The grassroots animal rights movement in the United States has been in a lull. The dominance of corporate NGOs, an increase in state-sponsored fear tactics, and an upswing in vegan consumerist feel-goodery have successfully turned what was once a powerful peopleâs movement into a small collection of groups scattered around the country. But things are changing.
Next month, hundreds of people will descend upon the University of Washington (UW) campus to protest the construction of a new underground animal testing laboratory. Since November 2014, activists across North America and around the world have targeted Skanska, the company responsible for constructing UWâs planned animal torture facility. If itâs allowed to be built, thousands more dogs, monkeys, mice, guinea pigs, rabbits, and other animals will be imprisoned, tortured, driven to insanity, and killed. Through office disruptions, home demonstrations, lobby invasions, and direct action, the No New Animal Lab campaign has mobilized grassroots animal activists in ways that havenât been seen in years. Construction of the lab has started. The grassroots movement has reawakened. Energy is building. Now how are we going to do with it?
Last April, in the first march against the lab, 500 people took over the streets of Seattle. This many grassroots activists havenât convened in one place since 2001, when the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty campaign pressured Little Rock-based investment company Stephens, Inc. to divest from infamous animal testing company Huntingdon Life Sciences. This was at a time of relentless fury and sacrificeâa time when activists vowed that any company involved in animal exploitation would be targeted and taken down. Hundreds flooded Little Rock, and when police pushed them, the protesters pushed back harder, taking over the downtown, smashing and shutting down businesses, in what was likely the largest animal rights riot in US history.
Every moment of their lives, animals in laboratories fight, scratch, bite and scream for liberation. Itâs time for a mass peopleâs movement that fights with the same fury. Itâs time for a mass peopleâs movement that is willing to seriously confront animal exploitation. We canât look to politicians, lobbyists, or corporate non-profits. It has to be us. It will be us.
The University of Washington believed they could hide this lab from the publicâbuilding it underground and deciding to approve construction through illegal, secret meetings. But they have been exposed. The April 25 march took place before anyone had locked their body to construction equipment; before âNo New Animal Labâ messages had appeared in chalk and spray paint from Washington to Texas to Germany; as Skanskaâs excavators had just begun to break ground. Six months later, the hole is deeper, the fences higher, the security tighter, and the numbers of impassioned activists larger. Skanska has felt the pressureâlocking the doors of their offices, hiding in their homes, no longer speaking to the media. They are clearly afraid; but of what?
Everything can change in one moment. The only thing that will stop UW and Skanska is you. On October 2, hundreds of people will converge at the University of Washington to stop the construction of the underground animal lab. Where will you be?
A motion was filed by their attorneys to have their September 9th, San Diego court appearance waived and today that motion was granted by the judge. Nicole and Josephs attorneys will be there in court, and not guilty pleas will be entered in their absence. They will not have to travel to San Diego and will be staying home in Oakland for this one.
Thank you to everyone from the bay area, LA area, and San Diego that were planning on coming to court next Wednesday to support Nicole and Joseph, and thank you to everyone in all corners of the world who have been donating to the support fund, buying items off the amazon.com wish list, and stepping up in any way you can.
Please continue to check out the support site for further updates on the case and to learn about ways to show your support.
Two animal rights activists in Utah are facing six months in jail for holding peaceful protests against an amusement parkâs treatment of animals without first paying $50 and completing a âFree Expression Permit Application.â
On Tuesday evening, activists Jeremy Beckham and Lexie Levitt were visited at their homes by Salt Lake City Police detectives with court orders from nearby Farmington City.
Beckham says that when he saw a Salt Lake City detective at his door, his heart started racing and his body tensed; he quickly started filming, because he is familiar with animal activists being prosecuted as âterroristsâ for things like chalking on the sidewalk.
He didnât know what was about to happen, but he thought it could be serious.
âIâve been an activist a really long time,â says Beckham, who is a board member with the Utah Animal Rights Coalition. âAnd Iâm honestly shockedâ at the charges.
The detective attempted to ask Beckham about other protesters, so they too could be served court orders, but Beckham remained silent and continued filming. He then said âI donât have anything further to say.â
Lexie Levitt, an organizer with the animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere, says that when police arrived at her home, they pounded on her doors and windows. She didnât know what was happening, she said, and at first she was too afraid to answer. When police returned, she learned she was being charged with protesting without a permit as well.
