Jordan Halliday and a supporter outside the courthouse.

Utah animal rights activist Jordan Halliday has begun a 10-month prison sentence for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury about his political beliefs and political associations. It is believed to be the first time in two decades, and only the third time in U.S. history, that someone has been imprisoned for criminal contempt of court after already serving prison time for civil contempt–all because of his principled stand against what activists call a political witch hunt.

The Utah grand jury was convened in 2009 to investigate the release of mink from Utah fur farms by the Animal Liberation Front. Halliday refused to cooperate because grand juries have historically been used against social movements (as they are now being used against antiwar activists in the Midwest) in fishing expeditions.

When you walk into a grand jury, you check your rights at the door. You have to answer questions about your politics and your friends. You don’t have the right to remain silent. If you refuse to cooperate and “name names,” you can be sent to jail. That’s what happened to Halliday.

But the story of how and why he was targeted gets even more surprising.

Corporate Leads

According to a government memo, “there is evidence that the defendant [Halliday] notified news sources of the McMullin mink farm attack on the day of the attack, and even before police officers knew of the significance of the crime.” This would seem like a good reason to question him.

However, it’s a lie.

FBI file shows emails from Fur Commission.

On August 20, 2009, someone submitted an anonymous message to KUTV.com about the fur farm raid. The only details provided on the contact form were a first name of “Jordan” and an email “jo~dan@aol.com.” The message said the Animal Liberation Front released 300 mink from McMullin mink farm and that they “look a lot happier.”

KUTV forwarded the message to Lindsey McMullin, the farm owner. McMullin forwarded the email to Teresa Platt of Fur Commission USA, an industry group. Platt forwarded the email to the FBI. [Here is a section of the FBI file with the emails.]

This is the basis for the FBI’s obsession with Halliday: an anonymous email attributed to “Jordan” that they received from a corporate front group, and the fact that Jordan Halliday is the only animal rights “Jordan” they could find (the other Jordans they spoke with were not activists, prosecutors said).

Refusal to Cooperate

Halliday maintains he has no knowledge of these crimes, and points out that anyone claiming responsibility for a crime would not use their real name (plus jo~dan@aol.com is not even a valid address). Instead, he argues that he has been targeted because of his protesting and writing, and that this is a broader attack on the animal rights and environmental movements.

Halliday’s attorney said in a memorandum:

… Jordan has resisted questioning involving his membership status and/or leadership position in various organizations of political and social nature involved in advocating for animal protections. He has been questioned about whether he organized a rally in front of the federal courthouse, and if he knows who did organize such rally, or if it were an organization to which he belongs that planned the rally. He has been asked about his family members, and whether one is married to an animal rights activist…[emphasis added]

1-2-3-4-FIFTH

Halliday answered either “no comment” or invoked the Fifth Amendment to all questions asked of him during his grand jury appearances. He answered no questions. His refusal to cooperate with the grand jury resulted in him spending 104 days in jail for civil contempt of court. Before being released, he was informed that the government had indicted him again on the same case, this time on criminal contempt charges.

Upon learning that prosecutors sought a 2 year prison sentence, Halliday pleaded guilty to refusing to answer questions at a federal grand jury. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison. To put this in perspective, William James Viehl and Alex Jason Hall were convicted of two counts of “animal enterprise terrorism” under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act for the Matthews mink farm raid, and sentenced to 21 and 24 months.

Why was Halliday treated so harshly?

One reason is that his “refusal to testify over a long period and his statements about ‘resisting’ the grand jury make his conduct more serious than simply failing to appear as a material witness.”

An example of this “disdainful view of grand juries” is a March 4, 2009 text message sent by Halliday after appearing before the grand jury. According to the government’s sentencing memo, he wrote:

Well, after my dave chapelle … I plead the 5th routine today. I was making some fo [sic] the gj laugh. I was sayin’ like “1-2- 3-4-5th!”. And they asked to see and they asked to see and they asked her to grant me more time as well, because they needed more time. The prosecutor was pissed as fuck.

