Vegan Edge Hip Hop

Reposted from www.voiceofthevoiceless.org

Your singalongs don’t look so important anymore…

A man set himself on fire Wednesday outside Ungar Furs in Portland, Oregon. After dousing himself with gasoline, he attempted to enter the store, shouting “There are animals dying! Animals dying!” After police extinguished the flames, he was taken to Legacy Emanuel Hospital where he later died.

The man was identified as 26-year-old Daniel Shaull from Kansas. Among the local activists I have spoken to, none are familiar with Shaull by name, nor recognized him as being a part of the active, long-running campaign against Ungar Furs. Yet the location and witness reports strongly indicate this man sacrificed himself to bring attention to the horrific treatment of animals on fur farms.

A news report, which aired prior to Shaull being announced dead, can be viewed here.

Ungar Furs is a retail fur store in Portland which has been the target of a prolific campaign by local activists. Ungar became a target after frequent protests successfully closed another Portland fur store, Schumacher Furs. The owners of Schumacher Furs gave animal rights activists full credit for shutting them down in 2007.

Amidst a range of speculation, I think it is important to assume this is a genuine action by a person driven to make the ultimate sacrifice by the severity of animal suffering. When every legal channel to affect change is closed, people will increasingly be driven to actions which bring both attention to the plight of animals, and a disruptive effect to those who kill them.

Shaull is not the first to give his life in the U.S. animal liberation struggle. This is a time to remember William Rodgers, who took his life in an Arizona jail in 2005 while being held for numerous Animal Liberation Front actions. It is also a time to remember Alex Slack, who took his life while awaiting trial for the A.L.F. bombing of the Utah Fur Breeder’s Agricultural Cooperative in 1999.

If anyone knows Daniel Shaull, please contact Voice of the Voiceless, so that we can make the full story of this action known.

To those who claim the animal rights movement is “violent”, this action should be yet another reminder that every casualty to date has fallen on our side. Daniel Shaull is just the latest victim.

“If this is what the world has made of us, then let it live with the consequences”.

-Peter Young

William Viehl expected to receive 1 to 2+ years for the Animal Liberation Front release of 600 mink. Judge compares A.L.F. mink liberators to 9-11 hijackers.

In an opinion published today, Judge Dee Benson denied William “BJ” Viehl’s motion for the judge to step down from the mink farm raid case. This is the first guilty plea under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, and the first Animal Liberation Front (A.L.F.) sentencing in over 2 years.

On December 11th, BJ’s lawyer and the prosecutor sparred in court over whether statements and a photo slideshow given by the prosecution in court amounted to a breach of the plea deal. A subsequent motion was filed asking the judge to step down from the case. The slideshow featured numerous photos of A.L.F. arsons, and Animal Liberation Front communiques for actions unrelated to those BJ and Alex Hall are accused of.

On Tuesday, January 12th, the judge issued his ruling: The prosecution did not breach the plea deal, judge Benson would not remove himself from the case, and BJ would be sentenced by him as scheduled.

BJ’s first sentencing date was in November, where he was to be sentenced for the liberation of 600 mink from the McMullin Fur Farm in South Jordan, Utah. The judge at that time announced he intended to sentence BJ to more than quadruple the recommended sentence of six months. BJ entered court expecting a possible sentence of “time served”, yet the judge announced he was “inclined” to give BJ a sentence of up to or above two years in prison.

For BJ, Tuesday’s ruling means Judge Benson will likely give him the threatened sentence of 1 to 2 years, or more. While elsewhere in Salt Lake City people receive less time for violent crimes, abusers of companion animals receive probation, and institutional animal killers like mink farmer Lindsay McMullin walk free, Wiliam “BJ” Viehl is likely to receive two years in prison for the selfless and compassionate A.L.F. liberation of animals from a mink death camp.

Even in the death-machine paradigm of “compassion” for those few species from which little or no profit is derived, and demonizing anyone who acts in defense of other species as “ecoterrorists”, activists in the past received have two years for their role in six mink releases. BJ stands to face the same sentence for his role in just one.

Any activist going before Judge Benson has cause to be concerned: Benson is also presiding over the case of Tim DeChristopher, an environmental activist facing federal charges for placing false bids to derail an oil lease auction near Moab. In both Viehl and DeChristopher’s case, judge Benson compared their non-violent actions to those Al Qaeda and the 9-11 hijackers.

No sentencing date for BJ has yet been announced. BJ’s codefendant, Alex Hall, has stated his intention to take the case to trial rather than accept a plea bargain and guarantee another exorbitant sentence from judge Benson.

I intend to be present in court for Bj’s sentencing, and will be posting a full report then.

-Peter Young

Please write them both a letter during this difficult time:

William James Viehl
Inmate #2009-05735
Davis County Jail
800 West State St.
Farmington, UT 84025

Alex Hall
Inmate #2009-06304
Davis County Jail
800 West State St.
Farmington, UT 84025