Scott Demuth Free Despite Emergency Government Motion Labeling Him an “Anarchist”
Dec 1st, 2009 by Will Potter
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 for alleged “conspiracy” as part of the 2005 Animal Liberation Front raid at the University of Iowa that rescued more than 300 animals.
He and another Minneapolis activist, Carrie Feldman, had been targeted by a grand jury focused on the ALF raid. Both Demuth and Feldman refused to testify on the grounds that the grand jury was a political witch hunt pressuring activists to speak, without an attorney present, about their political beliefs and political associations.
When Demuth was indicted, Judge Thomas Shields ruled that he could be released pending trial as long as he wore a GPS monitoring device and adhered to other criteria. Assistant U.S. Attorney Clifford Cronk filed an emergency motion to keep Demuth behind bars, arguing:
Defendant’s writings, literature, and conduct suggest that he is an anarchist and associated with the ALF movement. Therefore, he is a domestic terrorist.
Yes, you read that correctly. The government is arguing that First Amendment activity–writings, literature–and political beliefs are enough to make someone a terrorist.
Among the other reasons given to keep Demuth, a graduate student in the sociology department at the University of Minnesota, behind bars:
- He has political friends. According to the motion, he is an “associate” of Peter Young, “an outspoken and subversive animal rights activist who has been prosecuted for ALF activities and, after being indicted for animal enterprise terrorism, was a fugitive from justice for several years.”
- He protests. Demuth “participated in an anti-government demonstration in front of the courthouse” prior to the grand jury hearing.
- He has a network of support. There were individuals in the courtroom who supported him, Cronk argued, and many people had called into the U.S. attorney’s office opposing the grand jury “based upon their belief that the use of the grand jury was abusive and unconstitutional.”
This is not an isolated incident. It is becoming increasingly common to see this kind of inflammatory, unfounded rhetoric coming from prosecutors who hope to smear activists as terrorists before they even stand trial.
For instance, in Hugh Farrell’s motion for bond, the government said he “has been observed advocating literature and materials which advocate anarchy.”
Stephanie Ernst summed up the threat of this pretty well in her comments over at change.org:
Wow. WOW. He’s suspected of being involved in a raid that involved vandalism and rescue, and he’s an anarchist, so “therefore, he is a domestic terrorist.” Forget the trial, folks! Verdict is in! How many people would be “domestic terrorists” if these were the criteria?
Correction: Stephanie ERNST
That’s (relatively) good news about Scott. Thanks for the update.
Oops, thanks Michael! I blame spellcheck!
THEREFORE he is a Domestic Terrorist and THEREFORE he should remain behind bars. That ominous State reasoning is going to be haunting lots of activists. What can be done? At least we can’t hide behind the naive goal of voting out those “evil” Republicans.
I’m confused. I just received an update from ALF’s political prisoners information and they list DeMuth as being an avid bow-hunting advocate. That shouldn’t take away his rights, I guess, but it makes me question the label of him as an animal rights activist (and also makes me feel less inclined to be sympathetic towards him). Does anyone have any concrete information about this?
Thanks.
Wendy:
The identification of Scott as an “animal rights activist” was mine, and I may have projected that onto him. I know he is active in a wide range of issues but I have no idea if he identifies as such.
@ Wendy: Scott’s a member of my community and I can speak to that a bit (though if anyone else wants to chime in who’s closer to him, please do). He does *not* identify as an animal rights activist per se, part of what makes this whole thing even more strange; he *does* vocally oppose the instrumentalization and widespread systems of animal use and cruelty.
Scott is very focused on decolonization and traditional native language and practice, which is presumably where his bow-hunting comes in. As someone who *does* identify with an animal rights perspective (and as a settler, no less), I don’t want to go on too much about it or editorialize, only to provide that background.
Regardless, as a target of these Orwellian laws that effect all of us, he deserves and needs our full support and solidarity.
[...] Green is the new red: “Scott Demuth Free Despite Emergency Government Motion Labeling Him an ‘Anarchist’ [...]
peta called me for a donation and i declined, but if the usda is so threatened by them i think i can kick a few dollars their way. they must be more effective than i give them credit for.
[...] The blog is also about animal rights activists and the AETA. Yesterday, Potter gave this account of a recent victim of the AETA. Scott Demuth was “indicted on animal enterprise terrorism charges for alleged [...]
ludditerobot:
thanks for the information. I completely agree with you about these laws being beyond — just way beyond anything that Americans should have to deal with in a supposedly free, democratic country (unless, I guess, you’re not white; then the perspective is likely different and these laws maybe not so surprising). I appreciate that he’s taking a stand but I do have a big problem being supportive of bow hunters when there are many other prisoners whose activities support life rather than take it.
[...] only connection I can decipher between Young and the Iowa investigation is this: in an emergency motion filed against Scott DeMuth, to keep him in jail, the government calls DeMuth an “anarchist” and “domestic terrorist.” [...]
[...] http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/scott-demuth-released-anarchist-literature/2393/ [...]
[...] http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/scott-demuth-released-anarchist-literature/2393/ [...]
[...] http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/scott-demuth-released-anarchist-literature/2393/ [...]