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The Intercept
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Intercept
How the FBI and Big Ag Started Treating Animal Rights Activists as Terrorists
As COVID raged across northern California in March 2020, a pair of farm industry groups were worried about a different threat: animal rights activists. Citing an FBI memo warning that activists trespassing on factory farms could spread a viral bird disease, the groups wrote a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom to argue that their longtime antagonists were more than a nuisance. They were potentially terrorists threatening the entire food chain. 'The safety of our food supply has never been more critical, and we must work together to prevent these clear threats of domestic terrorism from being realized,' the groups wrote. A coalition of transparency and animal rights groups on Monday released that letter, along with a cache of government documents, to highlight the tight links between law enforcement and agriculture industry groups. Activists say those documents show an unseemly relationship between the FBI and Big Ag. The government–industry fearmongering has accelerated with the spread of bird flu enabled by the industry's own practices, they say. The executive director of Property of the People, the nonprofit that obtained the documents via public records requests, said in a statement that the documents paint a damning picture. 'Transparency is not terrorism, and the FBI should not be taking marching orders from industry flacks.' 'Factory farms are a nightmare for animals and public health. Yet, big ag lobbyists and their FBI allies are colluding to conceal this cruelty and rampant disease by shifting blame to the very activists working to alert the public,' Ryan Shapiro said. 'Transparency is not terrorism, and the FBI should not be taking marching orders from industry flacks.' Industry groups did not respond to requests for comment. In a statement, the FBI defended its relationship with 'members of the private sector.' 'Our goal is to protect our communities from unlawful activity while at the same time upholding the Constitution,' the agency said in an unsigned statement. 'The FBI focuses on individuals who commit or intend to commit violence and activity that constitutes a federal crime or poses a threat to national security. The FBI can never open an investigation based solely on First Amendment protected activity.' The dozens of documents trace the industry's relationship with law enforcement agencies over a period stretching from 2015, during James Comey's tenure as FBI director, to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and the more recent outbreak of bird flu, also known as avian influenza. Animal rights activists have long said that federal law enforcement seems determined to put them in the same category as Al Qaeda. In the 2000s, a wave of arrests of environmental and animal rights activists — who sometimes took aggressive actions such as burning down slaughterhouses and timber mills — was dubbed 'the Green Scare.' The law enforcement focus on animal rights groups continued well after Osama bin Laden's death, news clippings and documents obtained by Property of the People show. In 2015, a veterinarian with the FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate told a trade publication, Dairy Herd Management, that eco-terrorists were a looming threat. 'The domestic threat in some ways is more critical than international,' Stephen Goldsmith said. 'Animal rights and environmental groups have committed more acts of terrorism than Al Qaeda.' Four years later, emails obtained by Property of the People show, Goldsmith met with representatives of a leading farm trade group, the Animal Agriculture Alliance, at a government–industry conference. The meeting happened in April 2019, and within weeks the AAA's president was warning Goldsmith in an email about planned protests by 'by the extremist group Direct Action Everywhere,' a Berkeley-based group that conducts 'open rescues' of animals. Within months, the FBI was touting the threat from animal rights groups in stark terms in an official communication: the intelligence note partially produced by Goldsmith's Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate. The August 2019 note written with the FBI Sacramento field office said activists were accelerating the spread of Virulent Newcastle disease, a contagious viral disease afflicting poultry and other birds. The note claimed that activists were failing to follow proper biosafety protocols as they targeted different farms, and could spread the disease between farms on their clothes or other inanimate objects. While the note did not point to genetic testing or formal scientific analysis to back up this assertation, it said the FBI offices had 'high confidence' in their assessment. Activists have rejected the idea that they are not following safety protocols, pointing to protests where they have donned full-body disposable suits. The most withering criticism of the FBI note may have come from another law enforcement agency, however. Four months after the FBI document came out, the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center rebutted the idea that activists were spreading disease. Those activists, the Bay Area-based fusion center said in the note to local law enforcement, were nonviolent and posed