AETA

May 2021

Activists Must Stand Strong Against Anti-Protest Bully Bills

By |2021-05-10T17:46:53-07:00May 10th, 2021|Categories: Action Tools, Articles, Featured, Featured Resources, News, Protest|Tags: , , , , , , |

Demonstrating the efficacy of direct action, right-wing legislators across the country are ramping up state legislative efforts to limit the right to protest. According to our colleagues at the International Center for Nonprofit Law (ICNL), as of May 10, 2021, there were more than 31 new laws and 69 […]

November 2015

Resisting the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act

By |2017-08-18T12:57:57-07:00November 11th, 2015|Categories: Articles, Info|Tags: , , |

It was in 2006 that the AETA was passed into law. The AETA was crafted by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a group of corporate power players who write pieces of model legislation that suit their interests, and then ALEC passes off the legislation to members of Congress.

April 2014

Know Your Rights for Activists

By |2020-09-03T14:51:53-07:00April 22nd, 2014|Categories: Know Your Rights|Tags: , , , , |

This week CLDC launched two, one hour Know-Your-Rights training videos. The first is our most well-known, offering basic legal information for activists so they might be informed when interacting with law enforcement officials during protests. The second explains basic rights for immigrant communities and their allies, and is in both English and Spanish languages.

January 2012

The Other Side Of The Animal Research Debate

By |2012-01-09T23:18:36-08:00January 9th, 2012|Categories: Documents|Tags: |

MYTH: "We must recognize that scientific research is not only a legitimate career, but also an invaluable facet of medical advancement, conducted by respectable professionals deserving our support. The deplorable actions of these eco—terrorists threaten to impede important medical progress in California and across the country."— Senator Feinstein, Co—Sponsor of AETA

Democracy or Capitalism?

By |2012-01-09T23:10:30-08:00January 9th, 2012|Categories: Documents|Tags: |

If you think that this law was passed by Congress and your elected representatives with sufficient knowledge, time, and debate, think again. This bill was introduced and pushed by big businesses for big businesses. AETA protects the interests of animal enterprises such as the National Pork Producers Association, Pfizer Drug Co. and other pharmaceutical corporations that engage in cruel and unnecessary animal testing, McDonald's and other fast—food corporations that profit from the sale of factory—farmed animals for food, and Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble and other cosmetic companies that repetitiously abuse animals to test and retest their latest line of beauty products. ( Read more about what goes on behind the walls of animal enterprises.)

An Attack On Your First Amendment Rights

By |2012-01-09T23:08:26-08:00January 9th, 2012|Categories: Documents|Tags: |

Under AETA it is no longer just the radical underground activists that are targeted for harming the corporate agenda, but also the law—abiding, above—ground activists. AETA is so broad and vague that ordinary citizens may not know that they are acting outside the vast boundaries of this new law. Under AETA, it doesn't take much to be labeled an "animal enterprise terrorist. " Techniques that have been used for years in various social movements are now acts of terrorism if they cause profit loss, including increased security costs, to an animal exploitation business. Those who peacefully protest or engage in undercover investigations can be deemed a terrorist precisely because these actions are purposefully enacted to cause economic loss to a business so that it can no longer engage in the exploitation of animals.

Labeling Compassionate Citizens As Terrorists

By |2012-01-09T23:03:33-08:00January 9th, 2012|Categories: Documents|Tags: |

The FBI claims that the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) are the number one domestic terrorism threat, stating that "from January 1990 to June 2004, animal and environmental rights extremists have claimed credit for more than 1,200 criminal incidents, resulting in millions of dollars in damage and monetary loss."The government cites no human loss or injury because there has never been any. In fact, the ALF credo states that "it is a nonviolent campaign" in which activists take "all precautions not to harm any animal (human or otherwise)." Conversely, FBI statistics also show that there were more than 7,400 hate crimes motivated by race, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation in 2003 alone and 450 environmental crimes by industries violating clean air and water laws and inappropriate transportation and disposing of hazardous waste. Since 1977, there have been 13,000 incidents against abortion clinics and doctors, including 7 murders. Between 1991 and 2001 there were 2,100 acts of violence against unions including bombings, shootings, and near fatal injuries. So why, then, is it the animal rights activists who are the number one domestic terrorist threat? Why hasn't the FBI focused their attention on other groups such as white supremacists or anti—abortionists who have and will continue to take human lives and pose an actual threat to the American public?

The Redundancy Of AETA

By |2012-01-09T23:00:48-08:00January 9th, 2012|Categories: Documents|Tags: |

AETA is a redundant and unnecessary law. For one, there are already many federal and state laws that cover the Animal Liberation Front's tactics. Trespassing, vandalism, burglary, menacing, harassment, graffiti, disorderly conduct, and arson are all crimes. The ALF knows that their actions are illegal, but they are willing to put their freedom at risk in order to "save as many animals as possible and directly disrupt the practice of animal abuse" in the short-term and "to end all animal suffering by forcing animal abuse companies out of business" in the long term. Existing laws that apply to all citizens are sufficient to penalize their actions. There is no need for an additional law that applies only to those acting in the name of animal rights.

Title

Go to Top