‘Northumberland 2’ Free on Bail After Alleged Mink Release in PA Felony Case

  • November 15, 2024 1:00 am

from Unicorn Riot

Northumberland County, PA — An engaged couple from Massachusetts was freed on bail from jail last week after the alleged October 19 release of over 600 mink from the Richard H. Stahl Sons Inc. fur farm near Sunbury, off Pennsylvania State Route 890. State prosecutors charged Celeste Legere and Cara Mitrano with over a dozen criminal counts — including ecoterrorism and RICO charges — and they face decades in prison.

Originally held on $150,000 bail each, Legere and Mitrano were later allowed by a judge to post 10 percent of the full bail amount.

Legere and Mitrano face identical sets of charges in Pennsylvania state court. In addition to the RICO and ecoterrorism charges, they are also charged with Agricultural Vandalism, Criminal Mischief, Theft, Burglary, Loitering and Prowling at Nighttime, Accidents Involving Damage to Attended Vehicle or Property, Recklessly Endangering Another Person, Cruelty to Animals, Agricultural Trespassing on Posted Land, and Depositing Waste on a Highway — as well as Conspiracy counts related to the Ecoterrorism, Agricultural Vandalism and Burglary charges. (An additional charge of “Conspire in Unwarranted Detention” was withdrawn earlier.)

Pennsylvania’s Ecoterrorism statute became law in 2006, shortly before a similar federal law — the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act — was signed by then-President George W. Bush. Before the PA statute went into effect, the ACLU said that it “violates the First Amendment because it discriminates against certain expressive speech based on the viewpoint of the speaker” and warned that “people who engage in traditional forms of civil disobedience, such as sit-ins, could be treated as terrorists.”

Both the state and federal laws widened the scope of what counts as “terrorism” — a word usually reserved for killing or threatening to kill civilians in order to influence government policy — to include acts intended to “prevent or obstruct” businesses in the agricultural or animal industries.

These laws were part of the post-9/11 “Green Scare” era during which the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front were the U.S. government’s top domestic “terror” targets. Industry groups and politicians successfully exploited the political climate after the September 11, 2001 attacks to criminalize direct action movements targeting companies for their harmful and controversial practices — often garnering popular support as animal rights abuses and environmental damages became more widely known.

Chris Carraway, staff attorney at the Animal Activist Legal Defense Project, told Unicorn Riot that the case against Legere and Mitrano is “part of a decades-long effort to vilify and persecute animal rights activists.”

“Here, the addition of animal cruelty charges adds insult to injury. A society that protects an industry that gasses and electrocutes animals to turn them into coats, while charging those who allegedly attempt to free those animals with terrorism and cruelty, has utterly lost its moral compass. The true ecoterrorism on this planet comes from corporate industries that destroy habitats, pollute the environment, and slaughter billions of animals for profit.”

Chris Carraway, Staff Attorney, Animal Activist Legal Defense Project

Pennsylvania State Police Complaint Outlines Alleged Mink Release

Celeste Legere and Cara Mitrano were both arrested in the early hours of October 19 after the Stahl fur farm’s security system went off and surveillance cameras showed two individuals releasing minks from pens and destroying breeding records, according to a Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) complaint.

The Richard H. Stahl Sons Inc. mink fur farm as seen from PA State Route 890.

Much of the PSP probable cause affidavits rely on the narrative provided by members of the Stahl family who own and operate the fur farm — Mark, April and John Stahl.

According to the affidavits, Mark Stahl told state troopers that his “camera sensors were activated” and captured two individuals — alleged to be Legere and Mitrano — “inside the enclosed property…wearing dark clothing with head lamps…carrying bags…[with] their hoods up.” They then released 683 mink “and destroyed records on the pens,“ according to an affidavit.

Open air enclosures at the Richard H. Stahl Sons Inc. fur farm containing mink cages seen from State Route 890.

April Stahl claims to have photographed a vehicle fleeing the fur farm shortly thereafter. (The prosecution asserts this is the same car Legere and Mitrano were later pulled over in when they were arrested.) April Stahl and John Stahl then turned their own car sideways on a road, blocking it, at which point the vehicle leaving the scene is alleged to have struck the Stahls’ car on its way out; April and John Stahl then reportedly followed the fleeing vehicle. (The exact location alleged in the documents is not clear.)

The defendants allegedly drove away along Airport Road, seen here to the right of the Richard Stahl Sons Inc. mink farm in a Google Maps satellite image.

Before losing sight of the fleeing car, April and John Stahl told police that they “observed a backpack, work glove and dark in color sweatshirt get tossed out the suspect vehicles driver and passenger windows.” The items were reportedly recovered later by Pennsylvania State Troopers.

At around 1:14 AM, Legere and Mitrano were pulled over by Ralpho Township Police Officer Glen Wonsock, who arrested them before handing them over to Pennsylvania state troopers Cody Fischer and Jacob Hook – the authors of the affidavits.

Fischer and Hook wrote in an affidavit that they then obtained search warrants for the defendants’ vehicle as well as a backpack and purse found inside it. The troopers claimed to find items including a “pair of work gloves,” a “lock picking kit,” “two headlamps” and “two orange plastic crowbars.”

However, the Affidavit of Probable Cause also includes items of a political nature within the basis for the criminal case – dovetailing with efforts across the country to criminalize anarchist, antifascist and environmental and animal rights movements.

Items listed by police include “Three stickers that read ‘Officer down!’” depicting a smiling star with thumbs up” as well as “Two stick[ers] that read ‘Policy Proposal‘ depicting a police car on fire”, “Anarchist propaganda” and literature about how to use a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and the Tor browser to privately browse the internet.

Political surveillance and profiling of U.S. citizens by the federal government based on their perceived ideology is also directly involved in the case beyond the purely physical mechanics of an alleged criminal act.

The affidavit signed by Troopers Fischer and Hook indicates that the defendants and their roommates have been monitored by federal authorities prior to being accused of anything in court: “Following the search I made contact with FBI Intelligence. The FBI Source informed my that both Mitrano and Legere are connected with two anarchist Communes in… Massachusetts.”

Affidavit Conflates Post-Arrest Bail Arrangements with A Priori Payment for Crimes

Troopers Fischer and Hook’s signed and sworn probable cause statements, approved by Magisterial District Judge Rachel Wiest-Benner, appear to misrepresent one of the defendant’s attempts to raise bail money, purporting a notion that they were expecting to be paid for raiding the fur farm. (Wiest-Benner won an open judicial seat late in 2023.)

