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Summer/Fall
Issue 2004
Laws Concerning Criminality
of Animal Rights Activism Reviewed in Recent Senate Hearings
Brian Marable, Animals in Research Committee
Death threats, intimidation and harassment, physical attacks,
pipe bombs, destruction of property, arson, and economic sabotage
- these are the tools of terrorists. But not all terrorists
are international extremists. Many are working in the U.S.
at the community level, pushing their animal rights agendas
via criminal harassment and violence directed
toward law-abiding individuals, businesses, and governments.
To stop these “domestic terrorists” law enforcement
agencies need the tools and resources to apprehend and prosecute
the perpetrators. On May 18, 2004, the United States Senate
Committee on the Judiciary held a hearing on “Animal
Rights: Activism versus Terrorism.” The hearing chaired
by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) sought to examine
what can and should be done when political activism, long-held
as a fundamental right of a free democratic society, crosses
into criminal acts. The committee heard statements from panelists
with various experiences in the area of criminal activities
related to fringe animal-rights groups.
McGregor Scott, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern
District of California, reported that animal rights groups
and eco-terrorists “have committed more than 1,000 acts
of terrorism and have caused more than $100 million dollars
in damage” since 1996. Mr. Scott stressed that the issue
is not the millions of Americans who belong to and are active
in legitimate animal rights groups, but rather the fringe
factions (such as the Animal Liberation Front; ALF) who are
frequently supported both financially and politically by more
mainstream organizations. He went on to note that these terrorists
represent a large part of the growing domestic terrorism problem.
Of particular interest are the activities of Stop Huntington
Animal Cruelty (SHAC), an animal rights group that has claimed
responsibility (or has failed to publicly condemn), many of
the violent acts committed against employees of Huntingdon
Life Sciences (HLS) and their financial partners. Mr. Scott
closed his statement with a call to Congress to broaden the
scope of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Statute, under which
many animal rights individuals and eco-terrorists can be prosecuted.
John Lewis, FBI Deputy Assistant Director
for Domestic Terrorism, stated that “in recent years
the ALF and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) have become
the
most active criminal extremist elements in the United States.”
Of particular concern is the recent use of “improvised
explosive devices. . .accompanied by threats of more,
larger bombings and even assassinations of researchers, corporate
officers, and employees.” For example, following the
explosion of two pipe bombs at the Chiron Life Sciences
Center
in Emeryville, CA (and subsequent increases in security),
an anonymous letter claiming responsibility for the bombings
included the threat “. . .you might be able to
protect your buildings, but can you protect the homes of
every
employee?” Mr. Lewis went on to say that by far the
most destructive practice of ALF/ELF was the use of arson
tactics to scare and destroy. Oftentimes, this destruction
includes valuable experimental data that cannot be replaced.
Arsonist methods are not simple “toss and run”
fire bombs, but are often sophisticated, timer-based incendiary
devices that are used after significant external and internal
intelligence information has been gathered. This information
is frequently posted on Internet sites used to identify
targets
and plan attacks.
William Green, Senior Vice President and
General Counsel for Chiron Corporation, testified that members
of SHAC had carried out numerous attacks on Chiron employees,
many of them as “home visits” that included harassing
phone calls, setting up fake Internet advertisements using
employee phone numbers, charging large purchases onto stolen
employee credit cards, waking employees and their neighbors
in the middle of the night with air horns and pounding on
windows and doors, vandalizing homes and business properties
including at least one death threat. These and similar tactics
were used to try to pressure companies like Chiron to break
current and future ties to HLS (although Chiron was mistakenly
identified as having such ties). Green went on to state that
since April of 2003 Chiron has spent at least $2.5 million
in direct costs relating to SHAC’s campaign of harassment.
These funds decrease the amount of money that can be spent
on new drug development that can potentially benefit both
humans and animals.
Finally, the committee heard testimony from Jonathan
Blum, Senior Vice President of Yum! Brands, Inc.,
the parent company of such restaurants as Taco Bell, Kentucky
Fried Chicken, and Pizza Hut. Although not targeted by SHAC,
Yum! Brands, Inc. has been the target of People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA), who disrupted the personal lives
of employees by handing out misinformation packets to neighbors,
distributing graphic videotapes of chickens being slaughtered
to neighborhood children, and vocal protests at churches and
homes. This campaign of intimidation has only “served
to strengthen our resolve. We won’t capitulate to PETA’s
demands or deal with corporate terrorists,” according
to Blum.
The purpose of this hearing, according to Senator Hatch, was
to “help identify and show the line that distinguishes
lawful expression and protest from criminal behavior.”
The testimonies of employees of companies that have been targeted
by animal rights extremist groups such as ALF show that many
of the activities of these groups cross the line from freedom
of speech and political expression to criminal acts of violence
and harassment conceived and carried-out with the purpose
of intimidation and harm. Clearly, law enforcement agencies
need resources to identify and prosecute these domestic terrorists.
Expanding the scope of current laws, such as the Animal Enterprise
Terrorism Statute, is a step in the right direction. These
changes will aid not only in the prosecution of attacks on
primary enterprises, but also those committed against “tertiary”
enterprises (companies that support or do business with primary
enterprises). The value of experimental animals in research
is too great to allow these terrorists to block important
advancements in human and veterinary medicine through their
tactics of illegal threats, violence, and intimidation. Domestic
terrorism, like international terrorism, cannot be tolerated.
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