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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsFBI Says Activists Who Investigate Factory Farms Can Be Prosecuted as Terrorists
FBI Says Activists Who Investigate Factory Farms Can Be Prosecuted as Terrorists
The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force has kept files on activists who expose animal welfare abuses on factory farms and recommended prosecuting them as terrorists, according to a new document uncovered through the Freedom of Information Act.
This new information comes as the Center for Constitutional Rights has filed a lawsuit challenging the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA) as unconstitutional because its vague wording has had a chilling effect on political activism. This document adds to the evidence demonstrating that the AETA goes far beyond property destruction, as its supporters claim.
The 2003 FBI file details the work of several animal rights activists who used undercover investigation to document repeated animal welfare violations. The FBI special agent who authored the report said they illegally entered buildings owned by [redacted] Farm
and videotaped conditions of animals.
The animal activists caused economic loss to businesses, the FBI says. And they also openly rescued several animals from the abusive conditions. This was not done covertly in the style of underground groups like the Animal Liberation Front it was an act of non-violent civil disobedience and, as the FBI agent notes, the activists distributed press releases and conducted media interviews taking responsibility for their actions.
...
http://younisd.tumblr.com/post/14526341752/fbi-says-activists-who-investigate-factory-farms-can-be
With every passing day, I wonder how & when we'll ever get out of this mess.
secondwind
(16,903 posts)RKP5637
(67,032 posts)MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)Absolutely nothing. The system is just too rigged against us.
Last edited Fri Jan 6, 2012, 12:56 AM - Edit history (1)
dotymed
(5,610 posts)It is messed up to feel that way in "the land of the free." I feel like everything we communicate is stored for future evidence.
GO OWS!
Nostradammit
(2,921 posts)I mean - I beg your pardon, I disagree with your view that our situation is permanent and hopeless.
We're just getting this party started.
Eddie Haskell
(1,628 posts)This is not terrorism in any way, shape or form. We live in a police state.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)MotherPetrie
(3,145 posts)RKP5637
(67,032 posts)INdemo
(6,994 posts)It seems that newly elected {Presidents/Congressmaen} get an orientation about how things will be, along with a set of corporate mafia rules they must abide by...They walk into the meeting room with their own ideas and walk out with a totally different game plan..
Maybe that explains why we went from change we can believe in to corpoate control is best.
Eddie Haskell
(1,628 posts)How a movie this tragic can be funny is beyond me, but that didn't keep me from laughing. Our government is a sick, twisted, and when compared to our founding father's vision, FUBAR.
Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)Civil trials for all defendants.
Speck Tater
(10,618 posts)I think back to all the people who could've left Nazi Germany while it was still possible, but they didn't for one reason or another... How long before the borders are closed to outgoing traffic?
NorthCarolina
(11,197 posts)OswegoAtheist
(609 posts)...my current quote is 7500, but that'll go up during the election season, of course.
Oswego "Canadian Dollars, specifically" Atheist
Pachamama
(16,874 posts)Hey, I own property in Canada.....
aquart
(69,014 posts)Pachamama
(16,874 posts)Eddie Haskell
(1,628 posts)Canadian or USD?
aquart
(69,014 posts)I really don't care for this crap.
dotymed
(5,610 posts)If you owe any back child support,maybe even money to state or federal government, you can not get a visa. Then of course, the cost of visa's are out of reach for many.
edited for spelling
kylie772
(4 posts)They have flexible immigration policies and I meet their point system I have thought about this from time to time over the years but feel compelled to make this decision.
This means anyone who spray paints some pro animal message and releases a few animals can be held for years without charges.
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)k&r
Catherina
(35,568 posts)It resolved a major issue I had so I plan to post here as much as time allows, which unfortunately won't be as much as I'd like.
RKP5637
(67,032 posts)the US.
Catherina
(35,568 posts)That's was actually a tweet from Egypt but it fits so well.
