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Trail-blazing
a Corporate Attack
Kevin
Jonas,
No Compromise Issue 24
Summer
2004
Kevin
Jonas is the president of and a full-time volunteer with
Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (USA). He is also one
of the seven individuals recently indicted on federal
Animal Enterprise Terrorism charges. Kevin’s activist
experiences have ranged from college animal rights activism,
to factory farm investigations, to volunteering as an
A.L.F. spokesperson, to working on successful UK fur
and vivisection campaigns. Despite the onslaught of lawsuits
and attacks from the feds, Kevin took some time to talk
to No Compromise and offer some perspective on the HLS
campaign and grassroots activism.
NC: When and how did you get your start in animal
rights activism?
It all started with a beagle named Barney. As a child, my
life was enriched by my little canine companion. We shared
meals and cuddles and got into trouble together. These memories
of Barney began to haunt me in high school, after a friend
showed me a PETA videotape exposing the use of beagles in
smoking studies. As appalling and as wrong as I knew this
was, I could not articulate exactly why it was wrong.
While the concept of animal rights seemed so foreign at
the time, environmentalism did not. I began boycotting McDonalds
because the beef used was from clear-cut rainforest lands.
This boycott of McDonalds led to my giving up meat all together.
In reading up about the ecological impact of my new vegetarianism,
I was exposed to animal rights philosophy. After quickly
devouring several books on the matter (Animal Liberation,
The Case for Animal Rights, etc), what I had felt was so
unconscionable about those smoking studies started to make
complete sense.
The intelligence and logic of these animal rights arguments,
coupled with the compassionate ethic encouraged by my beagle
buddy, inspired in me a reassessment of justice and fueled
my growing indignation. While attending college I quickly
became involved with the Student Organization for Animal
Rights (SOAR), and from there on out I really grew as a person
and an activist.
NC: These days, you are known for your involvement
with the SHAC campaign. Before that, what campaigns did
you work on?
While working with SOAR I participated in many animal rights
activities. We pushed for more vegan food in dorms, protested
the circus when it came to town, locked ourselves together
inside of Neiman Marcus on more than one occasion, took over
the office of a primate researcher as a press stunt, and
hosted many great animal rights speakers. We were the most
active student group on campus during my years of higher
education.
During these college years I also assisted in a handful
of undercover investigations of factory farms and slaughterhouses
in the Midwest. All-night drives, sloshing through shit,
and recording some of the most ghastly acts of violence I
wish I could forget was tough work, but they paid off as
the images are now shown regularly on cable access shows
and educational efforts.
I
also worked as an intern with the A.L.F. Press Office,
which not only got me into a bit of trouble — but
also course credit, as the internship was approved by the
Political Science department.
Post
graduation, I spent a year in England working full time
on animal rights campaigns and there really cut my teeth
on some ‘true grit’ activism. I helped shut down
two of London’s last few fur stores (including the
furrier to the Queen), plus saw the closure of Shamrock Monkey
Farm and Regal Rabbits. It was a ‘smashing’ time
to be there.
NC: Your involvement with the A.L.F. Press Office
in Minnesota led to a raid on your home. How did you deal
with this, and did it affect your outlook on activism?
I can say this much: It seems to get easier every time they
(FBI agents) come a knocking. I have always had this penchant
for not being around when the police show up. Whenever the
F.B.I has raided my homes in Minnesota, in New Jersey, and
in the UK, they have always just missed me by an hour. Dumb
luck, I guess. I dealt with it like any normal person, I
suppose. I was upset and felt a bit violated, but I understood
that this is the price social change activists have always
had to pay.
How
I viewed activism changed a lot after this, and I really
began understanding the animal rights movement is a struggle.
To advocate that we end the exploitation of all non-human
animals means we challenge global economies, religions,
fashion trends, and what our palates are trained to crave – and
that’s something that we just can’t work for
as a hobby, to say the least.
NC: You have been an unapologetic supporter of the
A.L.F. since your days with SOAR. Why is it important for
above ground activists to support the Animal Liberation
Front?
We should be so proud that we can count among ourselves,
ordinary people willing to risk life and limb for those of
another. We should be honored our movement has a modern-day
Underground Railroad. The actions the A.L.F. take symbolize
to me both courage and hope that this movement is strong
enough to one day succeed. Our (aboveground) support of A.L.F.
actions demonstrates that we are consistent in our principles
and are truly rejecting speciesism. If we thought it was
right for Harriet Tubman to liberate people, for Nelson Mandela
to lead an armed revolt, and for the celebrators of the Boston
tea party to engage in economic sabotage, then by all means
our movement has to say the same thing when these things
are done in defense of animals.
A.L.F. members are selfless in their actions and are not
asking for help, but because they advance our shared political
cause we owe them our support. We owe it to them by means
of exploiting the press attention they stir, by writing our
letters of support to those who are captured, and by discussing
their contributions within a proper historical context.
NC:
You spent some time in England working on campaigns there.
As you know, many grassroots groups in the States look
to the UK as being “way ahead of us” in tactics
and achievements. After campaigning on both sides of
the Atlantic, what is your response to this perspective?
The
U.K. certainly has had its share of major achievements
and has pioneered some of the most important strategies
and organizing techniques the animal rights movement has
ever known, but I wouldn’t diminish through comparison
what has been accomplished in the U.S.
British
campaigns are incredible because they bring out people
opposed to animal cruelty from all walks of life. Their
issues and activism seem to be taken more seriously by
the general public because it is the general public that
comprises their campaigns. I wish this were the case in
the U.S. and our efforts were not so youth-heavy. British
direct action campaigns additionally have the luxury of
a more civilized criminal justice system that prosecutes
based on the crime, not the politics behind it. I feel
our U.S. system unconstitutionally disadvantages those
noble few who break unjust laws to help animals, but this
also speaks volumes regarding the dedication of those here
who go underground nonetheless.
There
is a lot to be learned from the U.K. successes, and I think
this has been done. SHAC is an example of U.K. strategies
being exported and meeting success stateside. The U.S.
also has pushed ahead where others have not. In my personal
opinion the U.S. has seen the biggest and most influential
A.L.F. raids, a more press-savvy approach to campaigning
and influential, national organizations rising out of grassroots,
direct-action based efforts (PETA, LCA, Sea Shepherd, and
now SHAC).
continued
on next page
For more information on this issue, visit LINKS GALORE,
PICTURE GALLERY, WHAT YOU CAN DO, and BOOKS.
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