Six Animal Rights Advocates Are Convicted of Terrorism

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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/03/nyregion/03animals.html?_r=1 & oref=slogin

 

 

March 3, 2006

Six Animal Rights Advocates Are Convicted of Terrorism

By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI

 

An animal rights group and six of its members were convicted of

terrorism and Internet stalking yesterday by a federal jury that found

them guilty of using their Web site to incite attacks on those who did

business with or worked for a British company that runs an animal

testing laboratory in New Jersey.

 

The case was the first test of the Animal Enterprise Terror Act,

enacted in 1992 to curb the most aggressive tactics used by activists.

The verdict, which came after 14 hours of deliberation, was called an

insidious threat to free speech by some activists, but was cheered by

research scientists, some of whom are lobbying Congress to tighten

restrictions on protesters.

 

During the three-week trial, defense lawyers acknowledged that a Web

site run by Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty posted home addresses and

other personal information about animal researchers and others. But

the activists said they were simply trying to shame their targets into

dissociating themselves from the company, Huntingdon Life Sciences,

and they disavowed any involvement with the vandalism, death threats,

computer hacking and pipe bombs against those on the Web site.

 

Although federal prosecutors presented no evidence that the defendants

directly participated in the vandalism and violence, they showed

jurors that members of the group made speeches and Web postings from

2000 to 2004 that celebrated the violence and repeatedly used the word

" we " to claim credit for it.

 

Prosecutors also produced telephone records indicating that the

president of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, Kevin Kjonaas, called a

man charged with bombing a California biotech lab shortly after the

explosion.

 

Jurors were also shown a videotape of the group's director, Lauren

Gazzola, at a protest in Boston, making reference to the previous acts

of violence and warning a target, " The police can't protect you! "

 

The defendants showed little emotion as the jury foreman announced

that they had been found guilty on all counts, but after jurors left

the room, Ms. Gazzola wept and Mr. Kjonaas turned to the 20 supporters

in the courtroom and offered a wan smile and a shrug.

 

They face prison terms of up to 23 years, but are likely to serve no

more than 7 under federal sentencing guidelines, according to Michael

Drewniak, a spokesman for the United States attorney's office.

 

Pam Ferdin, who became president of the group after Mr. Kjonaas was

indicted, called the verdict an insidious curb on free speech and said

she was " ashamed of the jury. "

 

" Anyone who writes anything on an e-mail or on a Web site is being

treated like we're in a fascist state, " said Ms. Ferdin, a former

child star who played Felix Unger's daughter on " The Odd Couple " and

was the voice of Lucy in the " Peanuts " cartoons. " Our forefathers

fought for the right to fee speech. "

 

But the prosecutor, Charles B. McKenna, praised the decision, saying

that jurors had correctly found that the First Amendment does not

protect speech that is likely to incite violence.

 

Although Ms. Ferdin said that the verdict would most likely lead the

group to disband, the group's campaign has succeeded in causing

substantial economic damage to Huntingdon, where, the group claims,

500 animals a day are killed and dissected as part of drug and

cosmetic research. By concentrating on a wide range of people who

invest in, and do business with, Huntingdon, the campaign led many

companies to sever their ties with the lab, including insurance

companies like Aetna and Marsh and major financial institutions

including Goldman Sachs and the Bank of America.

 

One group of researchers, Americans for Medical Progress, warned that

the verdict would lead to more violence and called on federal

lawmakers to strengthen the laws against animal rights extremists.

 

" We've seen a dramatic rise in the number of criminal actions against

research over the past five years, " said Dr. John Young, a

veterinarian who is chairman of the research organization. " There's no

doubt today's guilty verdicts will provoke still more acts of

harassment, intimidation and violence. That is terrorism, and it must

be stopped. "

 

Ms. Ferdin vowed that the campaign against animal testing would

continue, despite the verdict against her group.

 

Nate Schweber contributed reporting from Trenton for this article.

 

* Copyright 2006The New York Times Company