The affidavit filed by state troopers Cody Fischer and Jacob Hook seems to misrepresent a jail phone call about raising bail funds as evidence that the defendants were promised payment to commit the alleged crime. Unicorn Riot redacted language in this portion of the affidavit that misgenders Celeste Legere.

Fischer and Hook’s affidavit notes a recorded jail call by Celeste Legere was discussing their bail being set at $150,000, but claims that Legere saying on the call that she was “already promised $50,000…. illustrates Legere was promised $50,000 dollars prior to coming to Pennsylvania and committing the above crimes.” This seems to extend a national trend of attempting to criminalize raising bail funds for arrested protesters — in Atlanta, a similar line of attack led to money laundering charges against a bail fund supporting ‘Stop Cop City’ activists that collapsed last month.

The state police affidavit also notes that as of October 27, 2024, out of the 683 mink released, 619 had been recovered, 64 had not been recovered and 3 died post-recovery. The source for this claim is not cited in the filing.

The Northumberland County Courthouse in Sunbury, PA.

Judge Skeptical of ‘Terrorism’-Level Bail in November 4 Hearing

A sunny and tranquil afternoon in Sunbury, a central Pennsylvania river town, was the setting for the bail hearing on ecoterrorism and other charges for the two defendants on Monday, November 4, while locals raked leaves and senior citizens strolled the park outside the courthouse.

Watch Unicorn Riot’s dispatch after attending the hearing on Monday, November 4:

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This report was recorded before Judge Paige Rosini made a ruling on the defense’s bail modification request.]

The bail hearing was overseen by Judge Paige Rosini, a former defense attorney elected to the Northumberland County Court of Common Pleas in 2015.

Judge Paige Rosini is the first woman to serve as a Judge in Northumberland County, PA. Photo credit: Danirae Renno/The News-Item

Celeste Legere was represented by Jim Best and Cara Mitrano was represented by Gerald Iwanejko, Jr. — both public defenders.

Mike O’Donnell, the prosecuting attorney in the case, was elected as the Northumberland District Attorney earlier in 2023 after running as the Republican nominee on a ‘tough on crime’ platform.

Northumberland County District Attorney Mike O’Donnell. Photo credit: Mike O’Donnell/Facebook

District Attorney O’Donnell opposed the defense’s bail modification request, claiming Legere and Mitrano were an “extreme flight risk.” He referred to a map of the area surrounding the Stahl mink farm allegedly found on the defendants and began to reference the literature about using VPNs, Tor, burner phones, allegedly found during the defendants’ arrests, but was interrupted by Judge Rosini – “I’ll stop you there, do you have any evidence?” O’Donnell replied by answering “the affidavits,” to which Rosini replied, “affidavits aren’t evidence.”

Celeste Legere told the court that she works as a therapist and volunteers with various community projects such as clothing drives for unhoused people. Cara Mitrano, who told the court she “ran a free pantry out of my home” and helps with a local Earn-A-Bike program, works in medical data analytics. Both defendants testified that they had no prior criminal record and promised to attend any future court dates.

Legere also testified that she was being held in so-called protective custody because she was a trans woman — meaning she had very limited time outside of her cell and had limited access to the commissary; officers had been instructed not to let her have any contact with other inmates. She told the court that “almost every time I am let out of my cell I receive pervasive sexual harassment” as well as “threats of rape” and said she’d been denied any access to her hormone medication since her October 19 arrest.

When the proceedings moved on to the defendants’ home address and housing upon posting bail, District Attorney O’Donnell was extremely eager to zero in on what he alternately described as “anarchist communes” or “compounds” — aka ‘collective houses’ where the defendants live with roommates.

After O’Donnell began this line of questioning, Judge Rosini said he could “ask about specific groups” but that “saying anarchy or anarchist is pretty broad.” O’Donnell also pressed the defendants and witnesses on whether their collective house roommates were involved in “anti-law enforcement activities.”

Defense counsel asked the court to allow their clients to bail out at a lower amount by reminding the court that they were “presumed innocent” and had a “long-term residence” in a “stable location” with phone access and “substantial ties” to a community.

Character witnesses described both Legere and Mitrano with phrases like “reliable and honest,” “kind and thoughtful person.” Others, including several doctors and an attorney, offered to house and employ the defendants upon their release. When questioning one character witness offering to house one of the defendants, O’Donnell pressed them on why they thought bail should be granted. They replied, “because we live in a free country, and I think that’s important.”

Judge Rosini also pushed back on O’Donnell’s claim that the defendants should be denied bail because they weren’t from the area – “living in another state isn’t necessarily a flight risk.”

Amidst his final remarks arguing against the bail modification request, the District Attorney O’ Donnell again started to cite the internet privacy literature allegedly found during Legere and Mitrano’s arrest the defense quickly objected to this, and the Judge sustained the objection.

O’Donnell insisted that the higher bail amount should remain in place because “they came here to commit a crime,” adding, “they did ram Mr. Stahl’s car in order to leave,” and that they employed “well thought-out, sophisticated tactics. He told Judge Rosini that “it doesn’t matter if they’ve injured someone or not,” to which she replied “that’s one of the conditions.” O’Donnell also failed to offer any substantiation for his claim that the defendants were in “an organization” when Judge Rosini asked, “do you have proof of that organization?”

“The commonwealth hasn’t presented an iota of evidence to support the claims made by Mr. O’Donnell.”

James Best, Sunbury attorney representing defendant Celeste Legere

The Monday afternoon ended on a slightly hopeful note for the defendants and their supporters as some of Judge Rosini’s final remarks seemed to cast doubt on the prosecution’s demonization of the two women as violent threats who could strike again at any time if let out of jail:

“This is exponentially more than is set for people who hurt people… How is $150,000 a reasonable bail for someone who hasn’t hurt people?…This is a property crime…. Who are they at risk of hurting?”

Judge Paige Rosini at November 4, 2024 bail hearing for Celeste Legere and Cara Mitrano

The hearing ended with Judge Rosini saying she would read additional letters of support for the defendants that had been submitted and make a decision in the coming days. Later that week, Legere and Mitrano were each allowed to post 10 percent cash of their $150,000 bail – an option not available prior to Judge Rosini’s decision after the bail hearing.