So all I have to do is turn off Internet & turn on state TV & all of this anguish will disappear - blue pill/red pill #Egypt
CoffeeCat
(24,411 posts)The corporations bribed our politicians and became bedfellows with them--long ago.
We are now seeing the horrible effects of this putrid corporatism.
Big Agriculture corporations first bribed our politicians to get regulations relaxed or abolished. Now the animals
survive in filthy, disgusting and cruel conditions, so the corporations can improve their profit margin.
That's all fine and dandy until the consumer wants to know what these corporations are doing to our food.
When we take pictures of corporate evil and abuse--we can now be prosecuted as terrorists. Lovely. Just
lovely.
When in the hell will we have ONE, JUST ONE, politician who will stand up to these horrendous abuses, call out
these corporations for what they are doing to our democracy--and say, "NO MORE!"???
THERE IS NO ONE FIGHTING FOR US. NO ONE!! NOT ONE POLITICIAN EVEN TALKS ABOUT THIS!!
Burgman
(330 posts)in the eyes of the elected. really big people with lots of dollars.
AtomicKitten
(46,585 posts)I'd gladly risk it if I had the stomach for it, which I don't. Instead I contribute to mercyforanimals.org
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."
* Mohandas Gandhi
fasttense
(17,301 posts)It reminds me of this one:
"A society is not judged on how well they keep their kings but on how they treat the weakest among them." Anonymous (which has a totally different meaning today)
But really how much weaker and defenseless can you get in this society than an animal.
Autumn
(44,762 posts)we will never get out of this mess. It just keeps getting worse. I am so glad to see you back.
RKP5637
(67,032 posts)This is all getting to remind me of the SS and the Gestapo in Germany during WWII.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)joeybee12
(56,177 posts)Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)of considering prostitution.
saras
(6,670 posts)JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)And we are supposed to think that an organization that can't find a killer lurking in an obvious place in a government agency can differentiate terrorists from peaceful dissidents.
Destroying property is a crime, but it is not terrorism.
If you steal someone's animals, even if they are mistreating them, you have stolen something. If you purposely destroy their property, that also is a crime, but it is not the same sort of crime as blowing up the World Trade Center -- not at all.
We don't need special laws about terrorism. We just need calm, fair enforcement of the laws we have -- including our First Amendment rights. Entities or individuals in the government who over-react or try to deprive us of our First Amendment rights should be sued and/or prosecuted.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Something to do with signing away Habeas Corpus or Due Process or NDAA or something?
We don't even know what Uncle Sam is doing with the USA PATRIOT Act. Remember Udall and Wyden?
http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/despite-attempts-wyden-and-udall-secr
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)There are none so blind as those who will not see.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)show, or something.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Soon enough, all protest of any kind will be labeled as terrorism and the transition to fascism will be complete in all but name.
truebrit71
(20,805 posts)And yes, I know that Obama doesn't run the FBI....his appointee does...He sets the tone, and so far that tone has been 'deaf'...
RKP5637
(67,032 posts)imprisoning more and more Americans. As another poster said, I too am starting to wonder when the borders will be sealed. I'm sure OWS will be eventually labeled as terrorists, against the state.
yodermon
(6,143 posts)we're basically there.
Uncle Joe
(58,112 posts)it be the "War on Drugs" or "War against Terrorism" you can't wage war; against inanimate objects or emotions without it morphing into war against the American People as a whole.
Power corrupts and the corrupted ones in power will use those ambigious, eternal dynamics to enrich themselves and trash their legitimate political opposition.
Thanks for the thread, Catherina.
RKP5637
(67,032 posts)NorthCarolina
(11,197 posts)without trial under the NDAA guidelines?
Dragonfli
(10,622 posts)laid out by the "new language".
We all know that the king would never side with a corporation against such "terrorists" so I guess all the animal rights activists are safe because all kings are surely always just and good.
fasttense
(17,301 posts)Soon they will stop passing laws and drop the charade altogether. They will rule simply on their whim.
