Vegan Edge Hip Hopfor every mc who opens cages
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While the economy collapses, Vegan Edge Hip Hop invades Greece. Pictures and write-up forthcoming.
Animal liberationists keep it real in Mexico.
This isn’t late breaking news, but we want to add another voice of approval for the pieing of anti-vegan writer Lierre Keith. Keith, a follower of the organic animal murder promoters at the Weston A. Price Foundation, made the mistake of taking her message to the anarchist bookfair in California. It should be noted that her immediate response to being pied was to call for the police, a response that offers yet more evidence that consuming animals leads to snitching and other degenerate behavior.
We eagerly await news on the pieing of Derrick Jensen.
Rob R Rock, the first vegan straight edge rapper whose 1990 song “Cruelty Free” is featured as a hidden track on Vegan Edge Hip Hop Volume II, breaks his silence in the following email.
I don’t know what to say about this except that clearly, this man has lost his fighting spirit. This culture has broken his will to resist. Don’t let it break yours.
***
“I don’t know you, but guessing from your URL, I think you folks used one of my songs on your vegan rap compilation? I don’t have any problem with your doing that, as I think I said at the time… but that’s not the reason for my writing…
I’m writing to ask you to please remove my mailing address from your mailing list. I’m sure you understand that I have two businesses and a family and I can’t have communications sent to me from folks under investigation from the FBI. Innocent or not, I have a responsibility as a father these days to stay as far away as trouble as humanly possible. Something I was not always wise enough to do in the past, in many different ways… but I digress….
I do wish you the best in your ongoing struggle with this — my best advice (which I’m sure you’ve heard from others) is get a good lawyer!! Being innocent is not enough; good legal representation makes all the difference in the world. Freedom – use it or lose it!
peace out – Rob R”
A well-known (historically) vegan straight edge house, once featured on the National Geographic channel, was raided by the FBI this week. The search warrant (view below) indicated the raid was part of an investigation into the liberation of 401 animals from a University of Iowa laboratory in 2004.
Below is the full story from Green is the New Red.
***
FBI agents and law enforcement from multiple agencies have raided a well-known activist group house in Salt Lake City, Utah, today in connection with an investigation of Animal Liberation Front crimes in Iowa.
I just got off the phone with multiple housemates who were there witnessing the raid, and who were able to read the warrant. Details about all of this are still emerging, but at this point it is clear that the warrant was issued by the Southern District of Iowa, and authorizes the seizure of any books, pamphlets, computers and other materials tied to “animal enterprise terrorism.” [UPDATE: Here is copy of the warrant.]
Some background: In Minnesota, a graduate student named Scott DeMuth has been indicted on conspiracy charges under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. The charges are related to a 2004 raid by the Animal Liberation Front at the University of Iowa.
Another Minnesota activist, Carrie Feldman, has been jailed for refusing to testify about her political beliefs and political associations before a grand jury. Feldman was a teenager at the time of the ALF crime, and says the grand jury is clearly an attempt to harass and intimidate the activist community.
So how did the FBI end up in Utah? One of the housemates, Peter Young, is repeatedly mentioned by name in the warrant. Young was one of the first people prosecuted for “animal enterprise terrorism” in connection to fur farm raids in the late 90s. (His co-defendant Justin Samuel is also mentioned in the warrant). He served two years in prison, and has been living in Salt Lake City, speaking at colleges, and writing on his website, Voice of the Voiceless. He is among the most vocal, public supporters of the ALF and direct action.
The only connection I can decipher between Young and the Iowa investigation is this: in an emergency motion filed against Scott DeMuth, to keep him in jail, the government calls DeMuth an “anarchist” and “domestic terrorist.” As evidence of this, they say he is an “associate” of Peter Young. As DeMuth’s faculty advisor has publicly explained, this is tied to his research as a graduate student.
There are about nine people living at the activist group house in Salt Lake. At least 15 computers were taken by the FBI, along with boxes of documents, notebooks, files, and address books. The house is well-known in the area as a gathering space for animal rights and other activists. No arrests have been made, and at this point it seems Iowa is being used as a pretext for a continued campaign of harassment and intimidation.
Among the items taken from the FBI’s terrorism raid: a postcard for Iowa 80, “the world’s largest truck stop.”
- Will Potter
Reposted from www.voiceofthevoiceless.org
Judge quadruples the recommended sentence for A.L.F. activist.
While most vegan straight edge kids limit their “revolution” to attending shows, xVx activist William “BJ” Viehl turned his singalongs to action, and was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday for A.L.F. actions.
Calling him a “terrorist” and following through on his threat to more than quadruple the recommended sentence, judge Dee Benson Thursday sentenced William Viehl to two years in federal prison. It is the first sentence handed down under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.