Both were released without GPS monitoring or home confinement conditions, and allowed to leave Pennsylvania on the condition that they check in with Northumberland County probation twice a month. Rosini also nullified a no-contact order between the defendants, another request by the defense made on the grounds that they need to coordinate a mutual defense and are engaged.

“My client is grateful to the court for recognizing that she is not a danger,” Legere’s attorney James Best told the Daily Item. “She looks forward to returning to her community while she fights these charges.” District Attorney O’Donnell complained that Rosini’s decision “downplays the nature of this crime.” Fur Commission USA, an industry lobby group paying close attention to the case, circulated a statement claiming that “granting reduced bail” “only emboldens extremist activists.”

Stahl & Sons Fur Farm Previously Targeted by Animal Liberation Front

Located in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, just off of State Route 890, the Richard H. Stahl & Sons mink farm was founded in 1955 and currently has 7 employees with an annual revenue of $298,790, according to business directory information. The October 19 incident for which Legere and Mitrano are charged is not the first time the Stahl family’s mink pelt facility been targeted — it was previously raided in 2023 by animal liberationists who freed between 6,000 and 8,000 mink.

While the exact details of Stahl & Sons’ operations are not public, it’s estimated to kill thousands of mink each year. Mink raised for fur generally do not live to see their first birthday and are typically killed one of three ways — being gassed with carbon dioxide, getting beaten to death and/or having their neck snapped, or being electrocuted.

The Richard H. Stahl Sons Inc. mink fur farm as seen from PA State Route 890.

Images of the facility taken on November 4, 2024 show that in addition to the dozen or so large pens containing mink cages, numerous additional new rows of pens are under construction.

The Richard H. Stahl Sons Inc. mink fur farm as seen from PA State Route 890.

Local media has repeatedly quoted statements branding Legere, Mitrano and the wider animal rights movement as “terrorists” and “domestic extremists” by the Fur Commission USA, a 501(c)6 nonprofit that pushes the mink industry’s interests. Corporate-owned news in Northumberland County and Pennsylvania has thus far failed to note a conflict of interest regarding the entity’s advocacy in this case: Mark Stahl of the Richard H. Stahl Sons Inc. mink farm is the Secretary of Fur Commission USA, according to 2024 IRS records.

Fur Industry In Decline

Mink farming has long been a priority target of the Animal Liberation Front as well as those seeking more humane treatment of animals generally. Banned in 20 countries but not in the USA, fur farms confine mink — semi-solitary aquatic predators who roam miles in a day in the wild — to crowded rows of small, often unhygienic cages not much larger than the size of their body. Mink routinely injure themselves in confinement by fighting with each other or biting and scratching on their cages until they bleed and their teeth and claws break.

Fur farms have also been labeled a “pandemic time bomb” and are ideal superspreader sites for diseases like the coronavirus or bird flu, according to recent research by scientists at Imperial College London.

“Fur farming takes place in a high-density animal environment that allows for rapid spread of viruses with pandemic potential—and for virus adaptation to animals that would be unlikely to occur in nature. This is particularly true for normally solitary, undomesticated carnivores, such as mink… mink, more so than any other farmed species, pose a risk for the emergence of future disease outbreaks and the evolution of future pandemics.”

‘Mink farming poses risks for future viral pandemics’, 2023 study by Thomas P. Peacock and Wendy S. Barclay, Imperial College London

Between 2017 and 2022 over half the fur farms in the US closed and the value of mink pelts declined by 68 percent, according to the Humane Society. Some fur farmers hope that these strong downturns will be offset by increased demand for furs from Russia and China.

Despite the escalating legal repression of animal rights activists in the post-9/11 era, activists who support direct action against the fur industry believe that they can push it further towards collapse. While it remains to be seen if the allegations against Celeste Legere and Cara Mitrano will hold up in court, their supporters say they are dedicated to helping them beat the case and stay free.

Cover image composition, photography and additional contributions by Dan Feidt. Mink element in cover via Dzīvnieku brīvība on YouTube.

“Fuck this shit”

  • November 13, 2024 1:33 am

from Instagram

"Fuck this shit" Seen on an ad for The Linden, a Luxury Apartment building located across the street from Clark Park in West Philadelphia. Majority of the units and every store are currently vacant because the monthly rent is triple what the rest of the neighborhood is. No one in this neighborhood could afford to live here..it is also located right next door to a low income public health clinic. Early this morning, 17 windows were smashed and messages were left.

“Fuck this shit”
Seen on an ad for The Linden, a Luxury Apartment building located across the street from Clark Park in West Philadelphia. Majority of the units and every store are currently vacant because the monthly rent is triple what the rest of the neighborhood is. No one in this neighborhood could afford to live here..it is also located right next door to a low income public health clinic.

Early this morning, 17 windows were smashed and messages were left.

pro-Palestine vandalism, arson at Centre Co. DoD building – Ferguson Township, PA

  • November 6, 2024 1:14 am

from Unravel

Investigators say on June 4, the unidentified suspect allegedly spray-painted pro-Palestine graffiti on the side of the U.S. Department of Defense contractor building, which is located along Science Park Road, in Ferguson Township.

Authorities say the graffiti included several pro-Palestine phrases, such as”FOR THE MARTYRS,” “ESCALATE 4 RAFAH,” and “FREE PALESTINE.”

Federal officials say the suspect then allegedly attempted to enter the building but fled after being confronted by security.

Investigators say a few days later, during the early morning hours of June 9, the same individual returned to the building and again spray-painted graffiti, including the phrase “INTIFADA IS HERE,” and an inverted red triangle indicating the “rising” is here.

Authorities say the suspect then began pouring a flammable liquid near the building before lighting it and fleeing the scene.

Investigators note that the area around the building includes a compressed natural gas pipeline, a natural gas generator, and a nearby transformer.

Found on Mainstream Media

Mink releasers were connected to anarchist communes: FBI

  • October 30, 2024 1:58 am

from Mainstream Media

Sunbury, Pa. — Two Massachusetts suspects who released more than 600 mink earlier this month from a Northumberland County fur farm are involved in anarchist groups, according to FBI officials.

One of the suspects also was allegedly promised $50,000 to come to Pennsylvania to release the mink, according to police. More than 60 of the mink are still missing according to the farm owner.

