SOUTH ROYALTON, Vermont (July 31, 2024) – Animal Partisan, a nonprofit legal advocacy organization, has recently obtained records that show Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) ties to the animal agriculture industry and strategies to target animal activists using Weapons of Mass Destruction statutes.
In October 2022, Animal Partisan made a request under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), seeking records detailing ties between the agency and the animal agriculture industry. Specifically, Animal Partisan’s request sought records of a presentation the FBI gave to a conference held by the North American Meat Institute (NAMI), one of the nation’s largest animal agriculture associations. The FBI first claimed no such records existed and then later claimed they were exempt from disclosure under FOIA.
In July 2023, with the Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic (FAAC) and Sorenson Law LLC acting as counsel, Animal Partisan sued the FBI in federal court to obtain release of the records at issue. On June 25, 2024, the FBI released the records—records that it had been unlawfully withholding for nearly two years.
“While the FBI has a decades-long history of targeting animal rights activists, these records demonstrate a potentially dangerous escalation in the agency’s tactics,” said Will Lowrey, legal counsel at Animal Partisan. “The records shine a troubling light on collaborations between federal law enforcement and the animal agriculture industry to explore ways to bring some of the most severe federal criminal laws to bear against animal rights activists.”
The records reveal that NAMI contacted the FBI and requested its participation in the 2020 “Animal Care and Handling Conference.” The FBI agreed to participate and provide insight into “agroterrorism and federal law enforcement’s approach to protecting the United States meat industry.” The FBI then prepared a presentation detailing “WMD [weapons of mass destruction] and domestic terrorism” content for the conference. The FBI’s presentation highlighted two of the agency’s programs, including its Weapons of Mass Destruction Program and its Domestic Terrorism Program, focusing specifically on “animal rights violent extremism.” The FBI discussed several federal criminal statutes that could presumably be used to target animal rights activists, including: (1) Use of weapons of mass destruction, (2) Prohibitions with respect to biological weapons, (3) Tampering with consumer products, and (4) Distribution of information relating to explosives, destructive devices, and weapons of mass destruction. Some of these statutes carry penalties of up to life in prison.
“These records suggest the FBI may be exploring whether it can blame animal rights activists for future disease outbreaks at factory farms and bring charges for use of ‘biological weapons,’” said Laura Fox, director of the Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic. “In an environment where infectious diseases such as avian influenza are running rampant through animal agriculture due to intense confinement conditions, the FBI’s presentation signals an ominous new stage in the agency’s efforts to stifle dissent critical of animal agriculture.”
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Animal Partisan is a nonprofit legal advocacy organization with a mission to end the suffering of animals in slaughterhouses, farms, and laboratories by discovering, exposing and challenging unlawful conduct in all its forms. Learn more at www.animalpartisan.org.
Vermont Law and Graduate School’s Farmed Animal Advocacy Clinic (FAAC) provides students with hands-on experience in advocating for animal welfare. Through direct involvement in real-world legal challenges, students develop practical skills applicable to various career paths, all while making a tangible impact on animal protection, environmental stewardship and corporate accountability. Visit www.vermontlaw.edu/academics/clinics-and-externships/farmed-animal-advocacy-clinic to learn more.
Vermont Law and Graduate School, a private, independent institution, is home to a law school that offers ABA-accredited residential and online hybrid JD programs and a graduate school that offers master’s degrees and certificates in multiple disciplines, including programs offered by the Maverick Lloyd School for the Environment, the Center for Justice Reform and other graduate-level programs emphasizing the intersection of environmental justice, social justice and public policy. Both the law and graduate schools strongly feature experiential clinical and fieldwork learning. For more information, visit vermontlaw.edu.