US federal authorities yesterday (May 26) arrested and charged seven members of an animal rights organization with conducting a campaign to "terrorize" officers, employees, and companies associated with Huntingdon Life Sciences (HLS), a contract research organization in the United Kingdom and United States that conducts animal testing for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
The five-count indictment, handed up by a federal grand jury in New Jersey on May 20 and unsealed with yesterday's arrests, charges Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA (SHAC-USA) and seven of its members with animal enterprise terrorism, which carries a maximum penalty of up to 3 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Four other counts charge SHAC-USA and three of its members with interstate stalking and conspiracy to engage in interstate stalking. Each of those charges carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The 27-page indictment says SHAC-USA...
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