a 'diminishing threat to law enforcement.' Citing the activists' use of safety precautions and U.S. Department of Agriculture research, the fusion center said that 'animal rights activists are probably not responsible' for any of the Virulent Newcastle disease outbreaks. Emails obtained by Property of the People suggest that the FBI regularly shared information with the Animal Agriculture Alliance, as both sought to spotlight the threat of animal rights activists. As new animal disease outbreaks occurred, the activists were regularly cast as potential vectors. The nonprofit trade group, based in Washington, D.C., describes itself as an organization that defends farmers, ranchers, processors, and other businesses along the food supply chain from animal rights activists, on whom it regularly distributes monitoring reports to its members. The industry's concerns grew in 2020, as activists created a nationwide map of farms, dubbed Project Counterglow, that served as reference for locating protest sites. The AAA's president, Hannah Thompson-Weeman, sent out an email to industry leaders hours after the map was published. 'This is obviously extremely troubling for a lot of reasons. We are contacting our FBI and DHS contacts to raise our concerns but we welcome any additional input on anything that can be done,' she said. In multiple emails, Goldsmith, the FBI veterinarian, distributed to other FBI employees emails from the AAA warning about upcoming protests by the activist outfits, including Direct Action Everywhere. Another email from a local government agency in California showed that the AAA sent out a 'confidential' message to members in June 2023 asking them to track and report 'animal rights activity.' The trade group provided members with a direct FBI email address for reporting what it called ARVE: 'animal rights violent extremists.' The AAA was not the only industry group using the FBI as a resource. The March 2020 letter to Newsom casting activists as potential terrorists was penned by the leaders of the California Farm Bureau Federation and Milk Producers Council. Those groups did not respond to requests for comment. As the bird flu outbreak ramped up in 2022 and beyond, the industry's claims that animal rights activists could spread disease were echoed by government officials, emails obtained by Property of the People show. Animal rights activists say the claims by law enforcement and industry groups that activists are spreading disease have had real-world consequences. In California, college student Zoe Rosenberg faces up to 5-and-a-half years in prison for taking part in what movement members describe as an 'open rescue' of four chickens from a Sonoma County farm. 'It's always a shocking thing when nonviolent activists are called terrorists.' Rosenberg, a member of Direct Action Everywhere, has been identified by name in monitoring reports from the Animal Agriculture Alliance. For the past year and a half, she has been on an ankle monitor and intense supervision after prosecutors alleged in a December 2023 court hearing that she was a 'biosecurity risk' because of ongoing bird flu outbreaks. Rosenberg said last week she was taken aback by the similar allegations contained in previously private emails between law enforcement and industry. 'Instead of taking responsibility for what they are doing, they are trying to blame us. Of course, it's always a shocking thing when nonviolent activists are called terrorists or framed as terrorists,' she said. 'It just all feels backwards.'
Mint
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Mint
US Agents Cleared for Warrantless Arrest of Alleged Gang Members
(Bloomberg) -- Federal law enforcement agents can arrest Venezuelan nationals in the US suspected of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang without a judicial or administrative warrants, according to a directive from Attorney General Pam Bondi. The memo, dated March 14 and obtained through a public records request by the transparency group Property of the People, outlines procedures under the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century law that President Donald Trump invoked last month to fast-track deportations of some Venezuelan migrants. The directive instructs agents on how to identify suspected gang members and confirms they may take individuals into custody without first securing a warrant. However, it advises agents to consult federal prosecutors when possible to seek criminal search or arrest warrants for related offenses, such as violations like failing to carry immigration documents or register. The Trump administration has designated Tren de Aragua, a violent Venezuelan gang, as a terrorist organization. In a related April 9 email obtained as part of the public records request, the FBI's Criminal Investigative Division ordered that individuals arrested under the Alien Enemies Act be transferred to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is housing such migrants at a Texas detention facility pending deportation. Acting Assistant Director Greg Nelsen warned agents against transferring detainees to the Southern District of New York — where a federal court order currently bars deportations under the act. So far, federal authorities have arrested more than 600 alleged Tren de Aragua members, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Thursday in a post on X. More than 200 Venezuelan men accused of being gang members and 'alien enemies' were deported last month to the maximum-security Cecot prison in El Salvador. A Bloomberg analysis found that about 90% of the men sent to Cecot didn't have a criminal history in the US. According to Bondi's memo, migrants detained and designated as alien enemies are not entitled to a court hearing, an appeal or judicial review. However, several federal judges, and the US Supreme Court, have temporarily blocked parts of the Trump administration's deportation efforts, requiring authorities to give detainees an opportunity to contest their designation. The Justice Department did not immediately response to a request for comment. More stories like this are available on First Published: 26 Apr 2025, 03:56 AM IST
