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Anti-Fur Activists Cover Tracks By Avoiding Technology

posted by cmn32480 on Monday July 27 2015, @10:23AM   
from the when-does-activism-become-terrorism dept.

hemocyanin writes:

I was saddened to hear that two individuals who released fur animals and vandalized fur farms across America were busted: http://www.stltoday.com/news/national/fbi-arrests-activists-accused-of-releasing-mink/article_6c169b5d-dbbc-5dd1-adb0-534ee46af88b.html

But the arrest is sort of beside the point and there are two interesting tidbits in there. First and less interesting, is the ridiculous charge of terrorism under the "Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act" -- seriously, what they did is just plain old crime. Before you know it, going 10 over on the freeway will be considered an act of terrorism.

More intriguing, despite a lack of details on how they got busted, is this tidbit:

The indictment states that they covered their tracks by avoiding phones or logging into known online accounts and email. Instead, they used public Internet computers and encrypted email and cash for purchases while traveling. They would allegedly withdraw hundreds of dollars while back home in the San Francisco Bay Area before another trip.

The FBI states that they drafted communiques and posted them online to publicize their actions on websites associated with "animal rights extremists."

I'm going to guess automatic license plate readers were involved. Pure guess.

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Original Submission

• Re:Agree and disagree Re:Agree and disagree (Score: 3, Interesting) by FatPhil on Monday July 27 2015, @11:23AM

  by FatPhil (863) <reversethis-{if.fdsa} {ta} {tnelyos-cp}> on Monday July 27 2015, @11:23AM (#214229) Homepage

  If it's mink, then the cruelty will likely be to other animals. They may not have had the practice, but they are fast and strong, lots of unsuspecting smaller critters will suffer as these mink cut their teeth. Of course, the solution to that is often an organised cull, so the mink will suffer in the end too.
  
  I may be more animal-rights than the average human, I'm guessing, but I don't see such releases as being in any way desirable. If you have to, shame those who wear murdered cute fluffy things, decrease the commercial value of the enterprise, to disincentivise being in that business - use your democratic freedoms first, before resorting to wanton criminal behaviour such as this.
  
  Disclaimer - I have a hat made in part from murdered cute fluffy things that I wear when it's -25C. I also regularly eat stew made from the same species it came from. OK, the inside of my hat probably got turned into pet food, but pets need to eat too. Not using the pelt would have been wasteful, which is less respectful to the murdered cute creatures.

  --
  Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves

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  Starting Score:	1		point
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• Re:Agree and disagree (Score: 2) by acid andy on Monday July 27 2015, @12:29PM

  by acid andy (1683) on Monday July 27 2015, @12:29PM (#214262) Homepage Journal

  If it's mink, then the cruelty will likely be to other animals. They may not have had the practice, but they are fast and strong, lots of unsuspecting smaller critters will suffer as these mink cut their teeth. Of course, the solution to that is often an organised cull, so the mink will suffer in the end too.

  It's a shame they can't be spayed rather than culled. I think the difficulty and cost associated with recapturing them humanely to do this is the reason why they aren't, but then culls are often anything but humane. They can cause a lot of suffering.

  --
  If a cat has kittens, does a rat have rittens, a bat bittens and a mat mittens?

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