Four Animal Rights Activists Arrested in UC Actions, AETA Charges Applied

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2009/02/386746.shtml

 

Four Animal Rights Activists Arrested in UC Actions, AETA Charges Applied

author: Gumby Cascadia

 

Adriana Stumpo, 23, of Long Beach, California; Nathan Pope, 26, of Oceanside, California; Joseph Buddenberg, 25, of Berkeley, California; and Maryam Khajavi, 20, of Pinole, California have been arrested and charged with crimes related to actions at the University of California in Santa Cruz and Berkeley. They are being charged under the "Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act". Some of the charges relate to simple protest actions.

 

Adriana Stumpo and Nathan Pope were arrested yesterday at the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. They appeared in federal court today and are facing extradition to California to face the charges.

 

Joseph Buddenburg was arrested at the Alameda County Courthouse this morning. Maryam Khajavi was arrested today in Oakland. They both appeared in federal court in San Francisco this morning.

 

The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (Title 18 U.S.C. § 43) states that "whoever uses or causes to be used any facility of interstate commerce for the purpose of damaging or interfering with the operations of an animal enterprise, and in connection with such purpose, intentionally places a person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury to that person or an immediate family member, or conspires or attempts to do so, by a course of conduct involving threats, acts of vandalism, property damage, criminal trespass, harassment, or intimidation, shall be imprisoned for not more than five years."

 

The Department of State Diplomatic Security Service, and the Interpol National Central Bureau in Costa Rica, and Joint Terrorism Task Forces of the Charlotte and San Francisco police forces were involved in the investigation.

 

The following is from an FBI press release, and is included to list the actions for which the four are being charged. Hyperbole has been redacted.

 

"On Sunday, October 21, 2007 a group of approximately twenty people, including Mr. Buddenberg, Mr. Pope, and Ms. Stumpo, demonstrated outside a University of California Berkeley professor's personal residence in El Cerrito , California . The group, some wearing bandanas to hide their faces, trespassed on his front yard, chanted slogans, and accused him of being a murderer because of his use of animals in research..."

 

"On Sunday, January 27, 2008, a group of approximately eleven individuals, including Mr. Buddenberg, Mr. Pope, Ms. Stumpo, and Ms. Khajavi, demonstrated outside the private residences of several University of California Berkeley researchers over the course of the day. At each residence, [activists] dressed generally in all black clothing and wearing bandanas to hide their faces marched, chanted, and chalked defamatory comments on the public sidewalks in front of the residences..."

 

"On February 24, 2008, five to six individuals including Mr. Pope, Ms. Stumpo, and Ms. Khajavi, attempted to forcibly enter the private home of a University of California researcher in Santa Cruz . When her husband opened the door, a struggle ensued and he was hit by an object. As the individuals fled, one yelled, "We're gonna get you." The professor and her husband both told the FBI they were terrified by the incident."

 

"On July 29, 2008, a stack of flyers titled "Murderers and torturers alive & well in Santa Cruz July 2008 edition" was found at the Café Pergolesi in Santa Cruz . The fliers listed the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of several University of California researchers and stated "animal abusers everywhere beware we know where you live we know where you work we will never back down until you end your abuse." The investigation connected Mr. Buddenberg, Mr. Pope, and Ms. Stumpo to the production and distribution of the fliers..."

 

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http://www.fresnobee.com/state/story/1213316.html

FBI: 4 animal activists arrested over UC incidents

Friday, Feb. 20, 2009

By MARCUS WOHLSEN - Associated Press Writer

SAN FRANCISCO Four animal rights activists connected to incidents targeting University of California biomedical researchers at their homes have been arrested, federal authorities said Friday.

The FBI arrested the four on suspicion of violating the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act for allegedly using force, violence or threats to interfere with animal research.

Members of the San Francisco Joint Terrorism Task Force on Friday arrested Maryam Khajavi, 20, of Pinole, and Joseph Buddenberg, 25, of Berkeley, in Oakland.

Federal agents arrested Nathan Pope, 26, of Oceanside, and Adriana Stumpo, 23, of Long Beach, on Thursday in Charlotte, N.C., as they returned to the US from Costa Rica.

"It is inexcusable and cowardly for these people to resort to terrorizing the families of those with whom they do not agree," said Special Agent Charlene Thornton, head of the FBI's San Francisco field office, in a statement.

Authorities said they did not know whether the four had attorneys.

Investigators accused Pope, Stumpo and Khajavi of being among a group masked with bandanas who tried to break into a UC Santa Cruz breast cancer researcher's home last February.

When the researcher's husband confronted the group after they tried to force open the front door, he was "hit with a dark, firm object," said Special Agent Lisa Shaffer in a sworn affidavit filed in federal court Thursday.

A lab analysis matched DNA on bandanas seized from the car in which the group fled the house to Khajavi, Pope and Stumpo, Shaffer said.

In another incident, video surveillance connected Pope and Buddenberg to flyers found at a Santa Cruz cafe in late July listing the home addresses and phone numbers of 13 UC Santa Cruz researchers, according to the affidavit.

Separate video footage showed Pope and Stumpo using a computer at a Santa Cruz Kinko's two days earlier to look up information on the researchers, investigators said.

Among the 13 listed in the flyer was the researcher whose husband was assaulted in February, which "caused her to fear she would be attacked again," Shaffer said.

Under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, any effort to interfere with animal research that makes researchers or their families fear for their safety can be punished with up to five years in prison.

Shortly after the flyers were found, the home of a UC Santa Cruz scientist who works with mice was firebombed, and the car of another researcher was torched. The FBI has not connected the four to those attacks.

All four also are accused of participating in a series of roving protests at the homes of several UC Berkeley scientists. During the protests, masked activists called researchers murderers, chalked slogans on sidewalks in front of their homes and in at least one instance trespassed on a professor's property and rang his doorbell. The FBI called the protests "threatening incidents."

Khajavi and Buddenberg have been released on bond pending their next court appearances, said FBI spokeswoman Patti Hansen. Pope and Stumpo will be extradited to California from North Carolina to face charges, authorities said.

Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218.  Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net

 

"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs