Terrorism Court Cases

Video on Secretive Communciations Management Units

This week we learned that the government has proposed making secretive prisons for “domestic terrorists,” which have been operating for 3 years on U.S. soil, permanent. In this video Rachel Meeropol and Alexis Agathocleous, attorneys at the Center for Constitutional Rights, discuss the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Communications Management Units, or CMUs:

Read the full article →

Government Acknowledges Secretive Prisons for “Domestic Terrorists,” Proposes Making Them Permanent

Communications Management Units have been operating for more than three years on U.S. soil. The Bureau of Prisons wants to make them permanent.

Read the full article →

FBI Bases Iowa ALF Case on Facebook, Speaking Event, YouTube

An FBI affidavit has just been released in the investigation of the 2004 Animal Liberation Front break-in at the University of Iowa. It shows the stream-of-consciousness approach the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force took to the investigation, including surfing MySpace and Facebook and using an informant to identify activists on YouTube. The affidavit from October, […]

Read the full article →

BREAKING: FBI Raids Activist House in Utah, Connected to Iowa ALF Investigation

FBI agents and law enforcement from multiple agencies have raided a well-known activist group house in Salt Lake City, Utah, today in connection with an investigation of Animal Liberation Front crimes in Iowa.   I just got off the phone with multiple housemates who were there witnessing the raid, and who were able to read […]

Read the full article →

Grad Student Indicted on Terrorism Charges

As a follow up to David Pellow’s guest post, “My Student is a Sociologist, Not a Terrorist,” here is an update from his grad student facing terrorism charges, Scott DeMuth. DeMuth has been indicted for conspiracy to commit “animal enterprise terrorism” in relation to the unsolved Animal Liberation Front raid at the University of Iowa. […]

Read the full article →

My Student is a Sociologist, Not a Terrorist

The following is a guest essay written by David Naguib Pellow, a Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota and faculty advisor of Scott DeMuth: On November 17, 2009, Scott DeMuth was jailed for contempt of court, since he refused to answer questions posed to him by a federal grand jury in Davenport, Iowa. […]

Read the full article →

Scott Demuth Free Despite Emergency Government Motion Labeling Him an “Anarchist”

The government filed an emergency motion to keep an activist in jail because he is an “anarchist” and “domestic terrorist” who associates with a “subversive,” but in a response issued Monday, an Iowa district court didn’t buy it. Scott Demuth will be released pending his trial. Demuth has been indicted on animal enterprise terrorism charges […]

Read the full article →

ELF Fugitive Sentenced for Drug Charges in China

Justin Solondz, an environmental activist who was wanted by the FBI for “eco-terrorism” charges tied to the Earth Liberation Front, has been sentenced to 3 years in a Chinese prison for manufacturing drugs. Back in June I reported on his arrest via Twitter, and now much more details have emerged about his life overseas and […]

Read the full article →

Minneapolis Activist Indicted for Conspiracy to Violate Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act

Scott DeMuth, a Minneapolis activist, has been indicted for conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, apparently in relation to a 2004 Animal Liberation Front raid at the University of Iowa. He faces up to 5 years in prison. His indictment marks a continued expansion of the scope of the new terrorism law, which […]

Read the full article →

Ag Industry Calls for Prosecutions of Undercover Animal Activists

After being repeatedly exposed for serious, systemic animal cruelty, and now facing a media nightmare, animal agriculture corporations are firing back by calling for the prosecution of undercover activists who expose the abuses. The Animal Agriculture Alliance says: As these videos achieve the publicity sought by the groups, the Alliance is concerned that the activist […]

Read the full article →