The charges say that the activists âdid conduct, promote, manage, aid, solicit attendance at or participate in any advanced planned free speech expression activity without first obtaining a permit for the event.â [View the criminal complaint]
They are class B misdemeanors, punishable by up to six months in jail.
The Blackfish Effect
The activists had been protesting animal cruelty at Lagoon Amusement Park, where lions, pumas, elks, kangaroo, zebra, leopards, tigers, and other wild animals are kept in metal cages with concrete floors, without enrichment or stimulation.
Photos taken by the activists revealed animals in barren, filthy conditions as the âWild Animal Kingdomâ train ride passed by their cages.
Activists said that the award-winning film Blackfish, which exposed conditions that are dangerous to both animals and humans at Sea World, has resulted in a surge of public awareness about the dangers of animals in captivity.
Lagoon Amusement Park has done itâs best to keep protesters away as well. When activists gathered outside their corporate headquarters with signs, Lagoon turned on their sprinklers â in the midst of a drought.
âNo one should have to fear that the police will pound on your door at 8 oâclock at night to hand you criminal charges in connection with a peaceful protest,â Beckham said. âIt is astounding the lengths that Lagoon is willing to go in order to shut up the caring people who are speaking out against their abysmal âzoo.’â
Jumping Through All The Hoops
Beckham says what surprises him most about the criminal charges is that the activists had gone to great lengths to ensure they complied with the law.
At the July 18th protest at the amusement park, for which Levitt is being prosecuted, there were about 20 protesters. They all stood across the street, because they did not want to accidentally trespass. They even went down to the courthouse and got a plat map to ensure they would be on public property.
At the July 16th protest at Lagoon offices, for which Beckham is being prosecuted, there were only four people in attendance, and they chose the protest location specifically because it had a public sidewalk where they could stand. (One of the other attendees was Levitt, and the other two were afraid of being identified for this story because they might be prosecuted as well.)
They held signs that said âStop imprisoning animals,â âSanctuaries not cages,â and âLagoon abuses animals.â
The activists occasionally chanted, but never used megaphones or amplified sound.
During their many protests this year, police have driven past and taken photos of protesters, but they have never asked them to leave or threatened them with prosecution.
It appears their abundance of caution might have actually been used by the police against the activists. Beckham and Levitt had both been in contact with the city, alerting them about their protests in advance, and they suspect thatâs why they were singled out for criminal charges.
âFree Expression Claimâ
Just a few months after the September 11th attacks, Farmington City leaders used public safety concerns to justify a âFree Expression Activities Ordinance.â
The ordinance requires protesters to obtain a âFree Expression Activities Permit,â pay a $50 fee, and obtain insurance before engage in constitutionally protected speech.
The form the city requires asks protesters to explain âreasons for your activityâ and also their âfree expression claim.â
The prosecutionâfor purely First Amendment activityâ was coordinated with multiple police departments in different cities, which is a rare occurrence for a class B misdemeanor.
A Salt Lake City Police Department detective visited the activists at their homes, multiple times, to serve them in person, when the paperwork could have been sent in the mail
And the investigation was led by the Farmington City Chief of Police himself. Chief Wayne Hansen, who was named Utahâs police chief of the year in 2014, authored the probable cause affidavit used in the prosecution, and noted it was based on his âpersonal observationsâ of the protesters.
âItâs sad that the Davis County Attorney and the police apparently care more about shielding Lagoon from criticism than they do the First Amendment,â Levitt said.
The police treatment of animal rights activists is radically different than the treatment of animal abusers. Recently, Utah animal rights activists made international news when they disrupted a âpig wrestlingâ competition, and some of the confederate-flag-waiving wrestlers attacked them and slammed them to the ground.
Those individuals are not being prosecuted.
As for Beckham and Levitt, they had another protest planned at Lagoon this Saturday. After speaking with their attorneys, theyâve decided to cancel that demonstration rather than risk additional criminal charges.
Currently, Joseph Buddenberg is on house arrest and can only leave the apartment for very specific engagements, never to stray from the path taken to get there. Fortunately there is a supportive network that exists in the Bay area to pick up certain items he may need from week to week. Here is one more way we can support Joseph while he is going through this tough time. All you have to do is follow the link to his Amazon.com wish list that was set up, and find something that you might like to order for Joseph, or pass it along to a friend.
Thank you, and stay tuned for more updates on Nicole and Josephs case and ways you can plug in to support them.
