The communique from the A.L.F. reads:

“On the night of March 4th, 2010. We planted an incendiary device in the exhaust pipe of California Vivisectionist Howard Fox. Hopefully this action will help Mr. Fox decide to pursue a different career choice. The Animal Liberation Front”

As of yet, it appears the media has not picked up this story.

- Peter Young

In late-2004, morning workers arrived at the Spence Laboratories to find $450,000 in damage to equipment and 401 animals missing. Graffiti left at the scene read “Science Not Sadism” and “Free The Animals”. In a long communique, the Animal Liberation Front (A.L.F.) took credit.

Just before the 5-year statute of limitations was to expire (most federal crimes have an SoL of 5 years), two Minneapolis activists were subpoenaed to testify to a grand jury in Davenport, IA. It soon became clear the grand jury was investigating the University of Iowa A.L.F. raid. Both were jailed after refusing to testify. Soon after, one of the two - Scott DeMuth - was indicted for Animal Enterprise Terrorism.

Those I have spoken to close to the case awe at the bizarre, unprofessional, and legally unsound nature of the entire prosecution. As one person told me: “When all the facts come out, this DA is going to be very embarrassed”.

All indicators are that the government rushed through an indictment they knew would not stand, in order to freeze the clock on the statute of limitations and buy time to build a more solid case. The case has all the markings of a desperate and unconstitutional prosecution motivated by an attempt to save face after 5 years of failing to apprehend the Animal Liberation Front.

Eight Reasons the Iowa A.L.F. Investigation is a Fraud

Feldman was 15 at the time of the raid

Carrie Feldman, incarcerated for refusing testimony to the grand jury, was a 15 year old sophmore in high school at the time of the raid. Yet a judge has stated the government admitted…

…it sought Ms. Feldman’s testimony because it believes she had knowledge of “a break-in of the University of Iowa Spence Laboratories in November, 2004.

And in a dissenting opinion on Carrie Feldman’s (denied) motion for release, a judge said:

…I am concerned by the necessary implication raised in this matter that the government is seeking Ms. Feldman’s testimony for the sole purpose of gathering additional information to support its indictment against Mr. DeMuth.

DeMuth was 17 at the time of the raid

Unlike Feldman, Scott DeMuth is accused of direct participation in the A.L.F. action (prosecutors have stated they believe he is featured in a video made of the raid). 17 at the time, DeMuth is implicated in an action that has the appearance of one of the most complex and expertly executed in the Animal Liberation Front’s history. According the media reports and the A.L.F. communique, activists picked locks, bypassed four layers of security, used stolen key cards to access labs, and removed 401animals from the building undetected. At 17, DeMuth is accused of an action requiring this level of skill.

DeMuth was not told he was a target of the grand jury

Furthering evidence DeMuth’s indictment was reprisal for his refusal to testify, he was not told he was a target of the grand jury when subpoenaed, as required by law. This bolsters the case that DeMuth’s indictment was motivated by spite, and was an afterthought to his refusal to testify.

The statute of limitations had expired

The indictment was issued four days after the five-year statute of limitations had expired. An appellate court judge stated:

The district court abused its discretion when it found Ms. Feldman in contempt of court because it failed to consider a significant relevant factor, i.e., whether the statute of limitations had run on the crime for which the government seeks Ms. Feldman’s testimony….the government itself cites no authority for the proposition it can abuse the grand jury process to compel a witness to testify regarding a crime for which the statute of limitations has expired.

Indictment is unconstitutionally incomplete

Demuth’s original indictment was so “shockingly vague” (defense lawyers), it failed to provide the following basic information: the elements of the alleged offense, supporting facts and circumstances, the law alleged to have  been violated, identifying an element of interstate activity, providing a date range of the alleged conspiracy, where the conspiracy is alleged to have taken place, and basic information as to what he is accused of. The one-page indictment was practically void of any information with which DeMuth could prepare a defense, including any information on what crime he is alleged to have committed.

Law DeMuth charged under did not exist in 2004

Scott DeMuth is charged under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, a law that did not exist until 2006 - two years after the University of Iowa raid.