Prosecutors note that “Dave Chappelle is a popular comedian who performs a comic routine that Halliday claims in the text message to have been mimicking before the grand jury. (Submission Exhibit No. 6.) In context, the video clip illustrates Halliday’s intention to mock the grand jury process…”

Prosecutors also say there were protestors outside the courthouse, and that Halliday said on websites and in the press that he had no intention of cooperating with a grand jury witch hunt. His refusal to cower in fear, his refusal to acquiesce to the government’s bullying, and his willingness to mock those the government were spun by the government as evidence of the need for a higher sentence.

“Stardom”

It’s telling that prosecutors bluntly describe this lack of fear as a threat to the entire grand jury system. “In some sense, the defendant’s contempt has brought a certain stardom within the counterculture animal rights extremist movement,” the sentencing memo says. He has tweeted, blogged, and interviewed about his experiences. He has supporters who have opened Facebook and Tumblr accounts, and protested outside the courthouse.

It is imperative, prosecutors said, that the “sentence defendant receives must not only deter his future criminal conduct, but also send the appropriate message to ensure that, as an unintended consequence of a lenient sentence, the defendant’s supporters are not emboldened to follow the defendant’s contemptuous ways.”

The FBI, the fur industry, and prosecutors are openly trying to send a message.

But what message are you hearing?

Kellie Marshall and Victor Vandoren, both from Austin, Texas, are accused of attempting to release mink from a fur farm in Sioux City, Iowa. At a court date last week, their charges were increased to include two class D felonies in addition to two misdemeanors.

Police allege that Marshall and Vanorden used bolt cutters to cut several holes in a fence at the mink farm, and that a vehicle near the property had hiking maps and a police scanner.

As former Animal Liberation Front prisoner Peter Young noted, the same fur farm was raided by underground animal rights activists in 1997, and approximately 5,000 mink and more than 100 silver foxes were freed.

It’s not clear yet if the two will face Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act charges. However, with recent raids in Jewell, Iowa (freeing 1,500 mink), Washington State (freeing 1,000 mink) and Oregon (freeing 300 mink), industry groups like the Fur Commission have been making the media rounds calling this crimes “terrorism.”

Kellie Marshall and Victor Vandoren are facing about 10 years in prison and are being held in county jail on bond. You can write them a letter or make a donation to their legal support at http://supportkellieandvictor.blogspot.com.

The video is pretty funny and worth a watch (and kudos to the gentleman at the store for taping it!). But I think it’s really important to point out that, if you are ever visited by the FBI, for any reason, the best thing to do is to say absolutely nothing. Not a little bit, not a sentence or two — nothing.

I’m not saying this because of what the person in the video says (I actually can’t make out anything he says, because it has been dubbed over) but because it is always, without a doubt, the best way to protect your rights and the rights of those in your community. As a lawyer friend of mine noted, anything you say could be twisted against you: “If, for instance, this gentleman said he knew nothing but actually did, they could get him on lying to a federal officer. So, like the overdubbing says, just say you’re not interested in talking to them.”

Utah animal rights activists Jordan Halliday was sentenced to an additional 10 months in prison today for refusing to testify before a federal grand jury.

The grand jury was convened to investigate the release of mink from Utah fur farms by the Animal Liberation Front. Halliday refused to cooperate because grand juries have repeatedly been used by the government as a tool for fishing expeditions, forcing activists to testify about their political beliefs and political associations.

Grand juries have historically been used against social movements (and are also being used against antiwar activists in the Midwest). They’re a tool to harass and intimidate activists, and foster fear and distrust among activist communities. If you don’t know about grand juries, I think this clip from the Rockford Files is a good start.

Halliday will be appealing the sentence. He is scheduled to report to prison in January.

I’ve written about the community support Halliday has received, and that will need to continue as this moves forward. This video clip is a song he wrote in thanks to supporters. An excerpt:

I’ll read a lot of books.
I’ll get really smart.
I’ll bulk up.
And tear those books apart.
(I’m just kidding)

Visit Jordan Halliday’s support website.

Scott DeMuth pleaded guilty today to a misdemeanor conspiracy charge for releasing ferrets from a Minnesota farm. As part of the deal, he will no longer be charged with conspiracy to commit “animal enterprise terrorism” in relation to a University of Iowa Animal Liberation Front raid.

DeMuth had previously resisted a grand jury fishing expedition, and been labeled an “anarchist” and “domestic terrorist” by the government. His faculty advisor at the University of Minnesota has also been harassed by the FBI.