Bloomberg
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Bloomberg
US Agents Cleared for Warrantless Arrest of Alleged Gang Members
Federal law enforcement agents can arrest Venezuelan nationals in the US suspected of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang without a judicial or administrative warrants, according to a directive from Attorney General Pam Bondi. The memo, dated March 14 and obtained through a public records request by the transparency group Property of the People, outlines procedures under the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century law that President Donald Trump invoked last month to fast-track deportations of some Venezuelan migrants.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Justice Department Memo Claims Alien Enemies Act Allows Warrantless Home Searches and No Judicial Review
Newly uncovered guidance from the Justice Department claims the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) allows federal law enforcement officers to enter the houses of suspected gang members without a warrant and remove them from the country without any judicial review. In a March 14 memorandum, obtained by the open government group Property of the People through a public records request and first reported by USA Today, Attorney General Pam Bondi instructs federal law enforcement officers on how to carry out arrests on members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TDA), which President Donald Trump has declared are "alien enemies" under the AEA. The Trump administration has refused to disclose many of the operational details of its unprecedented invocation of the 1798 wartime law to send alleged TDA members to a prison in El Salvador under an agreement with that country's president, Nayib Bukele. The memo is one of the first public glimpses at the Trump administration's claims that it can identify, pursue, arrest, and deport migrants, unconstrained by the Fourth Amendment or due process. While the memo encourages officers to cooperate with federal prosecutors, it notes that "a judicial or administrative arrest warrant is not necessary to apprehend a validated Alien Enemy." The memo also allows officers to arrest suspects they encounter in the field "upon a reasonable belief that the alien meets all four requirements to be validated as an Alien Enemy." "This authority includes entering an Alien Enemy's residence to make an AEA apprehension where circumstances render it impracticable to first obtain a signed Notice and Warrant of Apprehension and Removal," the memo continues. The memo includes a previously published "Alien Enemy Validation Guide" that uses a scorecard to determine suspected TDA members. That scorecard includes alleged symbolic ties to the gang, such as tattoos and clothing. However, as multiple media outlets have reported, Venezuelan migrants have been flagged as violent gang members for generic and inoffensive tattoos, like an autism awareness symbol. Once a suspect is apprehended, Bondi claims they are "not entitled to a hearing before an immigration judge, to an appeal of the removal order to the Board of Immigration Appeals, or to a judicial review of the removal in any court of the United States." "The documents reveal the Trump administration has authorized every single law enforcement officer in the country, including traffic cops, to engage in immigrant roundups explicitly outside due process," Ryan Shapiro, executive director of Property of the People, said in a press release. "With Trump also pushing to deport U.S. citizens, we are lurching ever closer to authoritarian rule." Since the memo was issued, the Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that AEA detainees are subject to due process and can challenge their imprisonment through habeas corpus petitions. Several lower federal courts have also rejected the Trump administration's claims of AEA deportations being beyond judicial review. Last week, Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, appointed by former President Ronald Reagan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, wrote that the Trump administration's claims "should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear." "The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order," Wilkinson warned. "Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done." The Justice Department did not immediately return an inquiry asking if it has updated or rescinded its guidance in light of the Supreme Court and other federal court's rulings. The post Justice Department Memo Claims Alien Enemies Act Allows Warrantless Home Searches and No Judicial Review appeared first on
The Intercept