Just think of all the laws the federal government is actively ignoring now, buy America Act, Anti-trust laws, Anti-torture laws, Financial fraud laws, Election fraud laws, Not to mention several parts of the Constitution like this one: no warrants shall be issued, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized, and this one: nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.
I heard a Libertarian, the other day, say that democracy was messy, and self-destructive. He thought it should be replaced. He didn't say what he would replace it with. I imagine the whim of some rich man would be more to his liking.
yewberry
(6,530 posts)I don't love everything Obama has done, but this one wasn't on his watch.
Autumn
(44,762 posts)But with the way they work they will do what they can to make terrorists of us all.
yewberry
(6,530 posts)The story now is that someone is actually challenging it as unconstitutional.
joshcryer
(62,265 posts)And few have complained much about it since.
I knew people in the "Green Scare."
And could've been one of them, easily.
Luminous Animal
(27,310 posts)yewberry
(6,530 posts)Many references in the replies. That's why I began my post to the folks responding.
Major Nikon
(36,814 posts)The update in 2006 was bi-partisan and passed unopposed other than Kunich walking out on the debate.
Swede Atlanta
(3,596 posts)The U.N. criticized the Obama administration for failing to protect the human rights of OWS.
This is the first I had heard about this but yes, pretty soon, any action you take to even protest the crimes of businesses will be deemed terrorism and subject to indefinite, lifetime incarceration with no access to legal representation or promise of prosecution or freedom. This is exactly the way the Nazi regime worked.
I am glad I have been transferring my assets out of the country slowly over the past 5-7 years so that I can soon move out of this country and weep for those left behind. Reminds me of the Germans that left Germany while they could.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)I am not agreeing with your characterization, just pointing out that lifetime encarceration definitely does not capture the horror of the Nazi criminal justice system.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)especially when it is now defended on the left. I agree and have said so, that indefinite detention is not nearly as bad as death by drone without charges. But with those choices, I am wondering if those getting ready to leave are the smart people.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)We sent planes to ambush and kill Admiral Yamamoto in the second world war. I've always thought the drone issue a red herring. If you are against war or against a particular war, be against it. Concentrating on a weapons platform as if that is the issue doesn't work for me (assuming of course were not talking about wmd)
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)when Bush was president what they were all about. Now instead of ending them we are moving into other countries. The reason the drone is important, to them, is it makes it possible to wage wars without major invasions. Ask Pakistan and all the victims' relatives who have been killed there.
Admiral Yamamoto was not an American citizen. And Japan had declared on the US. How on earth does that compare to killing a teenaged US citizen and his friends?
These policies are wrong. The are NOT going to bring any kind of peace and safety to this or any other country. Look at the state of the world right now, after decades of Imperial invasions, the whole world is a mess. These policies are a failure, for millions and millions of people.
We are a country of only a few hundred thousand people. There are nearly 7 billion people on this planet. We are not that important. And we are more unpopular each day around the world. That leaves an opening for some other super power to step into as people grow sick and tired of our insane claims that we are the most important people on the planet and can kill anyone, anywhere to keep ourselves 'safe'. Even China is beginning to look good to people in other parts of the world who in the past feared it and looked to the US to contain it.
Nice going, PNACers, the world hates us now. And all these wars have done is weaken this country.
stevenleser
(32,886 posts)They were POWs in Germany and Japan and got caught in bombing raids. I am sure if a us citizen had defected and became an important enough member of the Nazi high command or the Imperial Japanese army or navy, they would have been targeted too.
Beyond that, if you decide to go overseas and spend time in war zones or with groups engaged in armed rebellions or terror, you stand a good chance of being killed by any number of groups or countries.
I agree with you in general about the wars there, but not about these specific actions.
sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)phony war on terror.
Second, Awlaki was not in a war zone. He was never charged with a crime, and the US Government sought him out and killed him in another country, for what, they have still refused to say. Then they sought out his teenaged son and killed him along with whoever was with him, also.