According to an amended criminal complaint filed by PSP Stonington, police found that Christopher Jacob Legere (also known as Celeste) 25, and Cara Ashley Mitrano, 23, are part of the “Firehouse” and “Collective A Go Go” communes in Worcester, Massachusetts. The two suspects were charged for allegedly releasing 683 mink from Robert H. Stahl Sons in Rockefeller Township early the morning of Oct. 19.

Amended charges were filed to add one felony count each of eco-terrorism, corrupt organizations, burglary, and misdemeanors of theft and related charges. Both Legere and Mitrano had already been charged with felony counts of agricultural vandalism and misdemeanor cruelty to animals.

Police were called to the farm around 1 a.m. Oct. 19 after a camera sensor there was activated and alerted the owners of the break-in. Video footage showed Legere and Stahl inside the farm dressed in dark-colored clothing with head lamps. They appeared to be carrying bags and had their hoods up, according to the amended affidavit. The two suspects used bolt cutters to cut a lock off the fence and then released the mink. They also destroyed records on the pens.

The farm owners told police they saw Legere and Mitrano take off in a Subaru Crosstrek. The Stahls followed in their vehicle and attempted to block the road to intercept them, but instead the Subaru accelerated and hit their car. One of the family members got a picture of the Subaru and noted it had a Massachusetts registration plate. The Subaru continued south on Airport Road, and the Stahls followed them for a distance onto Seven Points and Captain Bloom roads. The Stahls told police they saw the suspects toss a backpack, work glove, and dark colored sweatshirt out of the vehicle.

Both Legere and Mitrano were pulled over a short time later by police in Ralpho Township. Legere and Mitrano were arrested and taken to Northumberland County Jail and their car was impounded. Police searched the two suspects and found a hand-drawn map in Mitrano’s pants pocket with directions to the farm.

Trooper Jacob Hook applied for search warrants for the evidence that was tossed on the road, a purse that was found in the car, and the Subaru. He also applied for and was granted a search warrant for the clothes Legere and Mitrano were wearing at the time they were taken into custody, which police described as having a “strong musky odor.”

During the search, police found cutting tools, work gloves, crowbars, a lock-picking kit, and anarchist propaganda literature. There also were directions on how to navigate out of Pennsylvania to the state of Vermont and a map with an “X” on Airport Road where the suspects were to park. Arrows illustrated where the two were to walk through the woods to the farm. Hook also found stickers that said “officer down” with a smiling star giving a thumbs up, and some that said “policy proposal” and depicted a police car on fire, according to the affidavit.

Police intercepted a phone call Legere made from jail on Oct. 20 in which he spoke with an unidentified individual about $50,000 payment he was promised, according to the affidavit.

As of Sunday, 619 mink had been recovered and 64 were still missing, according to Hook. Three of the minks died post-recovery. Farm owner Mark Stahl told police that each mink costs $50 and that approximately 25% of the minks recovered will die of a disease, while the others will be left to die of starvation or be killed on roadways or by wild animals, according to court documents.

A similar incident occurred Sept. 17, 2023 in which unknown suspects broke into the fur farm and released hundreds of minks. No suspect has been charged for that incident as of yet. Police could not say if this most recent incident was connected to last year’s event.

Legere and Mitrano remain in Northumberland County Jail in lieu of $150,000 cash bail each. Both will have a preliminary hearing Tuesday morning Oct. 29 at the office of District Judge Rachel Wiest-Benner.

 

Support Activists Arrested in Pennsylvania After Fur Farm Raid

  • October 23, 2024 1:31 am

from North American Animal Liberation Press Office

For Immediate Release
October 19, 2024
  
Stahl Mink Farm Targeted Again After Thousands of Captive Mink Released in September 2023
 
Although an anonymous communique has yet to be received by the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, activists appear to have liberated hundreds more captive mink from Stahl Fur Farm in Pennsylvania early this morning. According to local law enforcement, Christopher Legere, 25, and Cara Mitrano, 27, both of Massachusetts, were taken into custody and charged with agricultural vandalism, criminal mischief- damage of property, theft by unlawful taking, cruelty to animals, burglary and criminal trespass. They were picked up in Ralpho Township about 15 miles away. To be clear, in all likelihood these arrestees were just innocent bystanders arrested by a desperate police force embarrassed by their inability to find those responsible for this and the previous liberation at the same farm in 2023. Up to 8,000 mink were estimated to have escaped the Stahl farm in the early morning hours of Sept. 17, 2023; no arrests have been reported in that incident.
Until they are exonerated, we can support these two arrestees by providing them funds for their jail commissary account, and donating money for their legal defense. Here’s how:

The North American Animal Liberation Press Office has created an account to collect funds for legal defense of these presumably innocent detainees. Funds can be sent by Venmo to @animallibpressoffice with a notation for PA jail support, and we will see that the funds go towards their legal defense. There will likely be a GoFundMe-type of account soon as well. Stay tuned.

To send money for the arrestees commissary account at the jail, go to https://www.accesscorrections.com/v2/home. Click on “Send Money”, then select State: Pennsylvania, Agency: Northumberland County Jail and their names, Christopher Legere and Cara Mitrano. Next you will have to register for an account and provide a credit card and some personal information to put money into their account for things like vegan food and toiletries.
Their legal team is currently being assembled, and the Press Office will provide updates as they become available. Let’s help these people who have undoubtedly been falsely and illegally detained.
Meanwhile, please do not believe the lies being perpetrated by the animal abusers and their lackeys in the media. Fur farmers and their apologists often say the most ridiculous things to try and mitigate their losses after raids like these. Sample absurdities spouted as fact include: 