A quote from the motion to dismiss the indictment:

….respectfully moves that his indictment be dismissed since the charges brought against him are under a statute which was not the law at the time of the alleged offense.

Only evidence is DeMuth’s “resemblance” to person in grainy film

The only evidence the prosecutor has stated to support DeMuth’s involvement is his “resemblance” to an individual in a video of the raid. The video of the rescue, taken by the A.L.F., is a grainy black and white film showing activists loading animals onto carts and taking them from the lab. Video would be damning evidence…. were all activists on the video not wearing masks.

DeMuth is not a vegetarian

In perhaps the most absurd example, the government made the folly of charging someone for an A.L.F. action who is not even a vegetarian.  In fact, the man accused of conspiring to rescue rats from a lab is a bow-hunter.

Conclusion: The jailing of Carrie Feldman and indictment of Scott DeMuth appears to be motivated by the following factors: desperation, spite, and / or a need to freeze the statute of limitation and buy time to build a substantive case.

The combined factors make the University of Iowa A.L.F. case among the most egregious examples of prosecutorial overzealousness in the animal liberation movement’s history.

- Peter Young

9:53 p.m. February 2nd

An employee of the notorious Fraser Fur Farm (Ronan, MT) called 911 on February 2nd to report they feared an impending raid of their farm. The employee told 911 they received an anonymous call that “terrorist” members of an “animal welfare coalition” will “invade the property and attempt to release the farm’s animals”.

Fraser Fur Farm is known as the largest wild cat farm in the country. Despite lynx being classified as a “threatened” species, it is believed Fraser Fur Farm imprisons at least 50 of the large cats. Most information known about the farm is found in an anonymous report featured in The Blueprint - Fur Farm Intelligence Project Report. There are 14 licensed bobcat and lynx farms in Montana.

View the anonymous report on Fraser Fur Farm here.

To date, there have been no reported Animal Liberation Front actions at Fraser Fur Farm.

- Peter Young

We just received word Carrie Feldman has been moved again, this time to Dubuque County Jail. She is being held on 23-hour lockdown. Carrie is now in “segregation”, doublespeak for solitary confinement. This is a tactic used by desperate prosecutors to coerce compliance in prisoners, in this case Carrie’s testimony regarding what prosecutors believe she may know about the 2004 liberation of 401 animals from the University of Iowa.

Carrie is accused of nothing more than refusing to give testimony to a grand jury seeking to indict members of the Animal Liberation Front.

Having spent four months in solitary, I can testify it is every bit the psychological torture one would imagine. Or worse. Please write Carrie Feldman during this difficult time, and support her for taking the most noble and practical approach to a grand jury subpoena: refusal to testify.

Carolyn Feldman
770 Iowa St.
Dubuque, IA 52001

- Peter Young

Below is a message from Carrie Feldman’s support group:

“Carrie was just transferred to Dubuque County Jail; seems like Muscatine was just a temporary stop. (Any mail that has been sent there may or may not get to her; we would like to encourage folks to re-send mail to this address).

We think Dubuque is where she’ll be for a while. Here is her mailing address there–mail should be getting through now:

Carolyn Feldman
770 Iowa St.
Dubuque, IA 52001

Mailing regulations for this jail: letters and cards are okay, “nothing inappropriate,” no glitter. Photos are okay, including Polaroids. You cannot send stamps or envelopes; she has to buy them with commissary money. Commissary money can be sent to the jail in the form of money orders; make sure to note that the money is for her.

Books can come from publishers or bookstores. Hardbacks are okay. Magazines can come from publishers. Copied zines are not allowed (we know).

Carrie is in segregation at this jail for an unknown amount of time, on 23-hour lockdown, and she is no longer allowed visits from anyone other than immediate family. It is going to be especially important for people to write her now, as this may be her only contact with the majority of the outside world for a long time. Please write to Carrie and encourage others to do the same!

And as always, you can send e-letters to davenportgrandjury@riseup.net; we’ll print them out and send them along.

Thank you all for your continued support.”