If this does not scare people, it should. We have laws still in this country and despite the War on our Constitution, there are still avenues remaining where if someone is suspected of committing a crime, due process can be applied.
The fact that the government doesn't even pretend it is abiding by the law shows how successful the Bush attack on the US Constitution has been. Now being continued under this administration. Which many people warned would happen, UNLESS the Bush gang were held accountable. Now we see why they were not.
It appears it is not just the Republican party that wants to destroy our rights, and that is a shock to many of us who believed that at least one party would protect our Constitutional rights. A real shock, frankly and the reason why people have now taken to the streets. No one is protecting them, we are on our own.
Deep13
(39,154 posts)The real world or an Onion story? I can't tell the difference any more.
Critters2
(30,889 posts)gtar100
(4,192 posts)And you are watched with suspicion the whole way through.
a la izquierda
(11,784 posts)I don't even know what else to say.
meow2u3
(24,745 posts)to have the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act declared unconstitutional.
A new lawsuit challenges the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act as unconstitutional because it has given activists reason to fear that they could be prosecuted as terrorists for non-violent civil disobedience, protests, and First Amendment activity.
The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights on behalf of 5 longtime animal rights activists. The activists say the vague wording of the law, and the corporate-led campaigns against animal rights activism, have made them alter their own advocacy.
The landmark case has implications for all social justice movement, beyond the animal rights activists targeted. It sets a dangerous precedent for labeling anyone who effectively threatens corporate profits a terrorist. As the Occupy Wall Street Movement grows rapidly, and has begun reclaiming foreclosed homes from banks and shutting down ports, this lawsuit couldnt come at a more pressing time. And with the impending passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, the dangers of this parallel legal system for terrorists has become strikingly clear.
The lawsuit seeks to strike down the law for violating the First and Fifth Amendments [read the criminal complaint in Blum v. Holder]. Specifically, it argues that the law is unconstitutional for 3 reasons:
(more)
http://www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/animal-enterprise-terrorism-act-lawsuit-ccr/5397/
Thank God someone is sticking up for our Constitutional rights.
fascisthunter
(29,381 posts)no kidding...
freshwest
(53,661 posts)sabrina 1
(62,325 posts)of control and the reason why they and the Civil Liberties Union and the National Lawyers' Guild are the only people I will donate to from now on. No one else is working for the people.
malaise
(267,823 posts)terrorism and terrorist.
Any opposition to the system is now terrorism.
Ah well. They will still be defeated. The 99% will win.
Nice to see you Catherina
Catherina
(35,568 posts)Hi to you and all my other lovely friends here!
myrna minx
(22,772 posts)Solly Mack
(90,740 posts)fascisthunter
(29,381 posts)sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)It's worse than that: any action intended to cause economic harm to an animal using business is terrorism under the AETA. Some little old lady stands outside the shop that sells puppy mill puppies and hands out pamphlets on adopting pets from shelters instead? Terrorist. Hold up an anti-fur sign outside a fur shop? Terrorist.
justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)at the time the FBI was illegally investigating the organization and its employees. There's nothing like having your life gone over by the FBI because someone, at some time, paid defense fees for an ALF (Animal Liberation Front) member.
Just to be clear, PETA gives grants to people in need that are helping animals. A member of ALF needed bail money...PETA does not participate in illegal actions like ALF does but that doesn't mean that they won't help with legal fees if asked--hence, this is why all employees were investigated and spied upon for years (just wanted to be transparent about why PETA was initially investigated by the FBI).
http://abcnews.go.com/News/Blotter/fbi-spied-peta-greenpeace-anti-war-activists/story?id=11682844#.TvHTZCNSRy8
Major Nikon
(36,814 posts)IIRC, the FBI had a focus on domestic terrorism, but claiming their focus was exclusively on animal rights terrorists sounds a bit like hyperbole.
