Three animal rights "activists" have been sentenced in Federal Court , Trenton, NJ to terms of imprisonment and followup probation : an action,it is hoped, will bring a 5 year campaign of domestic terrorism to a halt.
According to Prosecutors,the campaign - launched by a group calling itself SHAC (Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty) targeted the premises,employees, business associates,stockholders, and even the insurer of Huntington Life Services: a NJ based pharmaceutical research company that is authorized to conduct animal testing.
"The activists were found to have coordinated a campaign of intimidating late-night phone calls, harassing emails, rocks thrown through windows of homes, vandalism of personal automobiles, vandalism of homes, and veiled death threats."
Prosecutors on the opening day of the trial showed the image of a young boy who, in response to activists' stalking of his mother, would run and hide whenever his home doorbell rang.
"He was cowering behind the door because he thought 'the animal people' were coming to get him," executive assistant U.S. Attorney Charles McKenna explained to jurors.
"During the first two weeks of the trial, a woman testified she received an email threatening to cut open her 7-year-old son and poison him; a man testified activists overturned his wife's car and smashed all the windows in his home, showering him with glass; a woman testified masked protestors parked outside her house and videotaped her and her young children, while other protestors verbally abused her through megaphones; and several witnesses testified they felt compelled to change phone numbers, constantly check to see if they were being followed while walking or driving, move to new homes, keep their children from playing outside, and purchase guns for self-defense."
An employee of the Marsh insurance company, which insured Huntingdon until dropping the company after being targeted by particularly disturbing harassment, testified SHAC posted her name, the names of her children, her home phone number, the name of her children's school, and the name of her son's teacher on the SHAC Web site, where acts of violence and intimidation against people associated with the firm were applauded."
The defendants claimed their acts were "protected speech" under the First Amendment, but the jurors disagreed: all six were convicted of animal enterprise terrorism, and several also were convicted of multiple counts of conspiring and committing interstate stalking and of telephone harassment.
There had been prior complaints about the "protest group", prior to the federal action. Group members had been charged with "disorderly-level" offenses in the municipal courts,had been fined, and issued restraining orders... that were routinely ignored.
The three defendants sentenced yesterday made two announcements: They plan to appeal,and they expect to be served a vegan diet while in custody.
Following the court ruling, a SHAC spokesperson announced the group plans to resume its campaign against the victims.The SHAC 7website is only slightly less arrogant : it wants you to send money ...