Homeland security warning from PETA

[Guest guest]

Recently, animal rights groups and even our own

staff have reported incidents of harassment and

information gathering expeditions by the FBI and

Homeland Security, even by local police.

 

The incident below shows one way this works:

An FBI agent, who at first did not identify

himself as such, made a call to one of our staff

whose name he had simply read in the paper,

assuring her that she was " not in any trouble "

and asking her to call him back. Quite properly,

she did not. It is dangerous to engage in even

the most innocuous-seeming discourse with the

FBI/ Homeland Security/ a local detective for,

rest assured, if you do, you will become a

notation in a federal file! The next day, the

agent called her at home on her private number

at 7:45 a.m. " to chat. " She properly told him

she had nothing to chat with him about and told

him not to call her at work or home again. That

ended it.

 

As you may know, the FBI has a massive current

investigation into the ALF and ELF and, by

default, as with McCarthyism, into the entire

animal rights community. As new Homeland

Security laws make clear, law enforcement is

using the climate of fear of real domestic

terrorists to collect information on perfectly

law-abiding animal rights activists. We should

not allow this to happen in what is still

supposed to be a free country. There is now a

central data bank set up as a resource in the

event of any break-in or liberation, i.e. to use

to conduct a witch hunt, to harass and

intimidate ordinary people. Don't think this

can't happen, because it already has. Most

importantly, please don’t contribute to it.

 

Many scholars have written regarding social

cause movements, like the civil rights movement

and the peace movements and the FBI's crude and

sometimes downright illegal tactics in dealing

with them. PETA itself has a history of FBI and

ATF harassment. We suffered through

(successfully) defeating subpoenas to examine

our membership and volunteer lists, and many of

us were compelled to give handwriting samples

and photographs and to appear before grand

juries without lawyers present. Wire taps were

put on our telephones (dollars to doughnuts they

are there again now, and that’s not being

paranoid, just practical), our telephone records

were seized at source, and the postal authority

turned over our mail for pre-sorting. All this

happened because, unable to come up with real

evidence and pinpoint anyone in particular, the

FBI set out to " troll " through the most

outspoken animal rights group and see if they

turned up anything. Doesn’t sound very much like

the America we know and love, but there you are.

 

I don't say any of this to alarm you, for you

will probably never receive any communication

from the FBI/Homeland Security/local law

enforcement but to warn you that if you do, it

is not at all smart to think you can outwit

them, convert them, or just give them “harmless”

information and they’ll go away. By allowing an

FBI agent to write in his book, " Spoke for 20

mins to (your name here). " instead of " She had

nothing to say, " you have helped keep the chain

alive. If you talk to them, they write things

like " (your name here) confirmed that she ‘knows

all about the ALF’ and is familiar with the

recent mink liberation, " when, in fact, you

simply answered " Yes " to the question " Do you

know what the ALF is? " and " Yes, I read about it

in a newspaper clipping " to the question " What

do you know about the mink liberation? " If you

invite them in, talk to them, and so on, you

will almost certainly be used in the future.

 

One reason people disregard this advice is

because the first reaction most of us have is to

think " well, we have nothing to hide, so what's

the harm? " Or, my favorite, “But, they seemed

so nice!” How far would they get with us if

they said, “I hate animals” or “I’m out to get

you?” One of our staff recounts how an FBI

agent came and sat next to him when he was

detained after a protest. The agent was very

friendly, slouched in his chair and called the

police who had been at the demo, " jerks. " He

acted as if he and our staffer were old friends

and casually asked our fellow for his name, his

age, how long he'd worked at PETA, if he

traveled much in his work, if " higher ups "

decided how a demo was going to go. When our

person said he wasn't answering and would need

to speak to an attorney, the FBI agent acted

offended and said, " Wow, we were just having a

conversation here. " He then told our staffer

that he'd heard him on the radio and that " you

were articulate, fantastic. That one caller - he

was an idiot. " When it was clear he wasn't

going to get answers, he left the room.

 

Here is exactly what seasoned attorneys suggest

most strongly that you do if approached by an

FBI agent, other Homeland Security or other law

enforcement officer: who wants to “just chat: ”

Say politely but firmly and without

hesitation, " I have nothing to say " and then

hang up, walk away, close the door. Do not be

coerced or charmed into helping them by " just

answering a few easy questions. " If anyone tries

to detain you, ask “Am I under arrest?” If they

cannot say “yes,” you are free to go. Walk or

drive away.

 

If they ring or knock or approach you again,

say " Please leave me alone. You are harassing

me. " Say nothing more. It seems rude, but law

enforcement officers are used to hearing it and

won't take it personally. They will go away.

If you converse with them you will be

called/visited again.

 

In light of the constitution, you have the

freedom to associate with whomever you choose,

and the right to say what you believes in

without fear of reprisal, and they have no right

to harass those who object to exploitation, war,

racial discrimination, animal slavery and the

like.

 

Thank you.

 

Ingrid Newkirk

 

 

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