Pro-animal activist accused of terrorism

[icymist]

Thursday, May 27, 2004

Pro-animal activist accused of terrorism
Indictment alleges conspiracy to shut down product testing

By PAUL SHUKOVSKY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

The FBI's domestic terrorism squad arrested a Seattle animal-rights activist yesterday on charges that he conspired to use illegal and coercive tactics to shut down a company that tests products on animals.

Joshua Harper was one of seven people arrested by agents in Seattle, California, New York and New Jersey as part of an investigation into SHAC, which stands for Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty.

In pursuit of its goal to shut down Huntingdon Life Sciences -- a New Jersey product testing company that SHAC accuses of "horrendous animal cruelty" -- activists have torched Huntingdon employees' cars, vandalized shareholders' homes and made threats against their families, according to an indictment unsealed yesterday.

Harper, 29, faces a single felony count of conspiring to commit animal enterprise terrorism. If convicted, he could spend up to three years behind bars and be fined $250,000.

Released yesterday pending further court hearings, Harper said: "These charges weren't brought against me because I am a criminal or a terrorist. They have been brought against me because I have been very effective in my activism. As my activism has begun to affect the profit margins of companies that make their living by killing animals, they had to retaliate."

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[TheMightyFavog]

1. Picketing outside of a testing facility is OK by me....

That's their right. All the more power to them.

But once you start getting to the point where you're torching people's cars and smashing up and vandalizing houses of people who work at these facilities, that's crossing the line.

These loonies do nothing but make the environmentalist movement look bad.

[icymist]

4. Yup. What I was thinking too.

Just keeping an eye on Asscroft going after 'domestic' terrorists.

[Piperay]

2. Anyone nowdays can be accused

of 'terrorism' that's why it is dumb to go in for using tactics that are going to get you into trouble. :freak:

[izzie]

5. Everyone is a terrorist if you are not with Bush.

And God help you if you are not the Right Church. Little more power in the GOP and we will have good and evil churches if it is not here already.

[Dookus]

6. It doesn't take Bush or Ashcroft

to call this guy a terrorist. If the accusations are true, he is.

[Dookus]

3. good

If the accusations are true, he should go to jail.

I'm sick of people of all persuasions thinking they can use force and violence to advance their cause.

[Democat]

7. Everything is terrorism, except when done by a right winger

This guy sounds like a possible idiot and possible criminal, but notice how quick they are to scream terrorism when it's an animal rights activist versus some right wing Christian activist or murderer.

[Cooley Hurd]

8. Kinda off-topic...

Did anyone see in the latest Sopranos episode where (the late) Adrienne was telling the FBI about the drug dealer from Pakistan (with a brother who runs a "prep-scholl for boys") who killed one of his unhappy clients in her office? I was convinced that they were going to hold her on that admission (of the drug dealer's apparent terrorist ties) alone. But, alas, they didn't hold her at all...

[dusty64]

9. I agree with the case but NOT

the tactics. I feel it backfires and turns the public against what one is trying to achieve. Funny how they are right on this one though while ALL those whackjob rightwingers are still running amuck, priorites I guess.