As part of the deal, he will not be forced to cooperate with the government. He faces approximately six months in prison for the misdemeanor charge.

The plea agreement comes as DeMuth was set to begin trial Tuesday. From the start, DeMuth has maintained his innocence in relation to the University of Iowa case. Prosecutor Cliff Cronk has re-indicted DeMuth twice, in response to arguments by defense attorneys that the government’s case is thin and vindictive: the second superseding indictment added an allegation of a raid at Lakeside Ferret, in Minnesota.

The government seems to have taken whatever it can get in this case: a lesser charge in lieu of “terrorism” charges, which fell apart. The terrorism investigation of the University of Iowa ALF raid, is likely not over, however. Recent FBI raids in other states have been part of that investigation, as have visits by FBI agents to local activists.

Peter Young’s home was raided the FBI this week, and the search warrant repeatedly mentions his name in relation to “animal enterprise terrorism.” In the last article we looked at how this Utah raid is, ostensibly, related to the investigation of an Animal Liberation Front raid at the University of Iowa.

As with all of these cases, though, it’s important to put this in a bigger political context. Few attempts have been made to connect Young to Iowa (the government argued in court that Young was an “associate” of Scott DeMuth, the defendant in the Iowa case, because DeMuth identified someone in his journal as ‘P’).
Young says he has never met DeMuth, a graduate student whose research has included radical social movements.

However, attempts have been made to repeatedly label Young a “terrorist” not for underground crimes like raiding fur farms (which he was convicted of years ago) but for lawful, aboveground, First Amendment activity. For instance, he published The Blueprint, a listing of fur farms in the United States.

Young wrote in the introduction:

While past fur industry investigations focused on the treatment of animals, this one sought something else: names and addresses. Of all forms of animal rights outreach, the dissemination of “names and addresses” is at once among the most overlooked, and most potent…

The fur industry is among the most vulnerable targets in our sights. We rented a car, and set out to create the roadmap to its collapse.

Fur farmers responded by labeling this document, which is listing of public information obtained lawfully and disseminated lawfully, a “terrorist handbook.”

Multiple newspapers in Utah and Wisconsin published stories with industry soundbites along these lines. The Park Record in Utah reported:

“‘The Blueprint’ is a little disturbing. Basically, what ‘The Blueprint’ is, is a terrorist handbook,” a mink rancher in Coalville told The Park Record on Wednesday.

The man, who is in his 20s, spoke to the newspaper at his ranch on the condition of anonymity.

“All this is is domestic terrorism, and I have a target on my back,” he said in the interview. “They’re out there calling death threats in to ranchers. We spend many sleepless nights on the ranch.”

Most times he is armed, the rancher added.

All of this has the effect of increasing fear of animal rights activists as “terrorists,” and legitimizing any subsequent actions such as FBI raids of activists’ homes. As in all of these Green Scare cases, these media campaigns and this raid are, above all else, about instilling fear.

A Utah animal rights activist has been indicted by a federal grand jury on felony contempt charges for asserting his First and Fifth Amendment rights, and refusing to cooperate with the “animal rights terrorism” witch hunt. His trial is scheduled to begin on November 2.

The grand jury is investigating the release of thousands of mink from Utah ranches. Jordan Halliday has already served several months in jail for contempt of court for refusing to testify, and now the grand jury is going after him again.

Grand juries can compel people to testify without representation by an attorney. They are conducted in secret, and exist as a legal vacuum where First and Fifth Amendment rights can be deemed by a judge to no longer apply.

[Here's a "Grand Jury 101 from the Rockford Files."]

Halliday has a federal public defender in this case, but still needs to raise about $600 to pay his previous attorney; if you would like to make a donation, please visit his support website, www.SupportJordan.com.

B.J. Viehl has changed his plea to guilty and admitted releasing hundreds of mink from a Utah fur farm as part of an Animal Liberation Front raid. Viehl and his codefendant, Alex Hall, were charged under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.

He now faces up to 5 years in prison.

