Two FBI agents visited Star Grocery on Claremont Avenue on Monday to investigate a broken window the government believes was smashed by animal rights activists.The large plate glass window of the market, which has been run by the Pappas family since 1922, was smashed around 2 a.m. on Sunday, July 27, according to Nick Pappas, the store’s owner. He wasn’t aware of the animal rights connection until the FBI contacted him a few days later, he said.
“They told us we were attacked,” said Pappas. “We didn’t know. We thought it was vandalism, a couple of broken windows.”
The FBI apparently had been monitoring the website of “Bite Back” an animal liberation organization based in Florida. The site posted pictures of the broken windows of Star Market in its “Direct Action” section. The magazine received news about the windows from someone who calls himself “veganarchist lone wolf.”
“On the night of June 26th two windows were smashed at Star Meats in Berkeley CA, a butcher shop that boasts about its organic and locally sourced meat,” according to the article. “Cage free, organic, murder is murder and death is death. This is a continuation of last years actions in which windows were smashed out of Waylands Meat Market in Oakland and windows smashed in an East Oakland Burger King.” He included a photo of the smashed windows.
The website states: “Bite Back does not publish news of actions in which the intent is to physically harm someone.”
Two FBI agents came by Star Grocery at 3068 Claremont Ave. on Monday, said Pappas. Pappas said the butcher store has never had this kind of anger directed at it before. The bill to replace the window was $1,300, he said.