Animal Advocate Detained, Searched, Questioned at Canadian Border about Activism
Jul 15th, 2008 by Will Potter
As the New York Times reported last week, the Department of Homeland Security routinely stops Americans who are re-entering the country so government officials can snoop through laptops and even copy files.
For many animal and environmental advocates, though, this is old news. And it’s only part of the story. The government labels the animal rights and environmental movements the “number one domestic terrorism threat” because some activists do things like break windows, release animals from fur farms, or, at worst, burn SUVs. That label has given the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, and TSA the pretext to go after legal, above-ground activists: Feds have not only snooped through laptops, but detained and questioned activists about their political beliefs and political associations. The government has been treating the border as a Constitutional no-man’s land, a legal dead zone for carrying out political witch hunts.
For instance, I recently talked with Jeremy Beckham, who is working with the Primate Freedom Project to create the National Primate Research Exhibition Hall. He’s a part-time student at the University of Utah, and he also teaches in an after-school program.
On June 20th, he went to Vancouver with his brother and a friend. They crossed into Canada without a problem. It wasn’t until the return trip, when they gave the U.S. border agent their licenses and birth certificates, that they realized something was up.
Beckham says:
As he [the border agent] entered my name into his computer, he grew very alarmed and immediately made a hand gesture to other agents. Approximately half a dozen CBP agents surrounded our car. When I looked into my rear view mirror, one of the agents shouted very authoritatively “don’t look in your mirrors at us! keep your eyes forward”. We were instructed to pull our car off to the side and walk inside the CBP station. We were told to leave all of our cell phones and keys in the vehicle.
Agents refused to let Beckham observe as they searched his car. They took him into another room where he was questioned by Agent Galager about his job, salary, and which student groups he supports at the university. When Beckham asked to speak with a lawyer, Galager became very upset, handcuffing Beckham and saying he was being detained. Another agent entered the room.
The new agent told me “we aren’t your local law enforcement going after gang bangers in the street. We’re federal officials fighting terrorism. So you will sit there and answer our questions whether you like it or not.”
I responded “So I do not have the right to remain silent?” He responded “No you do not. This isn’t an episode of Law and Order. You are not taking this as seriously as should.”
About this time, Beckham says, two agents were talking about the search of his car. The car was “clear,” they said, except for a notebook with addresses, which they copied.
[Agent] Page explained what was happening — the first time so far. He said that the government considered me a “person of interest” but that he could say no more. He said that he has Googled my name while I was being detained and knows that I am an animal rights “extremist” and that the government has a good reason for monitoring people who believe in animal rights because so many of them, although not all, have resorted to terrorism.
He stated “we have no problem with your right to be an animal rights person, but they just want to make sure that you aren’t more extreme.”…
Then he said “do you support or know anyone in ALF [Animal Liberation Front]? Do you support law breaking for your cause?” I said again, firmly, that I didn’t want to answer any questions of that nature. For the first time in my whole ordeal, he expressly told me “OK well you certainly have that right - no one here has stopped you from that.” I told him - with Galager in the room - that Galager told me that I had to answer questions. Galager then quickly stated that he never told me that.
When Beckham was allowed to return to his brother and friend, he found out that they, too, had been questioned. Beckham says, “When Amy asked why she was being asked that, they shouted that she was being uncooperative. Frightened, she provided them with the requested information: that she was an after school teacher for Salt Lake City School District.”
The entire ordeal lasted about three hours, Beckham says. When they returned to the car, the glovebox had been searched and left open, their bags had been searched and left open. As if the agents clearly felt they had nothing to hide.
i hear jeremy likes baked goods too!
agents take note!
this is important shit!
So THAT’S why the agents were taking apart the car. I hope the vegan brownie contraband was well-hidden, Jeremy.
not too many brownies, though, i hope, or else the car will drag!
Come on Will “at worst, burn SUVs”? These groups have done far more than that and you know it. In August 2003, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) claimed responsibility for setting fire to
a new housing development near San Diego, damage was assessed at
more than $50 million.