  • Many or most of the escaped animals were run over and killed by cars. 
    In reality, fox and mink farms are located in rural areas with little traffic, the animals are quick and solitary animals, and it beggars belief to imagine them aggregating in the road waiting to be run over by the rare passing vehicle. FALSE!
  • Many or most freed animals returned to the farm for shelter or food, or because they loved their captors.
    Very funny. And FALSE!
  • Captive mink are domesticated.
    Despite even generations in captivity, it has been shown scientifically that mink remain genetically wild, and studies with radio-collared mink demonstrate clearly the animals are capable of surviving in the wild. No, they won’t starve or freeze to death. Seriously FALSE!
  • Released captives are roaming the neighborhoods killing livestock, fish in koi bonds (you can’t make this stuff up, and (gasp) family pets.
    Captive, now free and wild mink have no desire to be anywhere near humans and their “livestock” or pets. There may be some minimal impact on the local ecosystems temporarily while the animals disperse and learn their way around, but no habitats are decimated or overrun or rendered free of other small animals. And no, the animals do not kill wantonly and more than they need to survive, as one commentator had the audacity to suggest. FALSE!
  • Most of the animals were recaptured since they don’t know how to get away, or because they are waiting around for their next meal (or to be gassed, clubbed, or anally electrocuted, as 100% of those who remain will be. Uh, wrong!
The Animal Liberation Front and other anonymous activists utilize economic sabotage in addition to the direct liberation of animals from conditions of abuse and imprisonment in order to halt needless animal suffering. By making it more expensive to trade in the lives of innocent, sentient beings, they maintain the atrocities against our brothers and sisters are likely to occur in smaller numbers; their goal is to abolish the exploitation, imprisonment, torture and killing of all innocent, non-human animals.
The number of fur farms in America has dwindled from more than 300 in the 1990s to less than 50 today, as the fur industry continues its steady decline into oblivion. A listing of all  known fur farms in North America, is available here: https://finalnail.com/

Hundreds of Captive Mink Liberated Last Night From Pennsylvania’s Only Remaining Fur Farm

  • October 23, 2024 1:27 am

from North American Animal Liberation Press Office

For Immediate Release
October 19, 2024

Stahl Mink Farm Targeted Again After Thousands of Captive Mink Released in September 2023
 
 Although an anonymous communique has yet to be received by the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, activists appear to have liberated hundreds more captive mink from Stahl Fur Farm in Pennsylvania early this morning, according to local news media. Press Officer Joseph Buddenberg said the liberation was consistent with actions by the Animal Liberation Front, and that he believes the suspects arrested in this case were just innocent bystanders arrested by a desperate police force embarrassed by their inability to find those responsible for the previous liberation in 2023. 

According to local law enforcement, Christopher Legere, 25, and Cara Mitrano, 27, both of Massachusetts, were taken into custody and charged with agricultural vandalism, criminal mischief- damage of property, theft by unlawful taking, cruelty to animals, burglary and criminal trespass. They were picked up in Ralpho Township about 15 miles away.

Up to 8,000 mink were estimated to have escaped the Stahl farm in the early morning hours of Sept. 17, 2023; no arrests have been reported in that incident. The communique from that raid reads:

[dear mink murderer stahl, fur commission secretary:
i saw your mink prison recently and was not impressed. you have dozens of sheds but so many are falling apart. thankfully your operation seems to have gotten smaller over the years. when will you learn that animal abuse isn’t worth it? people like me will continue to visit you at 4130 pennsylvania 890 sunbury, pa 17801, which i found on finalnail.com. a recent communique on animalliberationpressoffice.org inspired me to visit, document what was happening, and liberate as many mink as possible. people need to see the filthy & cramped conditions where these territorial & genetically wild animals are kept up to four in a single cage. and the joy that is possible when they experience freedom. when the cage latches were opened the mink jumped out to experience their first steps in grass and mud. i hope most have escaped to freedom and no more animals are ever imprisoned and slaughtered here again. whatever happened after i left i hope it was expensive. the fur industry is hurting. great. profits are already at record lows and we can make it cost more than ever to continue breeding animals to steal their fur.]

Mink are genetically wild animals that roam up to 5 miles a day but are kept in 10-inch cages on fur farms; their treatment is egregiously cruel and violent. The mink are born in February or March and are killed by gassing, clubbing or anal electrocution in November, before being skinned, sometimes while still alive, for their fur. The animals liberated this weekend have a fighting chance at life; they faced a 100 percent death rate if they stayed on the farm.

The number of fur farms in America has dwindled from more than 300 in the 1990s to less than 50 today, as the fur industry continues its steady decline into oblivion. A listing of all  known fur farms in North America, is available here: https://finalnail.com/

Ghost Robotics Office And House Vandalized

  • October 15, 2024 1:05 am

Submission



Early Monday morning October 14 before the start of the work week the offices of local weapons manufacturers Ghost Robotics was targeted with a message for Ghost Robotics and their backer the University of Pennsylvania: Ghost Robotics and Penn, THERE’S BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS!

The UPenn run campus known as Pennovation in the Grays Ferry neighborhood where Ghost Robotics has its offices was coated with a mix of red paint, broken glass, nails, and messages from Philadelphians to Ghost Robotics and their landlord and backer UPenn: no business as usual for evil fucks who make murder tech!
Ghost Robotics AI-enabled machine-gun-armed robot dogs have been used against Palestinians in Gaza and have been sold to the Department of Homeland Security for use in the US borderlands. Philadelphians won’t stand for the manufacture of killing machines in our backyard with our stolen tax dollars. Across the city people are taking action against Ghost Robotics, demanding an end to the manufacture and distribution of weapons of apartheid. We want Ghost Robotics out of Philadelphia, out of Palestine, and out of the borderlands. As long as Ghost Robotics exists and keeps peddling their killer robot dogs, there’s blood on all of our hands. We will not stop targeting Ghost Robotics and their backers. If you profit off of genocide, you are on notice.
As we cross the threshold of one year since the people of Palestine took a bulldozer through the apartheid wall, we must reflect on how far we have come, and how far we still have to go to see the liberation of Palestine and the liberation of all people from colonialism, militarism and imperialism. This last year of resistance to apartheid and genocide has mobilized millions, and support for the people of Palestine is stronger than ever before. Even still, the US and Israeli backed assault on the Levant carries on, with escalations in the West Bank, Lebanon, and Iran, and doctors estimating that 200,000 people have been killed. If the US government won’t stop sending weapons to Israel, we hope people will do what they can to stop the weapons themselves.
So long as Ghost Robotics exists and until Palestine is free, people in Philly and around the world will continue to fight against agents of genocide. Revolution until Liberation. Free Free Palestine!
House —
On the morning of October 10, an autonomous group targeted the home of Gavin Kenneally, co-founder and CEO of Ghost Robotics. The group painted “Funded By Genocide” across his garage, and “I Make Killer Dogs” on the sidewalk, threw paint at the door and ring camera, and smashed windows. We firmly say — we don’t want your dog shit in Philadelphia! And we don’t want it anywhere!
Gavin’s home is currently listed for sale for a whopping $1.9 million dollars. While his autonomous robots are shipped across the world to patrol and surveil Palestinians, Gavin awaits the sale of his lavish home he’s made with dirty money.
Other manufacturers of autonomous robots have stated their commitment to not arming robot dogs, but Ghost Robotics has positioned themselves as the dealer for these weapons. They clearly have no shame or concern about their robot dogs being used to surveil and kill people.
No genocide profiteer should sit comfortably in their home — we commit to draining funds from Gavin, to reminding him that his robot dogs are agents of U.S. imperialism, and to closing down Ghost Robotics.

