Press Officer Gregston Van Pukeston’s home was visited by the FBI on Wednesday, November 4 at around 11:45 am. 2 men rang the door bell at Van Pukeston’s home in New Paltz, NY, where they were summarily rebuffed.
Not allowed inside, they were asked who they were and what they wanted. One agent said, “hello, we are looking for Gregston Van Pukeston”. The agent Identified himself as an agent with the FBI, ( he flashed a badge that did not resemble typical FBI badge).
He asked the person who opened the door if they were Gregston Van Pukeston; the person replied , “I’m not answering that question”. They agent then said , “that’s fine, the reason for our visit is we wanted to reach out to Gregston because of him being a Press Officer with NAALPO and were told NAALPO is a very reputable news outlet for the animal rights movement. We wanted to ask if Gregston would be willing to work with law enforcement as a laiason to the local animal rights movement with law enforcement.”
The Agent continued “I don’t know much about the animal rights movement and we were hoping Gregston would be willing to (kind) of explain the groups and movement to me. We want to kind of be ( peace keepers) with the movement and keep ” extremists ” from infiltrating the ranks of Animal Rights Groups.”
He asked if Gregston, ” would you be willing to be a laiason and work with law enforcement for these reasons.” Resident responded “Sorry, I don’t answer questions, and I don’t work with law enforcement”
The Agent replied, ” Yeah, we figured that. There is a lot of mistrust and suspicion with law enforcement in the animal rights and activist communities in general. That’s why we are reaching out hoping we could try to bridge that gap”.
Resident Answered “Please do not come back here.” Agent thanked resident for his time and wished him a good day.
During the time of this conversation, 2nd Agent stood on road with arms crossed. Both Agents wore Covid face masks to cover their faces. Both were white males, early 30s, tall, 5’11 possibly. They refused to give their names or supply a business card, and no vehicle was identified.
[Press Office note: If you are ever confronted by law enforcement at your residence, follow these simple rules:
1. Never allow them into your residence, unless they produce a valid warrant.
2. Never agree to cooperate, and better still, tell them only to go away.
3. If possible, get a photo, name or business card and a photo of their vehicle, in order to alert other activists.
4. You do NOT have to answer any questions they proffer, and indeed, should not do so, no matter how mundane the questions may seem.
5. They are LESS likely to ever bother you again if they know you are completely uncooperative.
6. They cannot hurt you as long as you give them nothing.
7. Agents can and do lie routinely. If their lips are moving, they are likely lying. They do NOT want to be your friend or help you or the animal liberation movement.]