FBI In Multple Raids On Animal Activists' Homes - No Reason Given In Warrants - AFP

[hatrack]

The FBI and the Santa Monica Police Department have raided the homes of several animal rights advocates in California, an indication that law enforcement authorities are intensifying their efforts to crack down on activists at a time when the groups have been increasingly targeting pharmaceutical companies.

Law enforcement authorities would not comment on the raids, but the North American Animal Liberation Press Office (NAALPO) said they confiscated items valued at thousands of dollars from the homes of two of its press officers during the raids on Oct. 31. NAALPO acts as a clearinghouse for animal rights extremists, distributing anonymous communiques it receives about illegal actions, such as vandalism of research labs, but its press officers say they do not engage in illegal activities themselves.

"They totally trashed the place," Jerry Vlasak, a NAALPO press officer whose home was raided, told United Press International. Vlasak, who was not home when the authorities conducted the search, said it took his wife and him three days to put everything back in place. In addition, the authorities apparently raided the homes of four other activists not associated with NAALPO.

Vlasak said that, although the authorities left a search warrant, he was not informed of the reasons for the raid. The warrant was signed by Los Angeles Appellate Judge Paul Turner. "The police won't tell us anything," Vlasak said. "Nobody's been charged with a crime." The raids come as the pharmaceutical industry as well as the biomedical research community have been pushing Congress to pass an updated version of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act that they say would improve law-enforcement officials' ability to thwart animal-rights extremists.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Animal_Advocates_Homes_Raided_999.html

[kestrel91316]

1. I think they took their computers. They are trying to get to the

bottom of a conspiracy to terrorize people.

Oh, and search warrants don't have to name a "reason" for the search, lol. They have to name what it is they are searching for and confiscating.

Vlasak's wife is voiceover actress Pamelyn Ferdin, a rather notorious and extremely vocal animal rights activist here in LA. She has advocated violence openly, IIRC.

[jilln]

2. Goodness, what kind of person would use words to advocate violence

against those who are perpetrating violence?