a mink farm in South Jordan, Utah. The action was claimed by the Animal Liberation Front.
Alex’s codefendant, William “BJ” Viehl, received two years on prison for his role in the same A.L.F. action. The judge stated at his sentencing he intended to sentence him to three years, but took a year off after BJ’s statement to the court.