03-04-2025
- Business
- The Intercept
Police Across the Country Are on High Alert Over Tesla Protests
As protests against Elon Musk proliferated at Tesla dealerships, law enforcement analysts quietly warned of a threat from 'violent opportunists' – and from the cars themselves. In California, intelligence analysts said opportunists might exploit peaceful gatherings 'to mask criminal intentions, including vandalism, arson, or other disruptive acts.' In Nevada, analysts said that electric cars lit on fire posed a risk of toxic gases and self-sustaining 'thermal runaway.' Documents released Thursday by a transparency nonprofit show that law enforcement officials have trained a microscope on demonstrations against Elon Musk in the past month. Ryan Shapiro, cofounder of the group Property of the People, said the intelligence reports show law enforcement twisting itself into pretzels to avoid the obvious. 'Law enforcement has a messaging problem. They want to portray anti-Musk sentiment as terroristic, but they simultaneously know just how popular and mainstream anti-Musk sentiment actually is,' he said in an email. All the documents include a nod toward free speech and free assembly rights, sometimes in the form of a 'First Amendment Acknowledgement.' Shapiro dismissed that as nothing more than boilerplate. 'Generic First Amendment language is a common pretense in intelligence documents about surveilling dissent,' he said. 'It's akin to writing, 'Nothing in this surveillance report about you should be understood as spying on you.'' Two of the reports obtained by his group were produced by state fusion or intelligence centers, which were created after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Those fusion centers were supposed to provide local law enforcement a way to receive updates from the feds on terrorist threats and report back suspicious activity. Activists said they quickly turned into hubs of surveillance on non-violent domestic protest. Shapiro, who has collected similar bulletins for years, says they often inform the thinking of front-line police chiefs and officers. Days before FBI Director Kash Patel equated vandalism of Teslas with 'domestic terrorism,' an intelligence center in California warned law enforcement about 'violent opportunists.' The Northern California Regional Intelligence Center noted that swastikas had been painted onto Tesla charging stations in San Ramon. Someone vandalized parked Tesla vehicles in the East Bay with the word 'Nazi.' And someone else threw paint during a protest. The March 21 report pointed to scattered examples of arsons and shootings at Tesla dealerships across the country, none involved bodily injury. 'Tesla CEO Elon Musk's visible support for Donald Trump and his involvement in the administration as Head of DOGE has likely made Tesla facilities and vehicles symbolically larger targets,' the report states. It continues, 'Most activities organized to speak against Tesla have been peaceful and protected under the First Amendment. However, violent opportunists may exploit these gatherings to mask criminal intentions, including vandalism, arson, or other disruptive acts.' Separately, the Southern Nevada Counter Terrorism Center and Nevada Threat Analysis Center issued their own joint bulletin warning about the fire threat from electric vehicles on March 13. While an Army veteran shot himself inside a Tesla Cybertruck that exploded in front of the Trump hotel in Las Vegas on New Year's Day, the bulletin does not mention that highly publicized incident. Rather, it focuses on the 'emerging trend of threat actors encouraging acts of violence against electric vehicles, manufacturers, and associated charging infrastructure in the United States,' without mentioning Musk by name, including the threat of exploding Teslas. Separately, the FBI partnered with the Department of Homeland Security on a March 21 intelligence bulletin. The document stated that there had been incidents involving 'arson, gunfire, and vandalism, including graffiti expressing grievances against those the perpetrators perceive to be racists, fascists, or political opponents.' The FBI-DHS report warned of lumping 'constitutionally protected activity' in with 'preoperational planning associated with violence.' All the anti-Tesla crimes appeared to have been committed by 'lone offenders,' the report stated – a conclusion at odds with Trump's claim that billionaire George Soros might have been behind 'coordinated' attacks on Tesla. The careful language in the intelligence bulletins about free speech has not been echoed by top officials in the Trump administration, who have issued fearmongering statements that do not draw a distinction between protest and violence, echoing the president himself. When Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Tex.) explicitly called for 'non-violent' actions at a March 19 'Tesla Takedown' protest, Attorney General Pam Bondi responded with a warning for her to 'tread very carefully.' Four days before a planned nationwide protest at Tesla dealerships, meanwhile, Patel announced that he was forming a special FBI task force. 'The FBI has been investigating the increase in violent activity toward Tesla, and over the last few days, we have taken additional steps to crack down and coordinate our response,' Patel said. 'This is domestic terrorism. Those responsible will be pursued, caught, and brought to justice.'
