Did you know that animal rights groups became the “number one domestic terrorism threat” in this country?
I didn’t, until I read an interview with journalist and author Will Potter on the Animal Legal Defense Fund website.
Potter, “is an award-winning independent journalist based in Washington, D.C., who focuses on ‘eco-terrorism,’ the animal rights and environmental movements, and civil liberties post-9/11. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Huffington Post, and the Vermont Law Review.” After getting arrested for leafletting, threatened by the FBI, and then testifying before Congress, he became “obsessed” with finding out how this terrifying reality came to be.
Drawing comparisons to the “Red Scare” era, Potter’s book, Green Is The New Red: An Insider’s Account of a Social Movement Under Siege is, “a thrilling memoir that contextualizes the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA).” AETA, he explains, was created to expand on the Animal Enterprise Protection Act (AEPA), which was deemed “inadequate in going after radical groups.”
The article also goes on to discuss the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), which might be even more scary; “a secretive organization that allows corporations to literally write bills that have been introduced around the country—with lawmakers having no idea that they were actually drafted by corporations themselves”, and provides a link to Potter’s Congressional testimony. I need a hug!