Also you may want to read the actual legislation as it specifically exempts what you claim it includes:
be construed
(1) to prohibit any expressive conduct (including peaceful
picketing or other peaceful demonstration) protected from legal
prohibition by the First Amendment to the Constitution;
(2) to create new remedies for interference with activities
protected by the free speech or free exercise clauses of the
First Amendment to the Constitution, regardless of the point
of view expressed, or to limit any existing legal remedies for
such interference; or
(3) to provide exclusive criminal penalties or civil remedies
with respect to the conduct prohibited by this action, or to
preempt State or local laws that may provide such penalties
or remedies..
http://abolishtheaeta.org/web/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/the-animal-enterprise-terrorism-act.pdf
I have a hard time believing anyone who is prosecuted under this act is doing nothing more than handing out pamphlets.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)They did say it was their #1 priority.
Major Nikon
(36,814 posts)http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,343768,00.html
So if you have anything that backs up your claim, I'd be glad to see it.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)Major Nikon
(36,814 posts)Your claim:
What they actually said, from your link:
They limited the scope to domestic terrorism and they lumped the animal-rights movement in with eco-terrorism. There is no way domestic terrorism is going to hold a candle to foreign terrorism, even within the FBI. Just check their most wanted list if you need evidence of this. So all of this is very far from your claim. Furthermore, they are right. During the Bush years, right wing domestic terrorists were mostly quiet, while left wing domestic terrorists have been on the rise for many years committing numerous acts of arson, bombings, and threatening people's lives. The ADL happens to agree with the FBI.
http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/ecoterrorism.asp
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)Major Nikon
(36,814 posts)If you had no intention of supporting it, you could have said that up front. Would have saved a lot of time.
Just sayin'
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)There is a difference between the two, as the other poster ably pointed out. You can't argue one thing, then pretend that you weren't. It's much simpler to just admit that you made a small error, and move along with life.
Pachamama
(16,874 posts)Being established in which people who conduct any kind of surveillance are guilty then of laws set for combating terrorism which of course supercedes many of our civil liberties and constitutional protections.
All these things are being put into place and the use of the term "terrorism" "war on terrorism" and all the things being justified in the name of fighting terrorism will only continue to take us closer and closer to the Police State we are becoming.
suffragette
(12,232 posts)You nailed it Pachamama.
Pachamama
(16,874 posts)And I am very frightened by the picture that is starting to come into view....
suffragette
(12,232 posts)Thank you for connecting those dots. Extremely important to do so.
Wind Dancer
(3,618 posts)Wish I could recommend this post.
You really should start a separate thread about this topic.
Pachamama
(16,874 posts)Thanks for the suggestion.... i think this is a topic we all need to be discussing more...
suffragette
(12,232 posts)justiceischeap
(14,040 posts)at these factory farms. They work every day and get a paycheck. They make the decision to uproot their lives for a certain amount of time and move away from their homes in order to do this. They are, for the most part, all alone as they do this--concerned each day they'll be found out.
I see your greater point but I just wanted to point out the process these whistleblowers go through. If the factory farms cleaned up their acts (and if the FBI or local police investigated the people in these videos abusing animals) there wouldn't be a need to label whistleblowers as terrorists.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Pachamama
(16,874 posts)Employees? Even if it that was the case, there has to be some other means that perhaps the factory farm owner has a "non-disclosure agreement" or employment agreement that maybe they charge those employees with violating. And even if that was the case, my hope is that whistleblower laws would supercede that. And even then, wouldnt they need to know who filmed it in order to prosecute? What if the videotaping was anonymous?
But charging these people as if they were terrorists? This is absolutely insane! But once again, I get back to the bigger picture which is that all these things seem to be set up so that eventually anyone who is a whistleblower against corporate crime (or government crime) will be punished.
As another poster in the thread said: activism=terrorism How handy!
marmar
(76,984 posts)elehhhhna
(32,076 posts)whaddaya wanna call it?
workinclasszero
(28,270 posts)After all it could cause economic lost right?
Welcome to the american capitalist/fascist nightmare...