Several upcoming conferences are worth noting for their willingness to represent the diversity of tactics employed in the animal liberation movement:

Animal Liberation Forum 2010

CSU-Long Beach, Long Beach CA

April 15th - 18th

Animal Liberation Forum 2010 is a FREE 4 day conference in Long Beach, CA calling for a total abolitionist movement and animal liberation to action. Topics ranging from feminism, animal liberation, direct action and veganism will be discussed and strategized through speakers, panels, workshops and film screenings.

Speakers include: Shannon Keith, Matt Rosselle, and more.

Animal Ethics Conference

Utah Valley University, Provo UT

March 29th - April 2nd

“Utah Valley University’s Animal Ethics Conference will host speakers from all over the country to lecture on and discuss the ethics of animal human relationships.”

Speakers include: Jerry Vlasak, Steven Best, and more

North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies

SUNY Cortland, Syracuse NY

April 9th - 10th

Theme: Abolition, Liberation, and the Intersections within Social Justice

Let Live Conference

Portland State University, Portland OR

June 25th - 27th

“This conference is for first-timers, experienced activists, and anybody in between who hopes to make a real difference for animals and build a stronger, more effective community and animal liberation movement.”

Speakers TBA

Animal Rights National Conference 2010

Hilton Hotel, Alexandria, VA

July 15th - 19th

“Animal Rights 2010 National Conference, the world’s largest and longest-running animal rights gathering.”

Speakers include: Will Potter, Camille Hankins, and more.

Monday morning, workers discovered three wolves had been released from a pen at the Wildlife Science Center in Forest Lake,  MN. Two wolves have been recaptured, but one remains free. Only 350 of the rare Mexican Grey Wolves are known to exist.

On Sunday night or early Monday morning, person(s) unknown climbed the center’s front fence and used a long pole to pry open a latch on the Mexican wolf pen.

Predictably, the wolves captors have called this freeing of caged animals “ecoterrorism”. The executive director of the center stated - ““I’m completely convinced this is an anti-hunting group that is out to get me”.

The Wildlife Science Center is said to house bears, wolves, lynx, cougars and other animals used for “education and research”. The facility is on Broadway Avenue, west of Forest Lake.

As of this writing, no communique has been received.

- Peter Young

Fur farmers are going on the defensive in response to The Blueprint - a list of fur farm addresses for activists.  In an article last week in the Park Record (Park City, UT), one fur farmer stated in response to The Blueprint:

I have a target on my back.

The Blueprint - subtitled “the largest collection of fur industry intelligence to date” - is a 62-page document recently published by Voice of the Voiceless and Bite Back Magazine. It is an up to date, state-by-state directory of mink, fox, and lynx farms for activists. The document was released at the conclusion of the two-month Fur Farm Intelligence Project, where activists visited and compiled data on over 200 fur farms.

While the Park Record calls The Blueprint “a how-to guide for carrying out attacks against mink ranchers”, a look at the document shows this to be tabloid-style sensationalism. The document is made up of a short introduction explaining the value of names and addresses in legal animal protection campaigns, followed by a state-by-state listing of all known fur farms. Not only is The Blueprint absent of any “how-to” information on illegal activity, it is absent of any “how-to” information at all.

Part III of The Fur Farm Intelligence Project’s mission goals reads:

Collect data at each location relevant to legal campaigns: including species seen, farm size, and more.

Regardless, fur farmers spoken to in the Park Record claim the disclosure of their addresses has put them on the defensive. A Coalville, Utah fur farmer interviewed for the article stated:

The Blueprint is a little disturbing…. We spend many sleepless nights on the ranch.

Animal abusers appear to be so depraved, they reject the first amendment of the Constitution entirely. One mink farmer had this to say about the address list:

All this is is domestic terrorism.

The concern relates to a document of raw data, listing names and address of businesses. Calling this protected speech activity “domestic terrorism” places the burden on activists for the fur farmer’s guilt-complex, and operating a business the majority of the public finds morally abhorrent.

Despite being named in the article as the editor, I was not contacted for an interview to explain the intention behind The Blueprint.

A second paper - the Medford Star News - will be running an article on The Blueprint this week, and conducted a lengthy interview in which I was able to accurately represent my intention behind the fur farm directory. In number of mink farms, Medford, Wisconsin is second only to Morgan, Utah.

