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Exposing the Deathstar: Rescue Trial in the Utah Desert (Smithfield Foods case)

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  • Exposing the Deathstar: Rescue Trial in the Utah Desert (Smithfield Foods case)

    PLEASE NOTE TRIAL DATES + VENUE HAVE CHANGED! The trial is now being held in Washington County, Utah starting on October 3rd. We have updated our convergence plans accordingly. We are planning to...

    IF YOU ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND, PLEASE REGISTER (FREE!) TO GET IMPORTANT UPDATES AND INFORMATION: dxe.io/utahsignup --- Support the Right to Rescue at trial! Please join us for a convergence in Utah...


    SEP 9 AT 7:00 AM – SEP 17 AT 7:00 PM PDT

    Exposing the Deathstar: Rescue Trial in the Utah Desert

    Various locations around Beaver, Utah and Salt Lake City, Utah

    Support the Right to Rescue at trial!
    Please join us for a convergence in Utah during the trial of DxE investigators Wayne Hsiung and Paul Darwin Picklesimer. Wayne and Paul are being prosecuted for investigating the world’s largest “pork” producer, Smithfield Foods, and rescuing 2 sick piglets, Lily and Lizzie. In 2017, they infiltrated a massive Smithfield farm in the Utah desert, a facility that raises 1.3 million pigs for slaughter every year. They filmed the conditions inside in 360 degree virtual reality footage. Their footage, titled "Operation Deathstar," documented row after row of mother pigs crammed inside gestation crates barely bigger than their bodies and piles of dead piglets covered in their mothers' feces. The investigators rescued 2 sick piglets, Lily and Lizzie, and took them to a sanctuary to receive care. Then, they published the whole investigation and rescue online and in the New York Times to show the world the nightmarish cruelty happening inside Smithfield’s farms.

    During this convergence we will fill the courtroom to show support for animal rescue, build community with one another, and take action together to expose Smithfield’s Deathstar to the world.

    ---
    More about the case:
    The publicity from DxE’s investigation was a PR disaster for Smithfield, and they retaliated with the force of the US government. The month after "Operation Deathstar" was published, the FBI launched a multi-state pig hunt searching for Lily and Lizzie. A six-car armada of FBI agents in bulletproof vests descended upon multiple animal sanctuaries and even cut off part of one pig's ear to do DNA testing. The following year, the state of Utah filed felony charges for 5 DxE investigators shown in "Operation Deathstar" totaling up to 60 years in prison for each of them. Now, as trial finally approaches, the judge has ruled that "Operation Deathstar" cannot be shown to the jury despite the fact that it is video evidence of the alleged "crime" and shows the defendants' intent. In fact, he ruled to exclude all evidence of “inhumane animal conditions” at Circle Four Farms after the prosecution argued that the footage from Circle Four could arouse horror in the jury, which is exactly why this footage must be seen.

    We need an upswelling of public action to compel the court to side with these brave investigators, not an overseas giant that is destroying our environment, exploiting workers, torturing animals, and subverting our legal system.

    ---
    Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) is a grassroots network of animal rights activists. Through open rescue, demonstration, and disruption, we are creating a world where every animal is safe, happy and free.
    DxE cultivates a welcoming and supportive community. We ask that all those who attend our events (online and offline) respect our Code of Conduct which can be reviewed at dxe.io/conduct.
    _____________________________________________

    Ask Congress to Investigate COVID Origins and Government Response to Pandemic.

    i love myself. the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution ever. ---- nayyirah waheed

    "...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party

    (My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.)
    Never forget Excalibur.

  • #2
    This is a peaceful, courageous protestor, even if you don't agree with him. The FBI's efforts could be better directed elsewhere.

    As Chestnut was tossing down dogs, a man wearing a Darth Vader mask and carrying a sign reading 'Expose Smithfield Deathstar' forced his was onto the stage.

    Joey Chestnut (on crutches) TAKES DOWN animal rights protester midway through Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest before continuing to stuff 63 dogs in his mouth and winning his 15th title

    By MailOnline Reporter
    Published: 13:11 EDT, 5 July 2022 | Updated: 13:11 EDT, 5 July 2022

    (Photos at link.)

    Joey Chestnut won his fifteenth Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest by devouring 63 dogs in 10 minutes, despite taking the time to throw down an animal rights activists who barged onto the stage alongside him.

    As Chestnut was tossing down dogs, a man wearing a Darth Vader mask and carrying a sign reading 'Expose Smithfield Deathstar' forced his was onto the stage and knocked the champion aside.

    Still chewing his 17th hot dog, Chestnut threw the protester into a headlock and wrenched him to the ground, then popped back another mouthful and carried on. 'Oh my god!' people in the crowd could be heard saying amidst gasps, 'did you see that?' It is unclear exactly what the protester stood for, but it is likely his sign referred to the food producer Smithfield Foods, which supplies the meat for Nathan's Famous Hotdogs.
    _____________________________________________

    Ask Congress to Investigate COVID Origins and Government Response to Pandemic.

    i love myself. the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution ever. ---- nayyirah waheed

    "...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party

    (My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.)
    Never forget Excalibur.

    Comment


    • #3



      Direct Action Everywhere
      @DxEverywhere

      ARRESTED: Activists who disrupted #NathansHotDogEatingContest have been taken into police custody. Their protest was against Nathan’s pork supplier, Smithfield Foods, a company exposed for animal cruelty, worker abuse, & pollution. Updates will be posted as the story develops.



