Islamofascists aren't the only ones we need to worry about. It's about time some action was taken against a different kind of "home-grown" terrorist (all emphases mine):
WASHINGTON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- A federal court in Trenton, N.J., is sentencing a group of animal rights activists for their part in a Web-based campaign of violence and intimidation against a company that conducts medical experiments on animals.
Three members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, or SHAC, an international network of campaigners, were sentenced Tuesday, and a fourth Wednesday, receiving jail terms of between three and six years.
All four are also liable to pay a million-dollar restitution order against their group, awarded to the target of their campaign, Huntingdon Life Sciences, a British medical research facility owned by New Jersey-based Life Sciences Research, Inc. (emphasis added)
Six members of the group, all in their late 20's and early 30's, became in March the first defendants convicted of offences under the Animal Enterprises Protection Act -- a 1992 law that made it a federal crime to engage in "physical disruption" of animal research facilities, farms, circuses, fairs or other businesses using live animals.
The six were also convicted under federal anti-stalking and telephone harassment laws.
The two remaining defendants will be sentenced next week, bringing to a conclusion a case that has drawn widespread attention, both because of the novelty of prosecutions under the 1992 act and because of the enormous success of the anti-Huntingdon campaign, which continued even after the arrests of its leaders and which last year forced the New York Stock Exchange to cancel a scheduled listing of Life Sciences Research, Inc.
According to evidence in the trial, the campaign included the posting on the SHAC Web site of individual employees' personal information, including their home addresses and phone numbers; the names and ages of their children and where they go to school; their license plate numbers and the churches they go to.
Victims of the SHAC campaign have been assaulted with baseball bats, had their homes and cars vandalized, have had obscene messages painted in their street, received late night telephone calls threatening the lives of their family and subjected to non-stop bullhorn protests in front of their homes.
Kudos to the Court on this one.
Posted by leo at September 14, 2006 12:11 AM
Comments
And the next group to be prosecuted as terrorists should be anyone who threatens, assists or commits any violence against doctors who perform abortions.
Posted by: Wade at September 14, 2006 01:14 AM
Now that's just messed up. I know folks can care strongly for animals but to attack people like that and ruin lives? Sheesh... I hope they enjoy their prison terms.
Though I hope we do the same for the ELFs and the like.
Posted by:
Gozer at September 14, 2006 01:19 AM
Wade: When was the last time a group did anything you purport, when Reagan was president?
Hardly a pressing legislative need. Seems to me the existing conspiracy laws would take care of this and we not need to make a new class of criminal for political purposes. Kind of reminds me of hate crime laws.
Though I do agree with Gozer that ELF and their ilk would classify as Timothy McVeigh types and be dealt with accordingly.
Posted by: Porter Jervis at September 14, 2006 05:48 AM
Posted by: FoolYouTwice at September 14, 2006 09:08 AM
And the next group to be prosecuted as terrorists should be anyone who threatens, assists or commits any violence against doctors who perform abortions.
They already have, Wade...
RICO was used against them on several occasions.
And your point is?
Posted by:
Psycmeistr at September 14, 2006 11:09 AM
Sez Wade:
And the next group to be prosecuted as terrorists should be anyone who threatens, assists or commits any violence against doctors who perform abortions.
Err.. Wade? They have been doing that, and have used RICO against such groups for some time now.
So, your point is?
Posted by:
Psycmeistr at September 14, 2006 11:31 AM
Fool, nice try, this was just some guy, not a group.
Posted by: Porter Jervis at September 14, 2006 03:16 PM
Was a war tribunal used? What type of interrogation? Any links to pictures of the animals?
Posted by:
carcode at September 15, 2006 05:17 AM
Please report any inappropriate comments to abuse (at) blogsforbush (dot) com. Be sure to include the title of the blog entry, the name of the commenter, and the text of the offending comment.
Post a comment
And the next group to be prosecuted as terrorists should be anyone who threatens, assists or commits any violence against doctors who perform abortions.
Now that's just messed up. I know folks can care strongly for animals but to attack people like that and ruin lives? Sheesh... I hope they enjoy their prison terms.
Though I hope we do the same for the ELFs and the like.
Wade: When was the last time a group did anything you purport, when Reagan was president?
Hardly a pressing legislative need. Seems to me the existing conspiracy laws would take care of this and we not need to make a new class of criminal for political purposes. Kind of reminds me of hate crime laws.
Though I do agree with Gozer that ELF and their ilk would classify as Timothy McVeigh types and be dealt with accordingly.
Porter...this week -
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060914/NEWS04/609140313
RICO was used against them on several occasions.
And your point is?
Sez Wade:
Err.. Wade? They have been doing that, and have used RICO against such groups for some time now.
So, your point is?
Fool, nice try, this was just some guy, not a group.
Was a war tribunal used? What type of interrogation? Any links to pictures of the animals?