Animal abusers require only a little secrecy to do their work. The Park Record article highlights the power of “coordinative outreach”, and that a necessary step in dismantling any animal abuse industry is knowing the names and addresses that make up its architecture.

- Peter Young

Media reports of William “BJ” Viehl’s sentencing last week for the liberation of 650 mink never neglected to mention Fur Commission USA lies about the mink’s fate: Nearly all liberated mink recaptured, the rest “hit by cars” or dead from “exposure”. Take note of this TV report which recites the “death by exposure” fur industry stock-response, while showing open sheds which are clearly not climate controlled (as mink sheds never are). A lie, hidden in plain sight.

This recent blog post by a woman in Utah vindicates BJ, and the action for which he now serves a prison sentence. Here, she writes of finding a mink in her yard, near (from what we can extrapolate from details in the blog) the McMullin Fur Farm in South Jordan, Utah:

The mink kept coming back to check out what I was doing and I kept chasing him off.  Luckily he ran into our garage so we trapped him inside and Clint and I armed ourselves with nets and after lots of banging and chasing caught him.  He escaped about 5 times but we finally got him in a box.

Sadly, the heartless woman returned the mink to the prison from which the animal likely came:

We debated on killing him but I wanted to give him to a mink farmer so we found one and he was happy to take the mink…

Such reports are not uncommon. Regardless of the opinion of our “justice system”, reports of what are likely liberated mink are sufficient vindication for BJ’s actions, and the nightime efforts of the Animal Liberation Front.

- Peter Young

Calling him a “terrorist” and following through on his threat to more than quadruple the recommended sentence, judge Dee Benson Thursday sentenced William Viehl to two years in federal prison. It is the first sentence handed down under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.

Background

Viehl was charged last year under AETA for the release of 650 mink from the McMullin Fur Farm in South Jordan, Utah after cell phone records and a car key found at the scene were used to tie him to the raid. Graffiti found at the scene read “A.L.F.” and “We are watching”. Over one year later, mink are still being found living wild in the vicinity of the farm.

After an 11-month court battle, Viehl accepted a non-cooperating plea bargain in which the prosecution agreed to recommend a sentence of 6 months. In November the judge threw out the deal, stating the recommendation was “too low” and did “not match the severity of the crime”. The sentencing was held over for February, where Thursday he sentenced Viehl to 24 months in prison.

The Sentencing: Report From Court

Court convened Thursday at 11:30am in downtown Salt Lake  City. The prosecution first addressed the court. Refraining from the theatrics of past hearings such as a slide show showing firebombed cars from previous A.L.F. actions, the prosecutor made a very brief statement again recommending a six month sentence, and sat down.

Viehl’s attorney addressed the judge, also asking for a six month sentence. She highlighted previous animal rights cases where the “crimes” alleged would legally be considered more serious, yet resulted in sentences lower than or equal to the sentence being threatened by the judge (at previous hearings, Benson threatened a sentence of two years or more).

Judge Benson talked about the attention the case has received, and restated that he felt the recommended sentence was too low.

Lodder and Blackridge fur farms: guilt by association

He expressed his belief Viehl was involved with more Animal Liberation Front actions than those he was charged with, making clear he would be sentencing Viehl for crimes to which little to no evidence linked him, and for which he has not been charged.

He began this point by bringing up the A.L.F. raid of the Lodder fur farm in Kaysville, Utah. 6,000 mink were released from this farm in September, 2008. The judge pointed out Viehl was pulled over near the farm several weeks before the raid. The judge cited a police report which stated he was stopped dressed all in black, and a second occupant of the vehicle was seen stuffing a ski mask under a car seat.  A subsequent (warrantless) search of the vehicle allegedly turned up wire cutters. Weeks later, 6,000 mink were released from the fur farm.

He also mentioned an alleged “attempted” mink release at Blackridge Farms in Hyrum, Utah. Viehl and a second person were allegedly followed by a mink farmer after they were seen passing the farm late one night in October, 2008. The judge stated that after noticing he was being followed, Viehl pulled the car over and approached the farmer’s vehicle to ask why she was following them. Benson pointed out the vehicle was the same vehicle said to be used in the McMullin raid.