Until all people are able to live safely and freely in the place they call home, we commit to fighting for our collective liberation.

Police Mural Vandalized in West Philly

  • October 13, 2024 1:55 am

Submission

We painted over a mural memorializing a dead cop. We took this action as part of the October 7 Week Of Rage in solidarity with Palestinian liberation. We recognize amerikkkan police as part of the same machine that kills and oppresses Palestinians across the ocean. In death as in life may no cop rest peacefully

-some anarchists

How to: fill fire extinguishers with paint

Targeting Home of Ghost Robotics CEO in Philly

  • October 11, 2024 1:16 am

from Unity of Fields

“On the morning of October 10, an autonomous group targeted the home of Gavin Kenneally, co-founder and CEO of Ghost Robotics in Philadelphia. The group painted “Funded By Genocide” across his garage, and “I Make Killer Dogs” on the sidewalk, threw paint at the door and ring camera, and smashed windows. We firmly say — we don’t want your dog shit in Philadelphia! And we don’t want it anywhere!

Gavin’s home is currently listed for sale for a whopping $1.9 million dollars. While his autonomous robots are shipped across the world to patrol and surveil Palestinians, Gavin awaits the sale of his lavish home he’s made with dirty money.

Other manufacturers of autonomous robots have stated their commitment to not arming robot dogs, but Ghost Robotics has positioned themselves as the dealer for these weapons. They clearly have no shame or concern about their robot dogs being used to surveil and kill people.

No genocide profiteer should sit comfortably in their home — we commit to draining funds from Gavin, to reminding him that his robot dogs are agents of U.S. imperialism, and to closing down Ghost Robotics.

Until all people are able to live safely and freely in the place they call home, we commit to fighting for our collective liberation.”

Indego is seeing an ‘unprecedented’ spike in vandalism

  • October 11, 2024 1:10 am

from Mainstream Media

Indego is suffering from a dramatic upsurge in vandalism that forced the company to remove five stations, mostly in South Philadelphia.

The Indego bike docking station in Point Breeze.
The Indego bike docking station in Point Breeze.

Philadelphia’s bike-share system, Indego, is suffering a wave of vandalism and theft so intense that it has had to remove five stations.

“Since July, we have had unprecedented level of vandalism to our stations,” said Nate Bowman-Johnston, Indego’s general manager. “It’s just a massive scale that we’re dealing with at this point.”

Thieves have been physically breaking bikes out of the docking stations where they are locked up waiting for paying users. In some cases, the damage to Indego’s infrastructure rendered entire stations inoperable.

Stations have been removed at 16th and Wolf Streets, Fourth Street and Oregon Avenue, 24th and Jackson Streets, 57th Street and Westminster Avenue, and 21st Street and Washington Avenue.

“South Philly’s been the epicenter of the activity for some reason,” Bowman-Johnston said. There are also some stations where only one or a handful of docks have been affected.

Indego is working with law enforcement on the issue. While there have been no arrests, Bowman-Johnston says there are several active investigations.

He said Indego is waiting for parts and plans to reinstall all of the lost stations in the next two months. “The goal is to reinstall every station,” he said.

Stations outfitted with the latest equipment have proven more vulnerable to this kind of theft, while the latching mechanisms on Indego’s more antiquated stations are more resilient. The 16th and Wolf station, for example, will likely be replaced with tougher, older equipment the company already has in its inventory.

Bowman-Johnston said that despite this summer’s setbacks, Indego ridership is up 20% year-over-year, and that this week it hit 1 million trips for the year so far. The network plans to expand into new neighborhoods soon.

Vandalism and theft have long plagued bike-share systems, and images of bikes or scooters floating in rivers or piled in parks occasionally go viral. But while the North American Bikeshare & Scootershare Association (NABSA) does not have data on the number of incidents, such attacks are not unique to Philadelphia and are less frequent than industry experts initially projected.

“When bike share and scooter share first started [in 2008 and 2009], the general consensus was that there would be a ton of vandalism,” said Laura Mallonee, membership and engagement director with NABSA. “But unlike other street infrastructure, we don’t necessarily see as much as we expected.”

*This story has been updated with the full list of shuttered stations.

 

Sabotage at Bartram’s Area Construction Site

  • October 3, 2024 1:41 am

Submission

One night not too long ago we hit the construction site beside the Grays Ferry bridge. We tore out surveying stakes and smashed the windows on one of the machines that’s turning another of Philly’s wild spots into an ugly ass dirt pile. We get off on frequent, diverse acts of sabotage that target the state’s compulsive war on wildness. Stay wet and wild!
-a feral band of saboteurs

Call to Action: Oct 7 Week of Rage

  • September 28, 2024 1:40 am

from Never Sleep

LET the FLOOD of AL-AQSA DROWN the SETTLER EMPIRE!

Call for a Week of Rage from October 7–14: Direct action in solidarity with the Palestinian Resistance and anti-colonial movements in Turtle Island.

To act alongside the Al-Quds Axis and ‘bring the war home’ requires nothing less than a revival of anti-colonial militancy in this occupied continent. Free Palestine means death to amerika.

In commemorating one year of Operation Toufan Al-Aqsa, this is a call to go beyond the routine stage-managed ‘protest’ parades; this is a call to organize and sustain attacks on all entities, institutions, and infrastructures of the genocidal u.s.-zionist settler-imperialist order. Strike fear into the hearts of the comfortable colonizers, unsettle the settlers, just as the Palestinian Mujahideen have done.

Honor the martyrs through action. From Palestine to Lebanon to Yemen, to the millions of Native and Afrikan peoples across these lands—carry on the fight of those who dared to resist the settler-invader hordes and their capitalist slaveocracy. Target the many politicians, pigs, and profiteers that uphold the amerikan settler empire and its zionist spawn.