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)flvegan
(64,389 posts)I've been posting about this for years here. Sigh.
yewberry
(6,530 posts)You know that.
Catherina
(35,568 posts)but I've done a lot of AR work and still do. I could have been one of those trespassing terrorists for rescuing a calf that were left to die simply because it was too weak from dehydration to make it from the truck to the slaughterhouse on its own. We went in, grabbed it and took it to Suwanna Ranch.
All it needed was some water.
yewberry
(6,530 posts)When this initially came into being, some of us "AR people" tried to get people informed about AETA, but got a "meh" from DU. Seemed that DU was fine with it as long as it was just those AR "terrorists" who got targeted.
Catherina
(35,568 posts)I didn't take it as disrespect. I just wanted to throw that out there for what it was worth.
Solidarity
yewberry
(6,530 posts)I didn't want you to take it the wrong way.
Zalatix
(8,994 posts)I do not TRUST the quality of food from companies that abuse food animals. I do not trust the company of those who abuse animals, as they may get around to abusing humans.
That and I just don't LIKE animal abusers.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)Yeah, me too. :sigh:
yewberry
(6,530 posts)He talked about how much he respects Ted Nugent's stance on animal rights.
flvegan
(64,389 posts)yewberry
(6,530 posts)with celery sticking out of his nose, lettuce sticking out of one ear, and zucchini sticking out of the other.
He asks the doctor what is wrong.
"Well, for one, thing, " the doctor says, "you're not eating right!"
Ba-dum-ching.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)Catherina
(35,568 posts)Thanks for staying on top of it.
flvegan
(64,389 posts)All things considered, when they can come kick your door in at any moment, you stay on top of it if for no other reason.
annabanana
(52,791 posts)The logical progression of the twisting of language. War on Poverty. War on Drugs. War on Terror.
fascisthunter
(29,381 posts)Odin2005
(53,521 posts)DirkGently
(12,151 posts)redqueen
(115,096 posts)Supposedly aimed at radicals who would destroy property, but the language clearly stated that anything causing economic loss / disrupting commerce would be considered a terrorist act.
Jack Rabbit
(45,984 posts)This is exactly the sort of thing of which I've been afraid.
OWS is out to raise corporate taxes. Is that, too, terrorism?
TBF
(31,922 posts)and anyone who thinks we are exaggerating should be reading about the Wilson administration and Palmer raids.
a2liberal
(1,524 posts)lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)limpyhobbler
(8,244 posts)I just read all the posts in this thread and nobody has tried to defend this law.
Nobody here supports it. Not that DU is politically representative of the county as a whole, but I'd bet the vast majority of the American people would be opposed to this law that categorizes this peaceful activism as terrorism.
Too bad what the American people want has nothing to do with laws passed by our government.
joshcryer
(62,265 posts)nadinbrzezinski
(154,021 posts)Oh never mind... I'll stop asking inconvenient questions now.
joshcryer
(62,265 posts)Feinstein voted for it for crying out loud. It has built in exemptions for "protest" but that still didn't preclude several protesters from being under house arrest for a year (ie, indefinite dentition; the case was thrown out). It's a shitty law that has no hope of being repealed without a progressive Senate and House. And we haven't had that in who knows how long, if ever.
Pachamama
(16,874 posts)Glad you and others do....its the day when you either stop or are stopped that I worry about....
Peter1x9
(311 posts)Somewhere in a deep corner of Hell, Adolf Hitler is celebrating.
Shoe Horn
(302 posts)He doesn't. Far as I know. And probably hasn't for 50 years.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2465144342633379864
TBF
(31,922 posts)ellie
(6,928 posts)Terrorists? Really? God forbid these businesses should lose money because they are cruel to animals. The horror!
Yon_Yonson
(1,131 posts)KansDem
(28,498 posts)It's all about protecting corporations and the wealthy.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)It's scary as hell and getting scarier by the day.
Catherina
(35,568 posts)The good thing is that more people are paying attention. It's good to see you again.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)I hope you are well !
