Conspiracy

Breaking: Austrian Animal Rights Activists Acquitted of all Charges

Good news just received from friends overseas! All 13 Austrian animal rights activists who were charged with being part of a “criminal conspiracy” were just acquitted on their final day of trial. The announcement is a major victory in a case that has drawn international attention from civil liberties and human rights groups. The activists, [...]

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Grad Student Indicted on Terrorism Charges

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. [...]

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Activist Accused of “Advocating Literature and Materials Which Advocate Anarchy”

Hugh Farrell and Gina “Tiga” Wertz have their first court date on July 14th: they’ve been charged with racketeering-–charges originally intended to target the mob–-for allegedly “conspiring” to engage in tree sits, participate in non-violent civil disobedience, and make an inflammatory blog post against the I-69 NAFTA superhighway. When I reported on their arrest, though, [...]

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Mafia Law Used Against Environmentalists for Tree Sits, Civil Disobedience, Blog Post

Two environmental activists in Bloomington, Ind., have been charged with racketeering–charges originally intended to target the mob–for allegedly “conspiring” to engage in tree sits, participate in non-violent civil disobedience, and make an inflammatory blog post. Hugh Farrell and Gina “Tiga” Wertz are organizers in the campaign to halt expansion of the I-69 NAFTA superhighway. They [...]

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Animal Rights Activists Indicted as “Terrorists” For Home Protests

When four animal rights activists were arrested under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, it was unclear how prosecutors would proceed, and what specific accusations the activists would face. Now, the government indictment, available here for the first time, makes it strikingly clear that prosecutors intend to use terrorism laws to target First Amendment activity.

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McDavid Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison as a “Terrorist”

Eric McDavid was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison on Thursday, as a “terrorist,” for conspiring to sabotage federal facilities in the name of the environment. Nearly 20 years. That number is shocking enough, considering that the average sentence for violent offenders, in 2004, was about 7.6 years. That number is shocking enough, considering [...]

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