A naukri.com initiative
Wired
3d
212
Image Credit: Wired
How the Farm Industry Spied on Animal Rights Activists and Pushed the FBI to Treat Them as Bioterrorists
- Top lobbyists and representatives of the agricultural industry collaborated with the FBI to surveil and target animal rights organizations over nearly a decade.
- The FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate and the Animal Agriculture Alliance worked together to monitor activists like Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) and labeled them as a 'bioterrorism' threat.
- The AAA supplied federal agents with intelligence on animal rights groups and used undercover operatives to gather strategic information.
- The alliance aimed to shield industry actors from public scrutiny, press for investigations against critics, and portray animal rights activists as a national security menace.
- State authorities cited protests as reasons to withhold information about disease outbreaks at factory farms from the public.
- Animal cruelty investigator Zoe Rosenberg from DxE faced charges for rescuing chickens, highlighting the conflict between private-sector surveillance and law enforcement priorities.
- The AAA surveilled DxE for years, infiltrating meetings and events to monitor activities and gather information.
- The FBI sought records of activist incidents on farms through interactions with the AAA, aiming to use 'terrorism' charges against activists instead of legal violations.
- The AAA sought closer ties with the FBI to share information about groups like DxE, emphasizing concerns about 'extremist campaigns.'
- The alliance's tactics and collaboration with law enforcement agencies have raised concerns about civil liberties, health, and transparency within the animal agriculture industry.
Read Full Article
12 Likes
For uninterrupted reading, download the app