Joseph Buddenberg, who was arrested along with Nicole Kissane at their apartment on July 24th by the FBI and then formerly charged with â conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act,â has court on Wednesday, August 12th. His lawyer will be arguing to get Joseph off house arrest. Letâs show the court how much support Joseph Buddenberg has , and letâs be there to show Joseph that he is definitely not alone while going through this.
Please make it if you can!
When: Wednesday, August 12th, 9:30am
Where: Oakland Federal Courthouse
1301 Clay Street
Floor 3, Court room 3
Judge Ryu
If attending, please wear court-appropriate attire and behave respectfully. Please also be aware that you may have to show ID and be subject to search to enter the courthouse. Arrive early as the courthouse may be busy.
Emad and Muhammad are two local youths facing trumped up felony charges in the SF Bay Area. Muhammad, sixteen years old, was arrested with his brother Emad in October of last year at a Muslim religious festival. They as well as their families were subject to prejudicial harassment and treatment by police, who along with the DA saw to it both young men would face felony Strike charges in spite of having no prior criminal history, and no credible evidence whatsoever against them.
In spite of all this, the DA is insisting on pressing ahead in hopes of draining their financial and emotional resources until they plead out to fictional crimes under the pressure.
Muhammad, now seventeen, is currently preparing to go to trial. He is in college, works full-time to help support a family of eight, and has paid for his own defense out of pocket from his own work since the time of his arrest. He spent over a week in juvenile hall and six months on house arrest with an ankle monitor, already for this baseless charge, which is the first he has ever faced in his life. The court further expects him to pay thousands for the ankle monitor they forced him to wear.
Now he will be facing a brand new round of lawyersâ fees. Both Emad and Muhammad are well-respected members of the local Sunni Muslim community going back two generations, and full-time community college students deeply involved in grassroots organizing and local activist causes.
Muhammad has already paid $10,000 for his lawyer, while others are asking for $20-25,000 to represent Emad. So far, theyâve raised $5,000 or $6,000 in donations.
Please donate generously to keep these young men free. All donations will go directly to the legal expenses of their case.
On July 22, Tyler Lang has a change of plea hearing scheduled in regard to his charges under the AETA for allegedly releasing animals from a fur farm. If you can be in Chicago, please attend the hearing to show love and support for Tyler.
What: USA v. Lang, Change of Plea Hearing When: Wednesday, July 22, 9:15am Where: Courtroom 1241, Judge Amy St. Eve
U.S. District Court, Northern District of IL Everett McKinley Dirksen U.S. Courthouse
219 South Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60604
To attend, please wear court-appropriate attire and behave respectfully. Please also be aware that you will likely have to show ID and be subject to search to enter the courthouse. Arrive early as the courthouse may be busy.
One of two animal-rights protesters accused of freeing 2,000 minks from an Illinois fur farm two years ago pleaded guilty Friday in connection with the case.
Kevin Johnson, who also goes by Kevin Olliff, pleaded guilty to âconspiring to travel in interstate commerce with the purpose of damaging an animal enterprise,â according to the plea agreement filed in federal court.
Johnson faces up to three years in prison when heâs sentenced Nov. 5.
Johnson and Tyler Lang â a pair of animal-rights protesters from California â allegedly released the animals from a mink farm in Morris, 65 miles southwest of Chicago in August 2013, then daubed the walls of a barn with the words âLiberation is Love.â
The pair are suspected of traveling across the U.S. to free caged animals, including those on mink farms and a fox farm in Roanoke, Illinois.
Both men are veteran animal-rights protesters and are soliciting financial support, according to a website called SupportKevinandTyler.com.
 The feds say that in addition to freeing the caged minks in Morris they also tore holes in a farm fence to aid the animalsâ escape. They also allegedly vandalized two farm vehicles. The raid was touted on websites associated with the Animal Liberation Front, an organization the FBI has said poses a terrorist threat.
Though some of the farmâs animals were recovered, many died, according to neighbor Darren Caley.
âA lot of them got hit by cars, and a lot we found in a cornfield dead,ââ Caley said. âThey were hand-reared and didnât know how to hunt, so many of them starved to death.â [EF! Newswire Editorâs Note: See every other statement given by fur farmers after a raid for similar misinformation.]
According to Fridayâs plea agreement: âOf the 2,000 released minks, approximately 600 died or were never recovered. The remaining minks lost their resale value because the breeding cards were removed and destroyed.â
But in a statement from Vandalia prison, published by supporters on his website in February, Kevin Johnson reiterated his support for animal rights protests.
âI have seen more animals languishing in cages than I can remember,â he wrote.
Things have taken a turn for the worse since the last update about the BOP restricting Kevinâs communications. Earlier this week, Kevin was notified that the Communications Management Unit (CMU) had taken a special interest in his correspondence with the outside world. Please read this post in its entirety to get necessary information on staying in touch with our friend.
Using the terms âanimal liberationâ & âearth liberationâ In short, stop doing it. Apparently the CMU is tallying the number of times these terms are used in letters to Kevin as some crude form of âinvestigatingâ (or just intimidating) him and his contacts. Yes, it smacks of censorship. No, itâs not fair. But since the prosecution is seeking longterm, stringent incarceration for Kevin, itâs important not to give them any ammunition to hurt him further.
And donât try to be clever by talking about a liberation without using the term. Obviously the government is going to decode it. Please leave all mentions of extra-legal activityâno matter how heroic or excitingâout of your letters to Kevin.
People currently under investigation Of course, most of us have no idea whoâs being investigated and whoâs notâthatâs the nature of how the FBIÂ works and theyâre not keen on giving up their records. Simply put, Kevin cannot receive correspondence from anyone under federal investigation.Â
More on these new restrictions
Kevinâs communication is being handled in such a sensitive way that every letter (even if it comes from someone Kevin doesnât know personally, and even if heâs unaware of the contents of said letter) can have grave impacts upon his conditions of confinement. We simply ask that you take caution when writing to him, keep everything PG-13, and consider making a donation if you donât feel comfortable sending a letter.
***
Please send Kevin a letter of support:
(Note: Kevin Johnson is his legal name.)
KEVIN JOHNSON 47353-424
MCC Chicago
Metropolitan Correctional Center
71 West Van Buren Street
Chicago, IL 60605
Tyler Lang was released from state custody in November 2013. He is currently out on bond awaiting trial on the federal charges.
Two animal rights activists have been indicted on federal terrorism charges for allegedly releasing 2,000 mink and foxes from fur farms in the Midwest.
Tyler Lang and Kevin Olliff were charged with two counts of violating the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act and committing âanimal enterprise terrorism.â
Olliff is currently in jail in Illinois, where he was sentenced to 30 months in jail for having boltcutters in his Prius.
Lang was arrested outside of a Veggie Grill restaurant in Los Angeles on Thursday. He had arrived to prepare for a fundraiser at the restaurant to benefit the Bunny Alliance, an animal rights group with which he volunteers.
When he saw FBI agents walking up to the restaurant, he said he knew something was wrong. He was on the phone with a friend, who joked that they were there to spy on the animal rights fundraiser. Before he was arrested, he told his friend âcall my lawyer.â
At Langâs bail hearing at a Los Angeles federal courthouse, the government asked for a $30,000 bond, which is $20,000 above what pre-trial services had recommended.
The prosecutor did not request that Lang be jailed awaiting trial, but said Lang was a flight risk because of his âextreme activism.â
âHe has plans to travel the country for what he calls non-profit work,â the prosecutor said, âbut what the government calls violent civil disobedience.â
Lang told me he had planned on beginning a tour this weekend with other volunteers, protesting airlines that transport primate for animal experimentation.
Lang may not be able to attend the protests, but other volunteers say they are undeterred.
âWe know that Tyler would want us to carry on with the Fight or Flight tour,â said Amanda Schemkes, a Bunny Alliance volunteer. âItâs to further the campaign against the transport of animals to labs, as well as to build and empower grassroots activism in the face of state repression. Our work to help animals continues to be motivated by them rather than stifled by attempts to chill activism.â
The indictments come as hundreds of animal rights activists are in Los Angeles this weekend for the National Animal Rights Conference, where a prominent theme is corporate efforts to label non-violent protest activity as âterrorism.â
Releasing animals from fur farms is clearly against the law, but in the history of underground groups like the Animal Liberation Front not a single human being has been harmed; yet the FBI continues to label animal rights activism as âterrorism.â
New ag-gag laws go even further, criminalizating whistleblowers, undercover investigators and journalists who expose animal cruelty on factory farms.
As FBI agents and prosecutors prepared for Langâs bail hearing, it was clear that even they were a bit confused about this âterrorismâ case.
Outside of the courtroom, one FBI agent was overheard on a cell phone saying: âNo, he is being charged with damaging property. Not damaging animalsâthey are against that.â
Denver Anarchist Black Cross 