      1:19 PM · Jul 4, 2022





      Direct Action Everywhere
      @DxEverywhere

      Curious to see behind the walls of WH Group / Smithfield’s filthy factory farms? Here’s the footage that Smithfield is trying to send investigators to prison for exposing. #RightToRescue http://dxe.io/smithfieldabuse




      8:27 PM · Jul 5, 2022
      _____________________________________________

      Ask Congress to Investigate COVID Origins and Government Response to Pandemic.

      i love myself. the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution ever. ---- nayyirah waheed

      "...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party

      (My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.)
      Never forget Excalibur.

      Comment


      • #4


        Standing Trial

        by Elizabeth Barber

        Should we care about animal liberation?
        ...
        DxE is what you might call a radical group. It is not like the Animal Liberation Front, which in the Eighties set fire to laboratories that tested products on animals. Nor is it like more polite organizations, such as the Humane Society or your local animal shelter, whose activities, like exposing dog abusers or sheltering stray cats, fall well within the law. DxE’s civil disobedience is non-violent, but it is still civil disobedience—which is to say, its members do break the law. DxE members, of which they estimate there are around a thousand, have to date been charged with more than ninety felonies, mostly for removing animals from slaughterhouses or factory farms, and for documenting these places on camera. They have done so at goat farms and beagle breeders, and at facilities that supply eggs to Whole Foods and Costco.
        _____________________________________________

        Ask Congress to Investigate COVID Origins and Government Response to Pandemic.

        i love myself. the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution ever. ---- nayyirah waheed

        "...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party

        (My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.)
        Never forget Excalibur.

        Comment


        • #5
          Bobby Wagner's Los Angeles Rams teammate Greg Gaines came to his defense for his hit heard around the world on Monday night.


          Rams' Greg Gaines: 'Bobby Wagner Saved Our Lives' Hitting Invader

          Geoff Magliochetti - Yesterday 10:43 AM

          Better Call Greg?

          Greg Gaines is coming to the defense of his teammate, fellow Los Angeles Rams defender Bobby Wagner, as the latter's hit on a field invader continues to stand as one of the most-talked-about moments of the NFL's Week 4 slate. In the midst of the Rams' 24-9 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Wagner has earned praise for his handling an animal rights activist/protester who entered the playing field during the final stages of second-quarter action. The protestor was carrying a canister spewing pink smoke and was taken down by Wagner with the assistance of Takkarist McKinley.

          Even as the protester, attempting to bring attention to a trial involving other activists stealing a pig from a Utah factory farm in 2017, has filed a police report against Wagner (who has not been assessed any charges), Gaines offered one of the biggest accolades yet.

          "I was scared for my life, (the protester) could have had a bomb," Gaines said, replying to a since-deleted tweet from an account labeled NFL Rumors. "Bobby Wagner saved our lives."...
          _____________________________________________

          Ask Congress to Investigate COVID Origins and Government Response to Pandemic.

          i love myself. the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution ever. ---- nayyirah waheed

          "...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party

          (My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.)
          Never forget Excalibur.

          Comment


          • #6
            to the jury. I watched part of the Deathstar video. It's bad, worse than even I imagined.

            https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/08/s...mithfield.html

            Animal Rights Activists Are Acquitted in Smithfield Piglet Case

            The Utah trial highlighted what the defendants argued is a lack of transparency for the treatment of animals at large corporate farms.
            By Andrew Jacobs


            Oct. 8, 2022

            As a matter of dollars and cents, the theft of two piglets from a sprawling farm in rural Utah was not a huge loss for its owner, Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer.

            But several weeks after a group of animal rights activists posted a video online of their nighttime incursion into the Circle Four Farms in Beaver County, local and federal law enforcement officials began a multistate investigation. F.B.I. agents raided animal sanctuaries in Utah and Colorado, and at one of them, government veterinarians sliced off part of a piglet’s ear in their search for DNA evidence of the crime.

            The authorities never recovered the stolen piglets, and the federal government declined to press charges. But prosecutors in Utah pursued felony burglary and theft charges against the activists, who faced prison sentences if convicted.

            On Saturday, a jury acquitted two of the activists on the charges, a somewhat unexpected verdict in a part of rural Utah whose economy is largely tied to the fortunes of agricultural giants like Smithfield.

            Wayne Hsiung, one of the defendants, said he was stunned by the verdict, given that the judge had not let the jury consider any testimony explaining why the activists had targeted the farm, filmed their incursion and then taken two sick piglets on their way out.

            “This is a resounding message about accountability and transparency,” Mr. Hsiung, 41, said in an interview after the jury’s decision. “Every company that is mistreating its animals and expecting that government and local elected officials will just go along with them because they have them in their pockets will now realize that the public will hold them accountable, even in places like Southern Utah.

            “Instead of trying to put us in prison,” he added, “The better thing to do is just take care of your animals.”..
            Last edited by Emily; October 9, 2022, 02:41 AM.
            _____________________________________________

            Ask Congress to Investigate COVID Origins and Government Response to Pandemic.

            i love myself. the quietest. simplest. most powerful. revolution ever. ---- nayyirah waheed

            "...there’s an obvious contest that’s happening between different sectors of the colonial ruling class in this country. And they would, if they could, lump us into their beef, their struggle." ---- Omali Yeshitela, African People’s Socialist Party

            (My posts are not intended as advice or professional assessments of any kind.)
            Never forget Excalibur.

            Comment

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