TownDrunk2
(63 posts)I can't adequately express my revulsion towards the eff bee eye because of this.
Thor_MN
(11,843 posts)How long before small businesses, eating into coporate profits, are declared terrorist organizations?
abelenkpe
(9,933 posts)I'm more concerned with the physical harm to consumers caused by unsafe practices and factory farms. Once again government seems more concerned with corporate interests rather than protecting individuals.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)The Police State is alive and well...and living in America.
Baclava
(12,047 posts)lib_wit_it
(2,222 posts)Historic NY
(37,449 posts)Mojorabbit
(16,020 posts)I got this today in my email
Earlier this year a bill was introduced in Florida by Senator Jim Norman that would have made it a felony to take photos or video of a farm or agriculture operation.
The Ag Gag bill was openly supported by Big Ag and directed at both whistle-blowers who go undercover to document the cruelty that animals on farms suffer, as well as anyone who wants to just snap a shot while standing on the side of the road. Those documenting what they saw would have been left facing criminal charges, while abusers would be left unaccountable. Fortunately, the bill never came to a vote and similar measures failed in Minnesota, Iowa and New York.
Sen. Norman has reintroduced this legislation by sneaking similar language into a larger agricultural bill (SB 1184), which will make it a first-degree misdemeanor to take photos, audio recordings or video of a farm or farm operation without previous written consent.
All of this was done with urging from Wilton Simpson of Simpson Farms, which produces 21 million eggs annually for Floridas second-largest egg seller, Tampa Farm Service, according to the Florida Independent. Simpson reportedly fears activists will gather dirt on factory farms for campaigns that could lead to a ballot initiative similar to Californias Prop 2. Simpsons also currently running for senate.
Read more: http://www.care2.com/causes/floridas-ag-gag-bill-reintroduced.html#ixzz1hBiVHe3w
krucial
(206 posts)I told people that America was heading towards fascism ,but some thought I was crazy,but we have been seeing that we are slowly but surely heading towards a total repressive police state,and gertting to be just like the Tyranical doctaors we have been suporrting in the middle east and other places around the world.
We set them up with torture chamers and other forms of opression to supress their masses, and now are applying it on our own citizens here in America
yellowcanine
(35,692 posts)story. Investigations aren't charges and charges aren't convictions.
flvegan
(64,389 posts)You'll probably need to Google that. They had a website.
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)Resources that get used on legal defense instead of activism are a victory for industry.
alp227
(31,961 posts)And corporate personhood must have something to do with this ridiculous "economic disruption=terrorism" provision.
Javaman
(62,439 posts)corporations don't eat their own factory food.
They dine on our souls.
T S Justly
(884 posts)tpsbmam
(3,927 posts)the right wing threw a total hissy fit and the report was fucking pulled.
Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" http://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/rightwing.pdf
And it was based on FACT -- all of this has been documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center, among other groups. The report was based on actual violence and threats of violence, not on people fucking protesting. But nooooooooooo, the right-wing has a hissy fit and all D.C. fucking quivers! Unbefuckinglievable! These right-wing nutcases, a la McVeigh and his ilk, ARE domestic terrorists, but god forbid they actually call THESE violence-prone whack-a-doodles "terrorists" or even "extremists."
Fascist is the correct term for what this country has become. Horrifying.
Edit: forgot the close-quote in the title.
gtar100
(4,192 posts)Nothing.
Instead of dealing with the real problem in a sane, rational way, industry lobbies to make illegal the means by which their bad practices exposed. That is really fucked up. I suppose there are a few executives and lobbyists out there that feel mighty damn proud of themselves. All the while they make our justice system an absolute joke.
Cry for the animals for their lives are a living hell as they are tortured over and over again for years before they are slaughtered.
And, ironically, all those small-government conservatives are using the protection of that very same government they criticize to hide their cruelty. They really don't believe in a free market after all, do they! Or for that matter, small government.