Alex Hall is still taking his case to trial. Viehl’s supporters put up a message from him on his MySpace page saying that Viehl has not agreed to cooperate, in any way, with prosecutors. Here is his part of his explanation of his decision:

Utah is a very conservative and religiously controlled state, and cases like mine are almost always guilty until proven innocent. Having a politically and religiously biased jury deciding my fate will not be of my best interest. The change of plea hearing will be on September 2nd, 2009. and will basically consist of me admitting guilt and accepting responsibility. This, however, WILL NOT affect Alex negatively in any way. What ever Alex chooses to do with his case, he will have my love and respect.

Meanwhile, the case of another group of activists charged with “animal enterprise terrorism” is moving forward in California. The “AETA 4″–and Alex Hall, in Utah–need your support as they move forward with their legal defense.

Operation Bite Back is a great new book by Dean Kuipers on the life of Rod Coronado, one of the most influential figures in the modern animal rights and environmental movements. Coronado is perhaps best known for a string of Animal Liberation Front actions, the namesake of the book, targeting the fur industry. He also had a pivotal role in the growth of the Sea Shepherds (I’m still waiting for the next “Whale Wars” disc on Netflix) and the ideological development of radical environmental groups like Earth First! and the Earth Liberation Front.

That’s a grossly abridged look at this man’s life. Regardless of how you feel about direct action and the animal rights and environmental movements, Rod Coronado’s story is one that demands to be told.

Kuipers has done just that, and well. Of course, some folks are up in arms that he is telling the story, period. Fur industry folks have slammed the book, not because of the content, but because it was written. Kuipers had a great response to an Amazon review:

“Platt [of the Fur Commission] has strong opinions about these issues and I don’t take them lightly. They’re represented in the book. But maybe she could have given me two stars for writing well!? Ah, the writer’s ego, another bourgeois vestige …”

• Please check out the book and leave a review on the Operation Bite Back Amazon page.
• Actually, BUY the book. As a writer I think I need to make this across-the-board pitch for other writers: buy their work. If a writer is dead, yeah, who cares, go to your local used book store, borrow from a friend, go to the library. But if the writer is alive? Well, they’re trying to pay their bills by doing what they love–something this culture undervalues–and if you don’t support them they can’t pursue their craft.

A mink escaping in an Animal Liberation Front style raid in Sweden. Photo from DirectAction.info.

Two animal rights activists have been arrested under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act in connection to the release of mink from Utah fur farms. The crimes are attributed to the Animal Liberation Front, which the FBI labels the “number one domestic terrorism threat.”

William Viehl, 22, and Alex Hall, 20, were arrested in connection with the August, 2008 release of 300 minks from a South Jordan fur farm. It caused about $10,000 in damages. Spray painted slogans were found on the scene, including “No More Mink, No More Murder” and “ALF: We Are Watching.” The two are also accused of attempting to damage another mink farm a few months later.

The anonymous communiqué for the fur farm raid simply said:

This is a local soldier out of Utah just letting you guys know of a raid that just happened last night at the South Jordan, Utah McMullen Mink Farm, 300 plus mink were released with all their breeding records destroyed. Good news, haven’t seen this done in a while so it had to be done.

Details of both charges are still quite sparse. The Department of Justice press release surprisingly doesn’t mention the AETA, or the word “terrorism,” but the language of the charges are pulled directly from the legislation. The first charge, a felony related to the raid at McMullin mink farm, could mean up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The second charge, a misdemeanor, could mean up to a year in prison.

The Utah indictment comes on the heels of the recent Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act charges in California. In that case, the FBI argues that the activists were involved in a campaign of “terror” that including chalking defamatory slogans on the sidewalk, wearing bandanas at a protest, distributing fliers, and attending a protest where an alleged forced entry took place.

Combined, the two sets of arrests reflect the true breadth and depth of the government’s efforts to wrap up a broad range of political activity as “eco-terrorism” and “animal enterprise terrorism.” From First Amendment activity to non-violent direct action saving animals, the government is relentlessly branding all of it as “terrorism.”

Unlike what most think of when they hear the word “terrorism,” though, none of it–no crime by the Animal Liberation Front, Earth Liberation Front, or related groups–has ever resulted in the loss of a single human life. Perhaps the most significant difference between Al Qaeda terrorism and “animal enterprise” terrorism, a difference that has been completely ignored by mainstream news articles and government press releases, is that one is intended to destroy life while the other is intended to save it.