America's #1 Threat
The latest front in the "war on terror": animal-rights activists
When you picture a dangerous terrorist, Kevin Kjonaas may not immediately spring to mind. The 28-year-old Catholic-school graduate stands 5 feet 10 inches, weighs 120 pounds, and speaks in a mezzo-soprano voice. He uses the word “cute” a lot. Kjonaas pays his rent by working at a doggy daycare; before that he went door to door for John Kerry’s presidential campaign but quit when he realized that his strained relationship with the law could be a liability for his employer. Kjonaas is both a vegan and a preppy. He owns almost 40 vegetarian cookbooks but is quick to point out that “I don’t cook sprouted wheat germ. It sounds so hippie-ish.” His closet is filled with J. Crew hand-me-downs, and for his birthday this year, he got a dress shirt with light pink and light blue stripes. “I really like it,” he says. “It goes really well with this sweater vest I have.”
Until quite recently, Kjonaas was president of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC USA), an animal rights group dedicated to shutting down Huntingdon Life Sciences. The U.K.-based company owns labs in New Jersey, where it tests household chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other products on animals. In 1998, the U.S. Department of Agriculture fined Huntingdon $50,000 for animal abuses. A British television documentary showed clips of Huntingdon employees punching beagle puppies. Kjonaas grew up with a beagle named Barney. “He was my best friend,” he says. “We did everything together.”
As president of SHAC USA, Kjonaas posted the home addresses and telephone numbers of Huntingdon employees on the group’s website. Sometimes Kjonaas helped organize protests in front of workers’ homes. When he couldn’t make it to a demonstration, he posted other people’s accounts of the event, even when they included acts of vandalism. He saw himself as a conduit for information. “Since it wasn’t my words going on the site, I felt I had no place to censor,” Kjonaas says. “Of course, now that it’s my ass being indicted, those words are being censored.”
On May 20, 2004, Kjonaas and six other SHAC members were indicted by a New Jersey grand jury on federal charges that they had orchestrated an interstate campaign of terrorism and intimidation in violation of the Animal Enterprise Protection Act. The law, originally passed in 1992, was strengthened after 9/11 in response to heavy lobbying from animal-testing firms and pharmaceutical companies. The changes made it easier to convict people for attacks on animal-testing facilities and in some cases tripled mandatory jail sentences.
Kjonaas was tipped off about 30 minutes before federal agents arrived to arrest him. He prepared by brushing his teeth and pulling on a dress shirt and his best pair of khakis. He tied his beagle, Willy, to a fence in the back yard.
At precisely 6 a.m., a column of black-clad agents ran in a full sprint toward Kjonaas’ rented house in the Bay Area suburb of Pinole. One wore a balaclava. Another carried a battering ram. They entered with their pistols aimed at Kjonaas’ head as a helicopter hovered low overhead. It was a remarkable show of force, especially since, after six months of recording Kjonaas’ phone and email conversations, picking through his trash, reading his mail, and following him everywhere he went, the FBI knew that the most dangerous thing in the house was a coffeepot. “What did they think I was gonna do?” Kjonaas says. “Attack them with a floppy disk?”
Officials admit there might be somewhat of a disconnect between Kevin Kjonaas and the public’s idea of a terrorist. “I don’t want the parallel drawn to actual Middle Eastern terrorists,” says Michael Drewniak, spokesman for the U.S. attorney in New Jersey. In its 27-page indictment, the government doesn’t allege that Kjonaas plotted to kill anyone; most of the charges focus on using the Internet to instill fear in people associated with Huntingdon. If the prosecution succeeds, Kjonaas and two other defendants each face up to $1,250,000 in fines and 23 years in prison.