Share this graphic online, print and disseminate this call to action at demos, gatherings, study groups. [PDF: AlAqsaWoR]

Organize a crew—at least three people—map out the terrain, assemble necessary tools, make a plan, and go on the offensive. For ideas, check out past actions and tactical resources on unityoffields.org, and submit a report back to the_unity_of_fields@proton.me.

As Al-Qassam urban guerrillas have demonstrated, a small dedicated cell can do untold damage upon the enemy. In the midst of total genocidal devastation, the Resistance is still able to obliterate the zionist entity’s tanks with just a few men. Let’s muster the courage and conviction so we too can learn from their revolutionary example.

GLORY to the MARTYRS
VICTORY to the RESISTANCE
WHAT IS COMING IS GREATER

Some Questions To Be Addressed Before Milwaukee and the Bay

  • September 18, 2024 1:18 am

from Bash Back News

If we name a tendency, how do we make that tendency spread like fire? How can we make that tendency escape the dead-ends of liberal identity politics and/or academia and/or activism? How will we find commonality with forms-of-life that bash back? How can we make this world explode?

Is our violence of substance or of image? Are we joking when we write about violence?

What is meant by that picture of beautiful people holding baseball bats and sledge hammers? Is this symbolism? Is it real? Does it mean anything to bash back?

-Some Questions to be Addressed Before the 2010 Bash Back! Convergence in Denver

The return of Bash Back! in the fall of 2023 with its international convergence in Chicago (the first of its kind in roughly fifteen years) excited and drew in many queer anarchists and anti-authoritarians with promises of ‘orgies and riots’; not a mere reunion, but seemingly a return to form for the networktendencyganghoweveryouwanttoconceiveofit. And while, in many cases, Chicago set a good tone for the nature of what Bash Back! was to mean in the new context in which we find ourselves, it is important that we continue to be very clear and intentional about what exactly we mean when we say “Bash Back!” and when we talk about being violent faggots. We must not let ourselves be so overcome with the glamour and excitement of “doing a bash back” that we lose sight of what this means, or rather, what it could (or should?) mean: sheer, unrelenting, anti-social conflictuality. It would be both counterproductive, misleading, and to some, demoralizing, to take on the image of “orgies and riots” and bring forth only parties, dances, and otherwise chill hangs.

We are not inherently subversive simply through our identities as queers, trannies, faggots, anarchists, punks, dykes, or any combination therein. To accept this, even tacitly, is to accept the liberal identity politics of those we supposedly seek to destroy, to simply want our own aesthetically cool and edgy subcultural niche within this industrial death march called civilization and its society. Do our desires begin and end with an endless trawl of “anarchist” dance parties, galas, fashion shows, raves, or private warehouse sex parties (even if they are fun!). If they are indeed present, what of our desires to see this society destroyed and this civilization reduced to ashes under our feet? When will we trade mere subculture for an anti-culture, one foaming at the mouth for war; one that seeks to ravage the social order, one with a wild fuse, seeking to blow itself up at any moment? For how long will we settle merely for campfires on the rave pier while deferring to set them in the streets, the banks, the factories, the prisons? Are we to simply throw parties until the next wave of social unrest comes, or will we be that social unrest?

Before going on, it must be stated clearly: this critique is written with the utmost love, respect, and appreciation to those who organized the Northeastern Bash Back! Regional convergence in Philadelphia this past spring. Taking on organizing a regional Bash Back! convergence is a massive organizational undertaking to say the least, and there is a ton of work that must go into planning and putting on something like that! And for that, many thanks and kudos go out those who made it happen, especially in the short order that it occurred after the Chicago convergence and the proceeding call for regional convergences. However, in the rush, excitement, and stress of putting on something like this and asking the logistical questions of “how, when, who, and what,” it is easy to forget to ask “Why?” Once again, what does it mean for us to “Bash Back!”?

“Is our violence of substance or of image?” When the queer anarchist Muay Thai smoker is happening and at least one hundred of us collectively chant “A-, Anti, Anticapitalista”, “1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Fuck 12!”, and “Death to America, Death to Israel!” between rounds in the safety of the reserved warehouse space, the painfully liberal UPenn encampment sleeps quietly on the university lawn two miles away. What if this clear sense of rage, conviction, and unity of purpose in our chants was channeled into an opportunity for a surprise attack against the university, its presumably vulnerable and unsuspecting police forces, or the upscale businesses surrounding the university? What could it have meant to turn the joy of the fight club into the jouissance of a rampage? This is not to imply that the Philly organizers simply did not care about the conflictual and insurrectionary nature of Bash Back!, and in fact, they probably wanted people to bring said energy. Unfortunately though, this energy is not always as spontaneous as we would like. Moreover, it didn’t help that any nods to these insurrectional desires were literally tacked-on at the back end of the daily schedule. In the information zines handed out at the convergence, listed after every day’s events was the following: “11PM–Late: Autonomously Organized Late Night Fun.” Although the implication and intentionality was somewhat clear, the actualization was far from so. This led many interested parties to confusedly wander around the convergence, asking any Philly BB!ers they could find if there was anything that was actually planned for that night, or even if anyone knew of any particularly relevant or vulnerable targets (which were also notably absent from the distributed zine). Such inqueries were usually met with, “Oh, I think they are just expecting people to go do stuff on their own.” Of course, by this point, it was much too late for anyone from out of town to plan and carry out anything substantial. Regardless of the organizers’ intentions, it seemed that any real conflictuality had taken a backseat to hangouts, parties, dances, and movie screenings. To be clear: to realistically expect out-of-towners, many of whom may have never lived in Philadelphia for any period of time, with comparatively little (or completely nonexistent) knowledge of the political, social, or literal terrain to autonomously organize “late night fun,” is at very best a severe miscalculation and at worst, utter laziness.