The evidence

The judge admitted the only evidence against Viehl was a car key found at the farm the morning after the raid, and cell phone records which placed Viehl’s phone near the McMullin farm the night of the mink release. He stated that even with the cell phone records, “without that key, we may not be here right now”.

Benson retreated to the emotive language both him and the prosecutor have made familiar in this case, stating Viehl “caused terror”, and that he knows of no other word for releasing animals from cages than “terrorism”.

“We have so many rights to properly change laws” in this country, he said. This was a naive or deliberately misleading statement while two SHAC 7 defendants and Kevin Olliff remain in jail for attempting to affect change in a legal, above-ground fashion through protest and outreach.

Judge: Viehl “heavily involved” in other A.L.F. raids

Consistent with previous statements from the judge, he linked Viehl to a broader conspiracy, stating he had “no doubt [Viehl] was heavily involved” in other Animal Liberation Front actions. He called him a “copycat”, and said the sentence would be aimed towards deterring future activists from carrying out A.L.F. actions.

With that, he handed down his sentence: Two years in prison, three years probation, nearly $66,000 in restitution, and no contact with the Animal Liberation Front.

With credit for time served, good time, and halfway house, Viehl expects to be released in August.

- Peter Young

Write William “BJ”  Viehl:

William James Viehl
Inmate #2009-05735
Davis County Jail
800 West State St.
Farmington, UT 84025

Most sentiments on the death of Daniel Shaull fall on the side of “just another crazy person taking their life”. Activists have run for cover to deny or distance themselves from this act. I question if these responses come from an action that confronts us with some uncomfortable truths. I think we all wish our actions were as commensurate with the urgency of 10 billion non-human animals killed each year as those of Daniel Shaull, that we were capable of such a sacrifice to awaken the world to their plight.

Debates over the strategic value of self-immolation are irrelevant. As are discussions of Shaull’s mental health. I don’t think it is the place of anyone, myself included, sitting behind the safety of a computer to cast stones at someone who broke out of that safety zone and did something. Especially someone who is dead.

When someone takes their life in solitude, and in a way devoid of larger impact, we call it “tragic”. When a man takes his life outside a fur store to give his death greater significance, we call it “crazy”.

I will not rob Daniel Shaull of his last statement to this earth with such dismissiveness.

- Peter Young

The below article covers these points better than I could.

Simulposted with Negotiation Is Over and Thomas Paines Corner

Searching for the Significance of a Life and a Death
By: Cat

Yesterday, a man set himself on fire outside Ungar Furs, and burned himself to death. We know his name now: According to the Alliance, it was Daniel Shaull. And we know that what he did appears to have been in solidarity with the animals who continue to die horrible deaths, day after day after day, to keep Nicholas Ungar in business. We know that, even as he was on fire and undoubtedly in terrible pain, he mustered great strength and tried to go inside the fur store to spread the flames to the coats and garments and blood-stained profits of the last fur store in Portland.

I would like to know more.

Indeed, it was strange to find out he was someone most of us did not know. Those of us who were not there yesterday, who scrambled to find out who it was, we each had a fear in the pit of the stomach, each of us sure we would know him, each of us having someone or other in mind that it might be. I know I did. When I finally heard his name, a small sense of relief washed over me, because it was a name I did not know. But someone knew him. And he deserves his story. If you knew Daniel Shaull, please post your stories of his life here.

If you did not know him but you just want to offer your critique of self immolation as a tactic, please just keep your useless judgments to yourself. This is the morning after, the place where all the bone-pickers will come in and make dismissive claims about this man and his last act of sacrifice. You know what I’m saying. “This is going too far,” “he was just crazy,” “he was a terrorist,” “this tactic is too extremist,” and perhaps the most unforgivable of all, “this will make us all look bad.”

I’m not ready to dismiss the significance of this man’s last act so easily.