An investigative documentary maker who exposed extreme elements within the Animal Liberation Front was kidnapped and branded across the back with the letters “ALF”.
ELF claimed responsibility for an arson fire that caused massive
destruction at Vail Ski Resort in October of 1998, damage
was assessed at $12 million.
The SHAC 7 ran a website encouraging people to harm members of HLS and their families.
In the UK, in February 2001, the managing director of HLS was brutally attacked by
three baseball-bat wielding thugs in the garage of his own home. Brian Cass was
hospitalized by the attack.
I have had death threats against myself and my family because I support hunting.
It is isulting when you try and make these groups sound like kids who are bored Will, they are terrorist! If you don’t think so, lets see how you feel when someone calls at 3am and tells you that they are going to burn your house down with you and your family in it.
Joe: I certainly don’t think the ELF or ALF are kids who are bored. However, you need to get your facts straight. The SHAC 7 did not run a website encouraging people to harm HLS employees: it posted news of both legal actions (protests, leafletting) and illegal (when underground groups rescued animals or set up smoke bombs). The “branding” incident you cut-and-pasted was from a 1999 story that had a few holes in it: namely, it was never even reported to the police, no ALF cell claimed responsibility, and it violates the groups own guidelines. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/1999/nov/08/jamiewilson). Finally, the Brian Cass incident, the one act of violence I’m aware of, was in the UK, not the US. I’ve reported on the arsons at Vail, San Diego, and elsewhere, which, although extreme and dangerous, have never harmed anyone.
But beyond that, how do any of those incidents apply, in any way, to lawful, above-ground activists being harassed for simply using their First Amendment rights? Do you really think it’s justified to harass and intimidate activists in the US based on a violent act overseas?
And Joe, as far as “knowing how it feels,” I’ve unfortunately been on the receiving end of death threats, but from someone claiming to a be an animal researcher… not an activist.
Joe:
How do you think the animals feel when you threaten them and their whole family with your rifle?
How do you think they feel when they are strapped into machines to have the latest house paint formula repeatedly injected into their eyes, nose and mouth?
Don’t you think they feel terrorized?
How do you think they would feel if someone took them out of these situations and allowed them to live their own lives in peace and dignity? And if they found out that some people were willing to fundamentally dismantle the system of oppression that had kept them, and their families there? The ALF doesn’t believe in harm to any being - human’s included. That’s as simple as it is.
Let me put it this way - you obviously care about the potential harm to human lives that you feel may come as a result of ALF activity. I believe that is a form of altruism. If you can stand up against activity that you think harms your fellow man, then that’s what you will do - because you believe that’s what is right. Individuals who participate in the ALF and ELF extend their circle of altruism to all creatures who are living in a system of oppression at the hands of their human counterparts.
Standing up for animals doesn’t mean tearing down people - it means destroying the tools, buildings, and paradigms that allow the system to continue.
If someone were willing to burn down a vacant ski resort to keep your family from being slaughtered, would you be thankful, or would you want them to go to prison?
When you start believing that “violence” can be exacted on property and objects, but not to living, feeling beings - you are participating in a system of terrorism.
served!
as an animal activist and parent it is frightening and confusing to read accounts such as Beckham’s. and that is exactly what the government wants to do: scare us and confuse us into thinking that it is wrong to work toward ending animal oppression; whether it’s experiments, factory farming, fur, or anything else. we all need to know our rights and how to act when we’re under scrutiny for having a set of morals that includes animals that don’t speak our language. as if i don’t have enough to do as a parent. shit!
Michelle: You’re absolutely right, this is all about scaring and confusing people into silence. Activists need to not only know their rights but know they have a community of people supporting them if they’re placed in a situation like this.
Will, was your death threat an email threat or did they call your unlisted phone number and name you and your wife by name like mine? I don’t sweat the email threats but the phone threats like that bother me.
Joe,
That was a pretty half-hearted response to Will’s comments. Do you not feel the need to address him?
I also agree with Liz here. You’re terrorizing animals with your gun for your self-interest. Atleast animal activists are doing what they do to help, and not taking lives in the process.