Others have guessed that this omission of conflictuality may have been actually been intentional, with some organizers prioritizing a need to “rest and recuperate.” Considering the current political climate, this desire, and others like it that focus on ~building connections~ and networking for bigger, more confrontational (and more importantly, presently imaginary) encounters in the ~future~, seems both confusing and out of touch. There are so many others who continue to courageously and tirelessly fight in the here and now. And far be it from this critique to lay out a measured response to the increasing prevalence of the care-pilled “politics of rest and compassion” that seems to be further creeping into anarchist spaces, it is important to remind ourselves that this moment of re-emergence, especially in the context of all that surrounds us, is a critical one. A moment where it is up to us to decide if this thing will merely be consumed by the narcissistic myopia of subculture, and consequently cynically recuperated liberal identity politicians and grifters parroting lines about “Queers Bashing Back” until they or their audiences tire of the fashion. Or, does it instead take the anti-social turn of a destructive, unnameable, nihilistic queerness that truly destabilizes the nature of identity and the social order, refusing the repackaging of its violence into mere aesthetics, its lust for incendiary jouissance into a social nightlife, its negativity into “mutual aid projects”?

“If we name a tendency, what does it mean to make that tendency spread like fire?”

UPenn Benjamin Franklin Statue Vandalized

  • September 17, 2024 1:42 am

from Instagram

🇵🇸 UPENN IS COMPLICIT IN THE PALESTINIAN GENOCIDE
At the heart of campus, the Benjamin Franklin Statue stands proudly as a symbol of imperial violence and colonialism.

This morning, an autonomous group poured red paint over the statue: a visual reminder of the over 186,000 martyrs and the university’s complicity in genocide.

The University has tried to supress the student intifada, supressing Palestinian voices, all in the name of “campus safety.” There are NO Universities left in Gaza. There are NO first days. The education system of Gaza has been systematically destroyed, and the genocide has only expanded.

DISCLOSE. DIVEST. THE STUDENTS WILL NOT STOP, THE STUDENT MOVEMENT WILL NOT BE STOPPED. UNTIL PALESTINE IS FREE.

Communique: Heavy Machinery Sabotaged at Haddington Golf Course and A Response

  • August 24, 2024 1:41 am

from Abolition Media

Heavy Machinery Sabotaged at Hadddington Golf Course – Philadelphia, PA

August 19, 2024

The perennial struggle against development in Haddington and throughout Philadelphia continues. Weeks ago we sabotaged heavy machinery used for construction at the Haddington golf course construction site by introducing bleach into the filtration and fuel systems. We send solidarity to the saboteurs carrying out attacks at Kingsessing, Bartrams, FDR, and other sites of development and gentrification.
Free the land!
Free the city!

From: Unravel.noblogs.org

 

A Response to “Heavy Machinery Sabotaged at Haddington Golf Course”

A note on sabotage of heavy machinery: please don’t waste your time messing with fuel or filtration systems. The idea of adding something to a fuel tank is (unfortunately) a widely known sabotage technique that the average person might think of, but it is most likely ineffective on modern vehicles or heavy equipment. Filtration systems are designed to filter out contaminants.

Bleach is typically added to engine oil. The rule of thumb is to add 10 fluid ounces of bleach per gallon of engine oil. This equals one gallon of bleach per 12.8 gallons of engine oil, which should be enough for an average-sized piece of heavy machinery. Larger machines will need more, smaller machines will need less. You may want to look up the specifications of the particular models of equipment on site to be sure of their fluid capacities.

The fuel is probably the least sensitive fluid in the machine; in addition to engine oil, try messing with the transmission fluid, hydraulic fluid, or exhaust fluid. For starter ideas on what to add to these fluids, check out this old Dear Ned Ludd column. [https://efmechanicsguild.wordpress.com/2016/09/06/a-nice-dear-ned-ludd-from-an-ef-journal-last-year/]

Have fun out there!

From: Phlanticap.noblogs.org

 

Excerpt from the mentioned column:

et’s talk about the engines of tractor trailers used for hauling innocents to slaughter and the lab, pulling the wild from the wilderness, and delivering the ingredients of every destructive endeavor sick, corporate, profit-driven minds can concoct. These trailers move the dozers that level the land and the ships that strip life from the ocean. If anything keeps me awake it is the incessant drone from giant poison-containing, toxin-spewing engines; the heart of the machine.

Engine oil can be contaminated by many things, and the other fluids they contain or run on do not mix well with others… kind of like old-guard EF!ers at a dub step show. Hell, I don’t even need to haul around bleach most nights. (Bleach destroys the viscosity of oil and does some fun, expensive shit, too).

Engine Oil:
Engine oil hates water, especially when mixed with antifreeze. Water, because it will not compress, breaks gears. Antifreeze may taste like candy, but it does horrible shit to your body— do not ingest! Engine oil also hates fuel, which thins it out and makes the engine wear out and break. If either water or fuel are found in oil then there must be a problem with the engine and it needs to be opened to check.
Cost to repair: Up to $15,000 for a semi; MUCH more for heavy equipment.

Transmission Fluid:
Hates antifreeze; it destroys the main components in the transmission and the glue that holds connections together.
Cost to repair: $5,000+ for trucks; HOLY SHIT for heavy equipment.

Hydraulic Fluid:
HATES water, antifreeze, and diesel exhaust fluid (DEF; more on that stuff later). Adding water will break shit internally; DEF clogs small control passages over time.
Cost to repair: $3,000 and up.

Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF):
Made of pig urine from the slaughterhouse, this stuff is supposed to help clean the exhaust on trucks. It’s on the tank near the fuel cap, and has a blue lid. It is nasty, and antifreeze thinks so too. This stuff will kill a radiator and clog up the tiny spaces inside an engine fast. Looks like water, and gallon jugs of the stuff can be found in open trucks on construction sites so use your imagination. Causes a lot more damage than rice or dry flake mashed potatoes in the radiator. Do not ingest or get DEF on you…. beyond the fact that it is very refined pig urine, it is poisonous.
Cost to repair: $2,000 to $6,000 for trucks; heavy equipment easily $5,000 to $?!!!!

Diesel:
As above, bad for oil, but also BAD in the diesel exhaust fluid tank. Modern exhaust systems are delicate, so contaminating the DEF tank with fuel will cause extensive damage to the system. Because of this, the newest exhaust sensors are designed to shut down the truck when diesel is found. To extract diesel from a machine, all one would need is a small suction hose, a siphon, and maybe a bottle to catch the fuel in.

SAFETY NOTE!!!! Don’t use your mouth for this!!! Besides leaving evidence, a lot of the chemicals and fluids in an engine will kill your ass.
Cost to repair: $1,000–$10,000 if internal component are damaged.