There’s no denying that SHAC’s protest tactics were designed to frighten. SHAC activists have poured paint thinner on a Huntingdon executive’s car, broken windows, and spray-painted “puppy killer” on an employee’s property. Using tactics akin to those of extreme antiabortion groups, the SHAC USA website published the names, ages, and school addresses of Huntingdon employees’ children. “When you’re on the receiving end of [SHAC’s] campaign, it’s violent and severe intimidation,” Drewniak says. “It’s a campaign of terror, yes.” John Lewis, the FBI’s deputy assistant director for counterterrorism, told Congress last May that SHAC and other animal rights groups represent America’s No. 1 domestic terror threat.
“That is patently absurd,” says Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, which tracks violent political groups on the left and right. “The reality is that these people have killed no one.” Which is not to say that groups like SHAC should be mistaken for Sunday bridge clubs. Potok says there is a trend of increasing violence and intimidation at the fringes of the environmental and animal rights movements, including a rise in bombings and inflammatory threats. “What is just screaming hypocrisy among these groups is the idea that you should blow things up, but the minute you hurt an animal or a human it is automatically not one of their actions,” Potok says. “It’s inevitable that someone will die at the hands of an animal rights firebomber.”
The defense of the “SHAC 7” will rest largely on the landmark 1969 case <i>Brandenburg v. Ohio</i>, in which the Supreme Court ruled that political speech is legal unless it can be shown that a defendant has told specific individuals to commit specific, imminent acts of violence. “These kids were posting things on the Internet, for crying out loud,” says Louis Sirkin, a Cincinnati-based First Amendment attorney who is representing one of the activists charged along with Kjonaas. “They were communicating with the entire world.”
Certainly, federal authorities spared no effort in trying to gather more evidence on Kjonaas. Back in May 2003, his roommates began noticing two men wearing suits who sat in a parked car three doors down from their house. (“I can’t believe they actually thought they were undercover,” Kjonaas says.) The gar- bageman told them FBI agents paid him cash to set Kjonaas’ trash aside; the mailman said the FBI ordered him to photocopy Kjonaas’ mail. Later, Kjonaas’ attorneys would discover that the FBI had also obtained warrants to tap his phone and monitor his email use.
Kjonaas and his roommates tried to have fun with their pursuers. They began to pour used kitty litter into their trash bags and douse it with pepper spray. They’d drive toward a freeway on-ramp, then pull a sudden U-turn, snickering as the agents swerved behind them. Lauren Gazzola, one of Kjonaas’ roommates and a codefendant in the case, went outside on a cold fall evening and tried to offer the men in the car some hot tea. They ignored her.
These days, when he’s not at work playing with dogs, Kjonaas is busy preparing for his trial, which is scheduled to begin February 6 in Trenton, New Jersey. He has 890 hours of videotape to watch, 600 taped phone calls to listen to, and thousands of pages of documents to review—all of it gathered during the FBI’s two-year investigation of SHAC. Both sides expect the trial to last at least three months, to be followed by years of appeals. “It’s going to be a giant pain in the ass,” Kjonaas says. “If this case wasn’t so serious, it’d be comical.”
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Tormenting defeseless Beagle dogs is
unacceptable and I take my hat off to
Kjonaas for putting the fear of god into Huntington Labs.
The government is so hypocritical. It's such bull[deleted] that a peaceful man like Kevin can be arrested and possible sent to jail for 23 years from talking about doing something when you've got these giant corporations killing animals at will because they have the government eating right out of their hands. [deleted] the government.
Why don't you monitor this post too, FBI?
Listen to Goldfinger's song Free Kevin Kjonaas
kevin kjonaas is my hero. he should be commended for his actions instead of indicted
I'm happy to see these open-minded posts. Unfortunately, there are way too many serverely closed minded individuals out there who are happy to continue believeing the lies of the animal user idustires. Wake up, America!!!
BTW... You can listen to Goldfinger's song here: http://www.myspace.com/goldfinger4kevin
For crying out loud. I know the FBI arent exactly genius', but this is stupid! I totally support kjonaas and his believes and hope someone will give the FBI a very painfull kick up the ass
dude---those douche holes are gay for punching puppy beagles...
they should get stabbed with nail filers in the knee cap and have to watch as the blood bath ensued.
that was kinda graphic eh?
well they should uh--be stopped.
