Posted in Activists Arrested, Legal Issues on Jul 12th, 2010
A U.S. District Court has thrown out the indictment of four animal rights activists who were charged with violating the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, because the government did not clearly explain what, exactly, the protesters did.
Posted in Activists Arrested, Legal Issues on Jun 17th, 2010
Here’s a great, short video explaining the case of the AETA 4, who are activists charged under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act for protesting, chanting, and distributing fliers.
Posted in Activists Arrested, Legal Issues on May 21st, 2010
EmmaKate Martin and Benjamin Bryant took part in non-violent civil disobedience to blockade Massey Energy’s regional headquarters in Boone County, W.Va. Their bail was set at $100,000: higher than violent criminals receive.
Posted in Activists Arrested, Legal Issues on Apr 9th, 2010
An FBI affidavit has just been released in the investigation of the 2004 Animal Liberation Front break-in at the University of Iowa. It shows the stream-of-consciousness approach the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force took to the investigation, including surfing MySpace and Facebook and using an informant to identify activists on YouTube.
The affidavit from October, [...]
Posted in Activists Arrested, Legal Issues on Apr 5th, 2010
Photo from Flickr's antonychammond under Creative Commons license.Last week the Center for Constitutional Rights filed a lawsuit on behalf of multiple inmates housed in secretive prison facilities on U.S. soil called Communications Management Units. The suit is in addition to one previously filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, and marks an increased pressure on [...]
Posted in Activists Arrested, Federal Terrorism Laws, Legal Issues, Legislation on Dec 11th, 2009
As a follow up to David Pellow’s guest post, “My Student is a Sociologist, Not a Terrorist,” here is an update from his grad student facing terrorism charges, Scott DeMuth.
DeMuth has been indicted for conspiracy to commit “animal enterprise terrorism” in relation to the unsolved Animal Liberation Front raid at the University of Iowa. The [...]
Posted in Activists Arrested, Legal Issues on Dec 7th, 2009
The following is a guest essay written by David Naguib Pellow, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota and faculty advisor of Scott DeMuth:
On November 17, 2009, Scott DeMuth was jailed for contempt of court, since he refused to answer questions posed to him by a federal grand jury in Davenport, Iowa. They [...]
Posted in Activism & Activists' Response, Activists Arrested, Legal Issues on Dec 1st, 2009
The government filed an emergency motion to keep an activist in jail because he is an “anarchist” and “domestic terrorist” who associates with a “subversive,” but in a response issued Monday, an Iowa district court didn’t buy it. Scott Demuth will be released pending his trial.
Demuth has been indicted on animal enterprise terrorism charges [...]
Posted in Activists Arrested, Legal Issues on Nov 28th, 2009
Justin Solondz, an environmental activist who was wanted by the FBI for “eco-terrorism” charges tied to the Earth Liberation Front, has been sentenced to 3 years in a Chinese prison for manufacturing drugs. Back in June I reported on his arrest via Twitter, and now much more details have emerged about his life overseas and [...]
Posted in Activists Arrested, Federal Terrorism Laws, Grand Juries, Legal Issues, Legislation on Nov 20th, 2009
Scott DeMuth, a Minneapolis activist, has been indicted for conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, apparently in relation to a 2004 Animal Liberation Front raid at the University of Iowa. He faces up to 5 years in prison. His indictment marks a continued expansion of the scope of the new terrorism law, which [...]
The War on Terrorism has come home. Corporations and politicians are labeling activists "eco-terrorists" and national security threats. Think red-baiting, with a green twist. Here you'll find original reporting and analysis of the Green Scare, and history repeating itself.