May 2004: Seven Animal Rights Activists Arrested for Harassing, Intimidating Company Employees

Federal agents arrest seven people at their homes in relation to their activities as members of the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC—see 1998) animal rights organization. SHAC head Kevin Kjonaas (see 1999 and After) and two more SHAC officials, Lauren Gazzola and Jacob Conroy, are arrested in Pinole, California. Darius Fullner and John McGee are arrested in New Jersey. Andrew Stepanian, a member of both SHAC and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF—see 1976), is arrested in Long Island, New York. Joshua Harper, a self-described anarchist, is arrested in Seattle. These become known as the “SHAC 7,” and face charges of conspiring to intimidate and harass employees of Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS) and trying to impede business through vandalism, stalking, computer hacking, email blitzes, telephone calls, and faxes. The indictment charges the seven with targeting other companies and shareholders who do business with HLS, whom SHAC has long accused of abusing and torturing animals, and says the seven posted personal information about company employees on its Web sites and encouraged followers to “operate outside the confines of the legal system” (see 2001-2002, 2002 and After, March 2003, April - August 2003, and September 2003). [Anti-Defamation League, 2005]