:]
This isn't peaceful protest. If you want to protest this don't use pharmaceuticals, household chemicals, makeup, or any other product developed using these methods. Attacking employees is wrong.
That's bull[deleted]. You're gonna put a man away for protecting the rights of animals? That's rediculous. How about insstead of the government worrying about people like Kevins Kjonaas, who haven't done anything wrong and start worrying about the real threat. The real threat is our incompetant "leader" who doesn't know know jack about his job.
Free Kevin Kjonaas!
my favorite band Is goldfinger. This song about Kevin is Great. Its on my myspace page. I love animals I own a Miniture Dacshund he's my everything but to hear what sick minds and people are capable of makes me very ill. To Hear about testing on animals (beagles) hitting, and only god knows what. To hear that truth makes me feel very helpless and Kevin is trying to do Something. I believe in Kevin.
the government is full of [deleted] this man is no criminal and there wasting our [deleted]ing tax money to screw innocent people like this poor man but hey apperantly money talks and bull[deleted] walks
I personally think it's Hilarious at how Hypocritical the government can be. Kevin Kjonaas struck fear into the eyes of Huntingdon Employees. And it's called Terrorism. But The United States government Strikes fear into the eyes of Millions of People from The Middle East everyday and it's called "Fighting Terrorism". Someone explain to me how this works.
I Hope the FBI reads this and censors it. Take away what freedom of speech I have left. You've already taken away my other freedoms.
I am all for animals and Golfinger but you have to realize that your going to get your ass thrown in jail for acting like that. There are other ways to get your point accross other than causing property damage and compromising someones personal identity. I agree the new laws are making punishment more severe than it should be but really if I destroy someones property like say a child molesters car, I know I will probablly end up paying for it in one way or another. Wake up and realize this so you can save everyone some trouble.
If you were doing nothing wrong, you would not feel threatened by your address and phone number being posted. It is easy to hide behind lobby power. Not easy to hide from the masses. Unfortunately, none of the efforts will make a difference as long as the lobbiests control politics
KEVIN KJHONAAS IS MY HERO, I AM VEGETARIAN I RESPECT THE DUDE. WE LOVE YOU KEVIN!
Chris Maag you may have wrote the most amusing article i have ever read and I hope to god that this was a joke and it wasnt intended to be serious how on earth could you ever consider someone like kevin a terrorist, a messed up car broken windows and graffiti is nothing compared to the torture and mutilation of innocent animals and for some awkward reason this entire controversy means more to me than other issues because im still in shock after reading this article because it just so happens i have a beagle named barney. But either way Chris you are a sick indecent man and you need to learn the difference between a peaceful animal rights activist and a terrorist.
p.s., Chris in EXACTLY 2 Days 21 hours 12 minutes and 27 seconds your mother will be stripped raped murdered and raped again.
whilst i don't agree with the man being arrested and charged, neither do i agree with him posting peoples details on the internet.
I don't necessarily agree with the policies of the company i work for (advice and guidance company), but they pay me a wage and i need a job.
If i were to have my details posted on an internet site because of some policy of the company (and not necessarily my beliefs)to be acted on by any activist/protester/looney tune/someone looking for an excuse for violence....i think i would want the person who posted my details arrested
The things Huntingdon does to animals in the name of vanity products is revolting. I would never advocate murder, but I see nothing wrong with harassment and intimidation.
The reason the AR movement is going to extremes more often is simple: reasonable solutions are often glossed over and totally ignored. The fact that businesses like this still exist within our legal framework illustrates that.
