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<font size=3>Dec 3, 2009 5:49 pm US/Central <br><br>
</font><h2><b>Minn. Animal Terrorism (sic) Suspect Says He's No
Threat</b></h2><font size=3><i>PATRICK CONDON, Associated Press
Writer</i> <br>
<a href="http://wcco.com/wireapnewsmn/Minnesota.student.charged.2.1348634.html" eudora="autourl">
http://wcco.com/wireapnewsmn/Minnesota.student.charged.2.1348634.html<br>
<br>
</a>MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Two weeks after the federal government charged him
with terrorism for an alleged attack on a University of Iowa animal
research lab, Scott DeMuth was back home in Minneapolis making plans to
return to his sociology classes, visit his grandparents and get back to a
regular routine.<br><br>
Under the terms of his release, the 22-year-old DeMuth must stay close to
home. The man that an assistant U.S. attorney dubbed a "domestic
terrorist" is confined only by an ankle monitoring
bracelet.<br><br>
"It's a little inconvenient," DeMuth told The Associated Press
Wednesday, in his first interview since being charged.<br><br>
Last month, the U.S. Attorney's office in Iowa's southern district
charged DeMuth with one count of conspiring to commit animal enterprise
terrorism. Prosecutors say he played an unspecified role in the November
2004 raid on Spence Laboratories at the University of Iowa, where animal
rights activists released more than 300 animals, dumped chemicals on
data, damaged about 40 computers and publicized the home addresses of
several researchers.<br><br>
He faces three years in prison or a $250,000 fine, or both if he is
convicted of the charges under the Animal Enterprise Protection
Act.<br><br>
One other person, Carrie Feldman, has been detained in connection with an
investigation into the raid, although she has not been charged. DeMuth
says Feldman used to be his girlfriend.<br><br>
A self-described anarchist, DeMuth denies he was involved in the raid at
all and has vowed to fight the charges at a trial. He says he has never
been an animal rights activist and believes he has been targeted because
he has got to know some underground animal rights activists and holds
unpopular political views.<br><br>
"I'm not a threat to the community," DeMuth said, adding that
his own views on animal rights don't prevent him from eating meat or
bow-hunting. "I was 17 and in high school at the time" of the
raid, he said.<br><br>
Mike Bladel, spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Iowa, would not comment
on the charges since the case is active. Prosecutors moved to keep DeMuth
in jail, but U.S. District Court Judge John Jarvey in Davenport ordered
his release pending trial, saying the government failed to demonstrate
he's a public danger or flight risk.<br><br>
DeMuth is a member of EWOK! "Earth Warriors Are OK!" a
Minneapolis group whose members describe themselves as advocates for
animal rights and environmental activists facing criminal charges. DeMuth
says he is motivated by a belief that the federal government is using the
courts to squash unpopular political dissent.<br><br>
His supporters believe the break-in warrants charges against vandalism,
property damage and theft, but not terrorism.<br><br>
University of Iowa officials disagree.<br><br>
At a U.S. Senate hearing in 2005, the university's then-president, David
Skorton, declared the raid an act of terrorism.<br><br>
Damage was estimated at $500,000 for the break-in at Spence Laboratories,
the research facility for the school's Department of Psychology. Several
professors saw their home addresses, names of family members and other
personal information posted online, which many saw as an incitement for
other activists to come after them.<br><br>
A spokesman for the school, Tom Moore, said some of the faculty members
felt terrorized by the 2004 raid.<br><br>
"They were very concerned for their own safety, their families'
safety," Moore said.<br><br>
DeMuth's interest as a researcher and activist has centered around the
history and rights of Dakota Indians, and underground social movements.
In 2008, he was living in a home with other anarchists that authorities
raided just before the Republican National Convention. Several personal
items seized from DeMuth have turned up as evidence against him.<br><br>
DeMuth believes federal investigators want details about underground
activists he knows information he said is protected by academic
freedom.<br><br>
"I'm more than excited to take this to trial," DeMuth said.
"As someone who's involved with movements for justice, it seems like
I have a duty to fight this thing."<br><br>
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)<br><br>
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