Every year, more than 50 million animals - many of them dogs and cats - die for the fur industry. They die needless, painful, and suffering deaths so that people like Nicholas Ungar can make a lot of money, and so that vain, selfish, irredeemably thoughtless people can wear those animals’ skins. Fifty MILLION beings, every single year, killed in horrific and unceasingly bizarre ways. For nothing. Absolutely nothing. Some of them are picked up by their hind legs and pounded against the cement until they die. Some have metal bars shoved into their mouths, and electrodes pressed against their anus, and are electrocuted. Some are gassed. Some are trapped in the wild, and spend days on end struggling to free themselves. Terrified, dehydrated, hungry, cold, and mutilated, they wait for the trapper to come. I have personally witnessed a fur trapper approaching a frightened little bobcat like this, right here in the woods of Cascadia, and then unceremoniously beating her over the head, repeatedly, with a baseball bat. CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. Until she finally died.

Sometimes, these animals are beaten unconscious, and they awaken while they are being skinned alive. This is not just some far off, urban legend thing. This is something real and immediate and horrible. I have seen this happen, and watched as the trapper just laughed and taunted the half-skinned, dying animal. Her last screams jeered at, the violation of her being complete. Her bloody little body went into a pile of bloody little bodies just like hers. Her skin was sold in someone’s garage, on the first leg of the journey to Ungar or Schumachers, or Nordstroms.

This is what Nicholas Ungar sells.

Unimaginable suffering, for nothing. A lot of people just don’t care. A lot of people think wearing fur is acceptable, and that making a living off this kind of unending suffering is tolerable. It’s the people who care that are labeled “terrorist.” The killers are just “businessmen.” Some people actually defend the practice, many more just don’t care enough to do anything about it. Still others like to get all philosophical and “tolerant” and pretend to be above it all. (I have seen a lot of that here on this site in recent days. These are the people who also defend slaughter houses, and lab experiments. Cold, academic justifications for horrific acts of violence. Disembodied philosophizing and dismissive tomes meant to put those who actually give a damn “in their places.” Here, for example: http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2010/01/396920.shtml, and here: http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2010/01/396920.shtml, and here: link to portland.indymedia.org.)

Is it really all that hard to understand, that someone could find that they just can’t take it any more? They just can’t stand by and do nothing, even when there is nothing left to do? Is it really so difficult to comprehend that this man could be so profoundly moved by such an unimaginable injustice, that he would be willing to actually sacrifice his own life in a last desperate act?

Not to me. I get it. I can understand that frustration and pain and desperation. I have felt it myself, and I think that any one of us who was born with the ability to empathize with non-human animals in this cold-hearted world has felt it too. We might not be lighting ourselves on fire, but deep down inside, I think we understand Daniel Shaull’s desperation and despair. Even if we did not know him, we know what it feels like to bear witness, day after day, to the intentionally inflicted pain and suffering of others, and to feel so mutely powerless to make it stop. We watch in horror as a never ending stream of animal victims is poured into the maw of human hatred and indifference. We cannot understand how humans can be so needlessly, thoughtlessly, cruel. And we cannot understand why their eyes cannot be opened to the pain and suffering they are causing. Sometimes, even our “friends” turn out to be the kind of people who either cause this suffering, or try to excuse it. God, it gets so frustrating after awhile… and it never ends.

If you care about animals in this human world, it’s easy to feel like you are alone in a sea of inexplicable hatred. It isn’t even just the people wielding the metal pipes in the slaughter houses, or the electrodes on the fur farms. It’s not just the people with the guns and the deer heads tied to the front of their “rigs.” It’s not just the people shoving load after load after load of cats and dogs into gas chambers, or the people gouging baby mice out of their mothers’ bellies in laboratories. It’s not just the assholes offering “chicken chokin” classes, or the old men making money selling furs. It’s also all the mind-numbingly cold people who build word monuments to themselves over it - defending it and justifying it and dismissing it. It’s the overwhelming awareness of all the suffering in the world, and the strange ostracism of anyone who can see it, who tries to point it out.

This can be a cold, hard world for people of compassion for the animals. Even radicals often just don’t get it.

It may actually turn out that Daniel Shaull suffered from mental illness. But in this world, I sometimes think mental illness and desperate acts might be the only sane response.