With just six members of Congress in the room, just hours after lawmakers and celebrities were on hand to break ground for the new memorial honoring that terrorist Martin Luther King Jr., the House of Representatives passed the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, a law so vague and broad that the non-violent tactics of MLK and Gandhi are now “terrorism.”

The bill expanded the Animal Enterprise Protection Act, the law used to convict the SHAC 7 of “animal enterprise terrorism” just months earlier.

The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act sweepingly targets a wide range of political activity as “terrorism” if done in the name of animal rights. The greatest danger of this legislation, though, is the chilling effect it has had on law-abiding activists. Corporations and the politicians who represent them are using that word, “terrorism,” to make everyday people speak up for what they believe.

Here are some of the best resources from GreenIsTheNewRed.com on the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act:

How the AETA Works:

• Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act 101
• How Does the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act Work? (Audio)
• Will Potter’s analysis of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act

History of the AETA:

• Will Potter’s Congressional testimony on the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, H.R. 4239.
• The Animal Enterprise Protection Act (previous version of the law)
• Text of AETA, H.R. 4230, S. 3880

How the AETA Passed Congress:

• House Passes Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act With Little Discussion or Dissent
• Internal Industry Documents Show Plans for Labeling Activists as “Eco-Terrorists” (Part 1 of 3)
• Lobbying Documents Show How Corporations Snuck “Eco-Terrorism” Law Through Congress (Part 2 of 3)
• FBI’s 5-Step Process to Criminalize First Amendment Activity as “Terrorism”

Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act Arrests — AETA 4:

• FBI Arrests 4 Activists as “Terrorists” for Chalking Slogans, Leafleting and Protesting
• FBI Agent: Video Surveillance Used to Track Activist Leafleting
• Animal Rights Activists Indicted as “Terrorists” For Home Protests
• Dear Congress: You Lied to Me About the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act

Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act Arrests — Utah:

• 2 Animal Rights Activists Arrested as “Terrorists” for Freeing Mink in Utah

The Chilling Effect

• The Chilling Effect and McCarthyism 2.0
• Coping With Repression: The Chilling Effect of “Eco-terrorism” Rhetoric (Audio)