The fact that since 9/11 our First Amendment Rights have been taken from us is BS. It is a violation of our rights as United States citizens that we can not protest. Granted vandalism is NOT the way to go about it, but Kevin K is doing an admirable thing by going after the people that shamefully test on animals treating them like worthless sacks of meat. I will support Kevin K as hard as I support other activists suppressed by unjust laws.
not only is what kevin kjonaas doing commendable, it's completely legal. Anyone with access to a phonebook or the internet can find out the addresses and phone numbers of those despicable huntingdon employees. Therefore it's just as legal for kjonaas to post them as it is for the yellowpages to do the same. not only that but kavin never wrote anything that instructed anyone in paticular to do anything other than protest peacefully for a just cause. The fact that he is being called a terrorist shows just how desperate the american gov't is to try and convince their citizens that they are winning their "war on terror". This entire situation is disgusting. ACT! despite what your goverment would have you believe, you have the right to civil disobedience. USE IT! peacefully protest, not only animal cruelty, but the unjust accusations being leveled against the innocent and the just.
I don't agree with terrorising people, it would have been better if SHAC had found more peaceful ways of protesting. BUT it is cruel to mistreat any living thing, including animals. These people may claim that they are distressed by the events that happened to them, but they still got up every morning and went to work for a company that harmed and abused defencless creatures.
"Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see." John Lennon. Come on people, the rights to live in harmony isn't exactly a new concept. How can people still be so ignorant these days?
At Matthew Fitzgerald
Sure what the people did to the dogs weren't right, but what Kevin did to those people wasn't right either. Sure they probably deserved it, but if you did something wrong would you like it if they targeted your family? Or put your children's pictures and school addresses on the internet? That was WRONG Kevin!
"...the SHAC USA website published the names, ages, and school addresses of Huntingdon employees’ children..."
No matter who you are or what you stand for, THAT is going too far. Kjonaas deserved at least SOMETHING for participating in something as horrible as that. Why drag their children into this? Why put someone's children in harm's way? That is just sick.
That is absolutely ludicrous. I can see the point tat vandalism is wrong and all that, but 23 years in prison? The same as a murderer would get in the UK? It really is laughable. It's disgusting and immoral to test on animals and I think the american government has really gotten it's priorities messed up on this one.
wow the american government is way [deleted]ed up..... im shocked
who is our government to accuse anyone of trying to ahieve their means through "intimidation" and "instilling fear in others"? please i want one of those stuck up aristocratic sons of bitches politicians to explain this. What the hell do the exploit us for every single day and screw us around every turn to fund a war. Is this where billions of missing dollars goes? tracking, arresting and trying people for "voicing opinions" and "non-violent means" because they may lose money? kevin jonaas should be aquitted and all charges dropped. the only real crime done is the arresting of activists.
This is how this country awards its free thinkers and people with different opinions.
BULL[deleted]!
what the [deleted]. i like the pepper spray kitty litter idea, genius. [deleted] the feds. we pay their large salaries for them do some some [deleted] i would do to an un-trusting girlfriend (well, i'm not that bad) it just seems lame. if kevin wasn't physically hurting anyone or anything like that, what's the bid deal. oh yea, a wasted of tax dollars and i'm sure there are millions more like this and that's one of the many [deleted]ing stupid reasons we don't have universal healthcare. they can waste millions trying to take down someone non-violent activist who isn't all about killing animals for senseless reasons but i can't go to the doctor after a [deleted]ing skateboard wreck. think i'm going to run for office.
good luck kevin, doin the right thing, thats whats up
Attacking employees is wrong,
isn't KILLING puppies wrong?
It's amazing. Ruin a car, protest at a house, you're a terrorist... but torture 500 beagles per day then you are a scientist.
Free Kevin Kjonaas.
And I could care less if Huntingdon's burned to the ground, all of it's employees in it. Live's may be lost, but torture would be stopped.
GRACIAS KEVIN por ayudar a los mas indefensos, hay poca gente como tu y es una pena, GRACIAS, hare lo que este en mi mano para que tu caso se difunda por España
I hope he gets the max fine. I don't care what the cause it - destroying property and harassment on that level is a felony. Does he know every person he harassed was responsible for abuses? Of course not. Did he not financially and emotionally harm innocents that could have been employed by such a company? Of course he did.
