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<font size=3><b>Scott DeMuth Agrees to Plea Bargain in Midwest
"Animal Terrorism" Case<br><br>
</b>by from tcimc <br>
<i>Monday Sep 13th, 2010 6:36 PM <br>
<a href="http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/09/13/18658635.php" eudora="autourl">
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/09/13/18658635.php<br><br>
</a></i>Tuesday was supposed to be the beginning of a lengthy Green Scare
trial in Davenport, Iowa, seeking to find Scott DeMuth guilty of
conspiracy to commit animal enterprise terrorism in relation to an Animal
Liberation Front action at the University of Iowa. But on Monday
afternoon in federal court, DeMuth agreed to a deal on a different
charge--calling off the trial and leaving the FBI empty-handed on the
2004 animal experimentation facility raid.<br><br>
Under the deal, DeMuth pled guilty to a misdemeanor conspiracy to commit
animal enterprise terrorism charge regarding an animal liberation and
vandalism at a Minnesota mink farm in 2006. The agreement calls for no
more than six months imprisonment, to begin in January. He could
have faced years in prison if convicted in the Iowa action, which caused
significantly more economic damage. In this extremely conservative
federal district, the court has sided with the prosecution over the
motions of DeMuth's attorney Michael Deutsch at every turn.<br><br>
After the prison sentence, DeMuth will be placed on supervised probation,
but without electronic home monitoring or a fine. His plea does not
implicate anyone else in the alleged conspiracy, and he will not have to
testify against anyone. <br><br>
The deal also means that Carrie Feldman, previously jailed on civil
contempt in the case, and another person, Sonia Silvernail, are released
from their subpoenas to the trial. The two would have been forced
testify for the government or risk contempt charges.<br><br>
Monday's resolution was mediocre at best for the federal government's
crusade to criminalize aboveground activity in support of animal
liberation and animal liberation prisoners through terrorism
charges. In July, charges against <a href="http://aeta4.org">four
California activists indicted under the AETA</a> were dismissed because
the government could not clearly define what crimes they were being
alleged to have committed. The prosecutor there had sought to
vilify such simple acts as protesting and sidewalk chalking by the
activists.<br><br>
The
<a href="http://davenportgrandjury.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/10-0413second-superceding-indictment.pdf">
superceding indictment</a> against DeMuth--who is not a vegan or
vegetarian, as most animal liberationists are--in April of this year
expanded his original charge to add an alleged but unspecified
involvement in the 2006 raid of Lakeside Ferrets. The former mink farm
sits in the central Minnesota town of Howard Lake, an hour west of
Minneapolis.<br><br>
An ALF communique after that raid said in part, "To all fur farmers,
furriers, and profiters of death, this is the last warning: close down
your businesses, or with boltcutters, fire, and storm, we’ll do it for
you. You can try to scare us, you can try to imprison us, and you can
even try to kill us, but the day we stop will be the day that the last
animal has been freed from its cage."<br><br>
Peter Young, author of the animal liberation news site Voice of the
Voiceless,
<a href="http://www.voiceofthevoiceless.org/new-allegations-in-alf-conspiracy-case/">
wrote</a>,
<dl>
<dd>On April 29th, 2006, anonymous activists cut holes in the fence,
entered the breeder shed, and released hundreds of mink. ... The Fur
Commission USA claimed after the raid that activists mistook ferrets for
mink, and in fact the “mink farm” was actually a ferret farm. While there
is evidence to suggest the farm is now a ferret farm, the location in
Howard Lake was at one time called the Latzig Mink Ranch. The farm was
the site of one of the first-ever mink releases in the U.S. in 1996, when
1,000 mink were liberated.<br><br>
</dl>Hundreds of animals were also saved from torture and death via the
raid on Spence Laboratories on November 14, 2004. It also left
$450,000 in damages. A
<a href="http://www.directaction.info/news_nov18_04.htm">communique after
that action</a> said in part,
<dl>
<dd>This was not thoughtless vandalism but a methodical effort to cripple
the UI psychology department's animal research. Only equipment in rooms
where animals were confined and tortured were targeted. Only computers
belonging to or used in the work of vivisectors were destroyed. Only
documents of animal researchers waere doused in acid. The acid a
deliberately chosen paper dissolving agent. Our goal is total abolition
of all animal exploitation. Achieved in the short term by delivering the
401 animals from UI's chamber of hell. And in the extended term by
shutting down the labs through the erasing of research and equipment used
in the barbaric practice of vivisection. The entire raid was a careful
and deliberate 5-pronged assault on UI's animal research.<br><br>
</dl>The raid and arson had been a coveted
<a href="http://greenisthenewred.com">Green Scare</a> case for the FBI,
whose frustration at a lack of leads apparently led them to find the best
target they could muster on shoddy evidence, much of it gained from an
unrelated raid of DeMuth's home during the the 2008 Republican National
Convention.<br><br>
DeMuth is known for his organizing in the Dakota community and in support
of political prisoners of all stripes, which supporters speculate may
well be a reason he was targeted.<br><br>
The defense had argued that the indictment on November 19, 2009, shortly
after he and Carrie Feldman refused to cooperate with a grand jury
investigation, fell after the five-year statute of limitations for the
crime. But the prosecution prevailed in their argument that the statute
of limitations could be extended due to a technicality.<br><br>
In an article in the University of Iowa newspaper the Daily Iowan
<a href="http://www.dailyiowan.com/2010/09/13/Metro/18738.html">published
Monday morning</a>, UI sociology professor Kevin Leicht said, "It's
going to be interesting to see how the trial unfolds, because it's been
quite a while since the vandalism happened in the first place. It will be
interesting to see what type of information comes out. I'm definitely
going to watch."<br><br>
Professor Jennifer Glanville added, "I would love to see the people
who actually committed this crime be convicted," and also indicated
she would watch the trial.<br><br>
If both had actually been following in the case up to this point, they
would have noted that prosecutor Clifford Cronk's attempted to undermine
DeMuth's academic integrity by seeking information on his own
sociological research. Other scholars, including DeMuth's advisor
and many colleagues at the University of Minnesota, have chosen to stand
for academic freedom by supporting DeMuth and forming the group Scholars
for Academic Justice.<br><br>
After the 2004 raid, the University of Iowa announced that its new $11.2
million animal experimentation facility would be built underground,
indicative of the fear such universities have of their daily business
harming animals coming into the public light. <br><br>
Today's developments in court, shutting the door on a conviction over the
raid, ought to rightfully give so-called animal researchers unease in the
knowledge that animal liberationists will not be easily deterred.
Ironically, 400 mink were released from a fur farm in Washington state
<a href="http://www.voiceofthevoiceless.org/400-mink-liberated-in-washington-state/">
just last week</a>.<br><br>
<a href="http://twincities.indymedia.org/2010/sep/demuth-agrees-plea-bargain-avoiding-charge-iowa-alf-raid" eudora="autourl">
http://twincities.indymedia.org/2010/sep/demuth-agrees-plea-bargain-avoiding-charge-iowa-alf-raid<br>
<br>
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