Background
Viehl was charged last year under AETA for the release of 650 mink from the McMullin Fur Farm in South Jordan, Utah after cell phone records and a car key found at the scene were used to tie him to the raid. Graffiti found at the scene read “A.L.F.” and “We are watching”. Over one year later, mink are still being found living wild in the vicinity of the farm.
After an 11-month court battle, Viehl accepted a non-cooperating plea bargain in which the prosecution agreed to recommend a sentence of 6 months. In November the judge threw out the deal, stating the recommendation was “too low” and did “not match the severity of the crime”. The sentencing was held over for February, where Thursday he sentenced Viehl to 24 months in prison.
The Sentencing: Report From Court
Court convened Thursday at 11:30am in downtown Salt Lake City. The prosecution first addressed the court. Refraining from the theatrics of past hearings such as a slide show showing firebombed cars from previous A.L.F. actions, the prosecutor made a very brief statement again recommending a six month sentence, and sat down.
Viehl’s attorney addressed the judge, also asking for a six month sentence. She highlighted previous animal rights cases where the “crimes” alleged would legally be considered more serious, yet resulted in sentences lower than or equal to the sentence being threatened by the judge (at previous hearings, Benson threatened a sentence of two years or more).
Judge Benson talked about the attention the case has received, and restated that he felt the recommended sentence was too low.
Lodder and Blackridge fur farms: guilt by association
He expressed his belief Viehl was involved with more Animal Liberation Front actions than those he was charged with, making clear he would be sentencing Viehl for crimes to which little to no evidence linked him, and for which he has not been charged.
He began this point by bringing up the A.L.F. raid of the Lodder fur farm in Kaysville, Utah. 6,000 mink were released from this farm in September, 2008. The judge pointed out Viehl was pulled over near the farm several weeks before the raid. The judge cited a police report which stated he was stopped dressed all in black, and a second occupant of the vehicle was seen stuffing a ski mask under a car seat. A subsequent (warrantless) search of the vehicle allegedly turned up wire cutters. Weeks later, 6,000 mink were released from the fur farm.
He also mentioned an alleged “attempted” mink release at Blackridge Farms in Hyrum, Utah. Viehl and a second person were allegedly followed by a mink farmer after they were seen passing the farm late one night in October, 2008. The judge stated that after noticing he was being followed, Viehl pulled the car over and approached the farmer’s vehicle to ask why she was following them. Benson pointed out the vehicle was the same vehicle said to be used in the McMullin raid.
The evidence
The judge admitted the only evidence against Viehl was a car key found at the farm the morning after the raid, and cell phone records which placed Viehl’s phone near the McMullin farm the night of the mink release. He stated that even with the cell phone records, “without that key, we may not be here right now”.
Benson retreated to the emotive language both him and the prosecutor have made familiar in this case, stating Viehl “caused terror”, and that he knows of no other word for releasing animals from cages than “terrorism”.
“We have so many rights to properly change laws” in this country, he said. This was a naive or deliberately misleading statement while two SHAC 7 defendants and Kevin Olliff remain in jail for attempting to affect change in a legal, above-ground fashion through protest and outreach.
Judge: Viehl “heavily involved” in other A.L.F. raids
Consistent with previous statements from the judge, he linked Viehl to a broader conspiracy, stating he had “no doubt [Viehl] was heavily involved” in other Animal Liberation Front actions. He called him a “copycat”, and that his sentence was aimed towards deterring future activists from carrying out A.L.F. actions.
With that, he handed down his sentence: Two years in prison, three years probation, nearly $66,000 in restitution, and no contact with the Animal Liberation Front.
With credit for time served, good time, and halfway house, Viehl expects to be released in August.
- Peter Young
Write William “BJ” Viehl:
William James Viehl
Inmate #2009-05735
Davis County Jail
800 West State St.
Farmington, UT 84025
Read the full story at:
www.voiceofthevoiceless.org
Contact: info@voiceofthevoiceless.org or email VOV here.
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Animal abuser addresses: Aid any animal rights campaign by knowing what animal abusers are operating in your neighborhood: exclusive PDF documents listing slaughterhouses, research labs, lab animal breeders, and fur farms available on the activist tools page.
Become vegan: Learn why a vegan diet is essential for the animals and this planet. Watch Meat Your Meat.
Animal Liberation Front literature: A.L.F. Diary of Actions, exclusive U.S. printing of Keith Mann’s From Dusk ‘Til Dawn, A.L.F. Communique Collection, and more at the Voice of the Voiceless bookstore.
Vegan hip hop benefit: 12 artist vegan hip hop comp CD to raise money for animal liberation prisoners.
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