If you really believe the ends justify the means, then you must believe that the acts perpetrated by terrorists (any terrorists) are ok. After all, if innocent victims can be justifiably harmed because of a bigger picture and individuals not held accountable for such - then you're just promoting anarchy, and moreso, evil.
We have a right to Peacable Assembly. Not the right to jack up someone's life because we may not agree with their line of work. Screw it - I hope the punk gets jail time.
prm510 Wrote: "The fact that since 9/11 our First Amendment Rights have been taken from us is BS. It is a violation of our rights as United States citizens that we can not protest."
That's utterly false. The First Amenment States:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."
Where have we lost any of that since 9/11? Seriously? We've lost more "Freedom of Speech" due to Political Correctness and Sensitivity than anything else. You do realize that because we might offend people, we can be fined and potentially jailed for saying cetain words or expressing certain (albeit deplorable) beliefs? That's been around for 40 years - and is a far greater First Amendment violation than anything which has happened since 9/11.
As for the Frist Amendment supporting Kjonsas... What he was doing wasn't peacable protesting by any means. Turpentining Cars? Graffiti? Posting Family Information of Employees? Are you serious? You think this is ok? Had he truly peacable protested the despicable acts being done to these animals, property wouldn't have been destroyed. People wouldn't have been fearful for their children.
Think with your head.
Peaceful protests dont do anything......name one that has really stopped something.......right on Kevin!
How do you people do this and then sleep at night?
Bull[deleted], America's number one threat is BEARS!
good luck Kevin.
I support Kevin all the way, but I just wanted to point out that "Peaceful protests dont do anything......name one that has really stopped something" is a kinda stupid statement. How about Martin Luther, or Martin Luther King Jr.? Or Gandhi?
Let Kevin go! It's time that people saw these businesses for what they are and give them what they deserve!
Kevin Kjonaas is someone who stood up for what he thought was right, but like all of new jersey they shut down anything that they dont think is good and lable involved as " terrorist"
The thing that really gets me pissed is that the seven people convicted could not even be directly tied to the events that they were convicted of. They were only a f-ing example to scare off future activists. It's wrong. So wrong that these people, people that wouldn't hurt a fly could be charged more than a person who committs rape or murder. We'll screw that. I'm going to tape my mouth shut and go kill some people, I'll get more done than talking ever does. Just for the record... I was joking. It's hard to be sarcastic in a post. I love you Kevin! You inspired me to fight for what I believe in. Time to spit in the faces of people who ask: "All this for an animal?"
Terrorism = inflicing pain and suffering and death on living things, NOT inanimate objects.
What is WRONG with people who think that it's ok to torture defenceless animals but that it's not ok to expose the TRUE criminals (of higher moral law)?
Hold those "scientists" who commit vile atrocities accountable for their actions! It's not just a difference of opinion, they are terrorists and need to be stopped! The people must stop them. It is NEVER, under any circumstances, ok to inflict suffering on other sentient beings.
We can move forward and make this world a better place if we can take away the weapons (greed, money) of those who seek to harm others. We can make this world a better place if we instill compassion and love in one another. Every single person you expose to the truth is a victory.
Just because you're only one person and you feel like you can't make a big difference, doesn't mean that your small difference wasn't ALL the difference to someone (human or non-human). We need to come together collectively so that the "small" differences we make become one big difference.
Instead of wasting money on convicting an innocent man like Kevin Kjonaas, why not help end world hunger?
This government is useless.
Ya but where is Martin Luther King now!
For all I care...let the [deleted]ing FBI,CIA,INTERPOL,GUARDIA CIVIL and the [deleted]ING MOUNTIES arrest me if I will ever stand for Animal Rights.We humans are the scum of the Earth, and great are all Jonas in this world.PLEASE FREE THE MAN-HE'S INNOCENT!
