For Immediate Release
Denver: Animal liberationists Walter Bond received the minimum sentence allowed by a Colorado court, 5 years prison and 3 years probation, after pleading guilty to burning the Sheepskin Factory in Glendale. Hon. Christine Arguello, while stern with him, noted that she read all 50 letters to her from Mr. Bond’s supporters and every essay he had written on his support site. The judge commented that she realizes Walter is very intelligent by his writing, and urged him to focus in the future towards his essays on Animal Liberation and to move away from arson in his life.
The following is Walters Final Statement to the Court that he read at his Sentencing.
Final Statement to the Court
I’m here today because I burnt down the Sheepskin Factory in Glendale, CO, a business that sells pelts, furs and other dead animal skins. I know many people think I should feel remorse for what I’ve done. I guess this is the customary time where I’m suppose to grovel and beg for mercy. I assure you if that’s how I felt I would. But, I am not sorry for anything I have done. Nor am I frightened by this court’s authority. Because any system of law that values the rights of the oppressor over the down trodden is an unjust system. And though this court has real and actual power, I question its morality. I doubt the court is interested in the precautions that I took to not harm any person or by-stander and even less concerned with the miserable lives that sheep, cows and mink had to endure, unto death, so that a Colorado business could profit from their confinement, enslavement, and murder.
Obviously, the owners and employees of the sheepskin factory do not care either or they would not be involved in such a sinister and macabre blood trade. So I will not waste my breath where it will only fall on deaf ears. That’s why I turned to illegal direct action to begin with, because you do not care. No matter how much we animal rights activists talk or reason with you, you do not care. Well, Mr. Livaditis (owner of the Sheepskin Factory), I don’t care about you. There is no common ground between people like you and me. I want you to know that no matter what this court sentences me to today, you have won nothing! Prison is no great hardship to me. In a society that values money over life, I consider it an honor to be a prisoner of war, the war against inter-species slavery and objectification! I also want you to know that I will never willingly pay you one dollar, not one! I hope your business fails and you choke to death on every penny you profit from animal murder! I hope you choke on it and burn in hell!
To my supporters, I wish to say thank you for standing behind me and showing this court and these animal exploiters that we support our own and that we as a movement are not going to apologize for having a sense of urgency. We are not going to put the interests of commerce over sentience! And we will never stop educating, agitating and confronting those responsible for the death of our Mother Earth and her Animal Nations. My vegan sisters and brothers our lives are not our own. Selfishness is the way of gluttons, perverts and purveyors of injustice. It has been said all it takes for evil to conquer is for good people to do nothing. Conversely, all it takes to stop the enslavement, use, abuse and murder of other than human animals is the resolve to fight on their behalf!
Do what you can, do what you must, be vegan warriors and true animal defenders and never compromise with their murderers and profiteers. The Animal Liberation Front is the answer. Seldom has there been such a personally powerful and internationally effective movement in human history. You cannot join the A.L.F. but you can become the A.L.F. And it was the proudest and most powerful thing I have ever done. When you leave this courtroom today don’t be dismayed by my incarceration. All the ferocity and love in my heart still lives on. Every time someone liberates an animal and smashes their cage, it lives on! Every time an activist refuses to bow down to laws that protect murder, it lives on! And it lives on every time the night sky lights up ablaze with the ruins of another animal exploiters’ business!
That’s all Your Honor, I am ready to go to prison.
Walter Bond is an abolitionist animal liberation activist who was arrested on July 23, 2010 after being tricked by his brother in a sting operation set up by the FBI and ATF, and has plead guilty to the ALF “Lone Wolf” arson of the Sheepskin Factory in Denver. He also faces charges in Utah related to the arsons of the Tandy Leather Factory and Tiburon (foie gras restaurant). Walter’s experiences as a 19-year old slaughterhouse construction worker propelled him into veganism and a life focused on ending our culture’s total enslavement and exploitation of other animals and the natural world. As a prisoner of war, Walter continues to influence and motivate other activists dynamically via his essays and personal statements, news of which has speedily traversed the globe over the internet. Walter recently accepted the position of Press Officer with the North American Animal Liberation Press Office (NAALPO). His entire philosophy and program of action is centered around these six words “Animal Liberation, Whatever It May Take!”
More information is available at www.supportwalter.org