{"id":4294,"date":"2017-01-19T18:21:35","date_gmt":"2017-01-20T02:21:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/?p=4294"},"modified":"2017-02-10T18:23:37","modified_gmt":"2017-02-11T02:23:37","slug":"animal-rights-activists-went-on-a-cross-country-anti-fur-rampage-final-stop-federal-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/animalliberationpressoffice.org\/NAALPO\/2017\/01\/19\/animal-rights-activists-went-on-a-cross-country-anti-fur-rampage-final-stop-federal-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"Animal rights activists went on a cross-country anti-fur rampage. Final stop: Federal prison."},"content":{"rendered":"

By Lindsey Bever<\/a><\/p>\n

Their cross-country road trips had a singular purpose: To terrorize the fur industry, federal prosecutors said.<\/p>\n

Joseph Buddenberg and Nicole Kissane set out in the summer of 2013 to leave their mark and record their exploits on websites associated with\u00a0animal rights extremists.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0couple\u00a0vandalized furriers from California to Pennsylvania \u2014 gluing locks, slashing tires, breaking windows and trying to flood the home of\u00a0a\u00a0fur industry worker.<\/p>\n

They spray-painted words such as \u201cmurderer<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

They set loose a bobcat in rural Montana.<\/p>\n

They freed thousands of\u00a0mink, leaving dozens of them\u00a0to become roadkill\u00a0strewn across\u00a0streets.<\/p>\n

And they reportedly stole, then sold online, items to pay for their political storm,\u00a0according to a 2015 indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Southern California<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday,\u00a0Kissane, 30, was sentenced in federal court to 21 months in prison for conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act<\/a>, which prohibits people from engaging in conduct \u201cfor the purpose of damaging or interfering with the operations of an animal enterprise.\u201d Buddenberg, 32, was\u00a0sentenced in May to two years in prison, according to a statement from the U.S. Justice Department<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cVandalizing homes and businesses with acid, glue and chemicals in the dark of night is a form of domestic terrorism,\u201d acting U.S. attorney Alana Robinson said. \u201cWhatever your feelings about the fur industry, these sentences are a pretty strong signal that this isn\u2019t the right way to effect change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Animal activism\u00a0had its\u00a0heyday in the 1970s when groups such as the\u00a0Animal Liberation Front cropped up\u00a0to fight abuse and extortion through\u00a0politically motivated acts, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn recent years, the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth Liberation Front have become the most active criminal extremist elements in the United States,\u201d the FBI said in 2004. \u201cDespite the destructive aspects of ALF and ELF\u2019s operations, their stated operational philosophy discourages acts that harm \u2018any animal, human and nonhuman.\u2019 In general, the animal rights and environmental extremist movements have adhered to this mandate.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBeginning in 2002, however, this operational philosophy has been overshadowed by an escalation in violent rhetoric and tactics, particularly within the animal rights movement. Individuals within the movement have discussed actively targeting food producers, biomedical researchers, and even law enforcement with physical harm. But even more disturbing is the recent employment of improvised explosive devices against consumer product testing companies, accompanied by threats of more, larger bombings and even potential assassinations of researchers, corporate officers and employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

Starting in June 2013, prosecutors said,\u00a0Southern Californians Buddenberg and Kissane targeted U.S. furriers.<\/p>\n

They got in\u00a0Kissane\u2019s 2012 Honda Fit and drove\u00a0from Portland, Ore., to San Diego, according to the indictment.<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks later, the pair used \u201cpaint, paint stripper, a super glue-type substance, butyric acid, muriatic acid, and glass etchant\u201d to trash Furs by Graf, one of the last retail furriers in San Diego.<\/p>\n

Soon after, the family-owned business\u00a0said\u00a0it was closing its doors, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In July,\u00a0Buddenberg and Kissane targeted the Frazier Fur Farm in\u00a0Plains, Mont., where they released a bobcat, according to the indictment. An anonymous blogger posted<\/a> on AnimalLiberationFront.com, which says it<\/a> \u201ccarries out direct action against animal abuse in the form of rescuing animals and causing financial loss to animal exploiters, usually through the damage and destruction of property.\u201d<\/p>\n

The blogger\u00a0detailed an attack made on the same date at the same location.\u00a0The post read in part:<\/p>\n

The sight of a creature so majestic in a state so pathetic cannot be done justice with words. We have yet been unable to determine why Frazier kept him and him alone, but if it was a sense of sentimentality, it certainly was not evident from his treatment. Emaciated and filthy, his beauty was evident even through the matted fur and traumatized stare, with his bushy jowls and black ear tufts. To be in such proximity to this creature, staring into his haunting yellow eyes, changed every member of our cell. We could only speculate as to how he had suffered and what he had seen, but we could know with certainty that he deserved a shot at freedom. We opened his cage and left.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Prosecutors said the couple posted \u201ccommuniqu\u00e9s\u201d on such websites but did not say which sites they used.<\/p>\n

Also in July,\u00a0Buddenberg and Kissane destroyed breeding records and released about 1,800 mink from the Moyle Mink Ranch in Burley, Idaho. In August, they released\u00a0400\u00a0to 500 from the Donald B. Conrad Fur Farm in Keota, Iowa. In September and October, they released about 1,000 from the Rykola Mink Farm in Ebensburg, Pa.; 2,000 from the Bonlander Farms in New Holstein, Wis.; and 440 from the Myhre Mink Ranch in Grand Meadow, Minn., according to the indictment.<\/p>\n

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The San Diego Union-Tribune\u00a0wrote<\/a> about the incident in Iowa, saying the fur farmer found \u201cdozens of mink turned into road kill, some with their backs broken but still alive. Hundreds more were running amok.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosecutors said\u00a0that\u00a0to keep from getting caught, the couple withdrew cash before each trip and avoided using their cellphones and computers while on the road.<\/p>\n

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Buddenberg and Kissane were arrested by federal agents in July\u00a02015 in Oakland, Calif., and charged with conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, according to the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Southern California<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ahead of\u00a0Kissane\u2019s sentencing this week, federal defender Reuben Cahn said it was Kissane\u2019s co-conspirator who pushed her to take action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis offense wouldn\u2019t have happened had she not met Mr.\u00a0Buddenberg,\u201d he said, according to the Union-Tribune.<\/p>\n

Although U.S. District Judge Larry Burns acknowledged Buddenberg was likely the instigator, he said\u00a0Kissane had to take responsibility\u00a0for her part in\u00a0the \u201ccalculated, premeditated reign of terror over those in the fur industry,\u201d according to the statement from the Justice Department.<\/p>\n

In addition to her prison sentence, Kissane\u00a0was ordered to pay $423,477 in restitution;\u00a0Buddenberg had been ordered to pay $398,272.<\/p>\n

In retrospect, the district judge said, he thought he had been too lenient\u00a0when he sentenced Buddenberg.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think\u00a0Buddenberg got an appropriate sentence now,\u201d Burns said, according to the Union-Tribune, adding: \u201cHe got a screaming\u00a0deal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lindsey Bever Their cross-country road trips had a singular purpose: To terrorize the fur industry, federal prosecutors said. Joseph Buddenberg and Nicole Kissane set out in the summer of 2013 to leave their mark and record their exploits on websites associated with\u00a0animal rights extremists. The\u00a0couple\u00a0vandalized furriers from California to Pennsylvania \u2014 gluing locks, slashing … <\/p>\n

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