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Animal Rights Activist Faces Murder Charge! - 05/15/2002
Anyone who believes that all animal rights supporters are merely peace-loving people who pamper their dogs and cats should think again. Recently, an animal rights activist has been accused of gunning down a Dutch politician.
In the Netherlands, Volkert van der Graaf, an animal rights and environmental activist, has been charged with murder and illegal weapons possession following the fatal shooting of populist leader Pim Fortuyn, who was campaigning for a seat in parliament. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the crime - the first political assassination in the Netherlands in nearly 350 years.
The suspect has worked for various environmental and animal rights groups since he was a teen. He founded the Zeeland Animal Liberation Front, which committed acts of vandalism that primarily targeted restaurants, and the Environmental Offensive, which opposes all animal agriculture.
Initially, police said they had no motive for the crime and could not draw immediate links between Van der Graaf's activism and the shooting.
Yet, several Dutch newspapers reported that Fortuyn expressed disdain for the environmental movement and had indicated that he would lift a ban on breeding animals for fur if he became Prime Minister. There is also speculation that Van der Graaf feared Fortuyn would ease regulations on livestock farming.
Van der Graaf is now also a suspect in the 1996 murder of an environmental officer, Chris Van de Werken, who Van der Graaf believed was too accommodating to farmers. The Van de Werken killing closely resembles the Fortuyn slaying - both men were shot multiple times at close range and with the same type of ammunition, a type that is rare in the Netherlands.
The Dutch interior intelligence service had recently issued warnings of the serious dangers posed by Dutch-based, extremist animal rights groups and eco-terrorists.
In an effort to thwart the actions of animal rights extremists in the United States, the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance has created a model bill to help law enforcement officials identify the animal rights organizations that provide assistance to radical underground groups.
The Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act will protect individuals and companies engaging in medical, biomedical and environmental research and penalize persons supporting animal or ecological terrorist acts.For more information about The Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act, please contact the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance at (614) 888-4868 or [email protected].
For more info go to US Sportsmen's Alliance website.
Anyone who believes that all animal rights supporters are merely peace-loving people who pamper their dogs and cats should think again. Recently, an animal rights activist has been accused of gunning down a Dutch politician.
In the Netherlands, Volkert van der Graaf, an animal rights and environmental activist, has been charged with murder and illegal weapons possession following the fatal shooting of populist leader Pim Fortuyn, who was campaigning for a seat in parliament. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of the crime - the first political assassination in the Netherlands in nearly 350 years.
The suspect has worked for various environmental and animal rights groups since he was a teen. He founded the Zeeland Animal Liberation Front, which committed acts of vandalism that primarily targeted restaurants, and the Environmental Offensive, which opposes all animal agriculture.
Initially, police said they had no motive for the crime and could not draw immediate links between Van der Graaf's activism and the shooting.
Yet, several Dutch newspapers reported that Fortuyn expressed disdain for the environmental movement and had indicated that he would lift a ban on breeding animals for fur if he became Prime Minister. There is also speculation that Van der Graaf feared Fortuyn would ease regulations on livestock farming.
Van der Graaf is now also a suspect in the 1996 murder of an environmental officer, Chris Van de Werken, who Van der Graaf believed was too accommodating to farmers. The Van de Werken killing closely resembles the Fortuyn slaying - both men were shot multiple times at close range and with the same type of ammunition, a type that is rare in the Netherlands.
The Dutch interior intelligence service had recently issued warnings of the serious dangers posed by Dutch-based, extremist animal rights groups and eco-terrorists.
In an effort to thwart the actions of animal rights extremists in the United States, the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance has created a model bill to help law enforcement officials identify the animal rights organizations that provide assistance to radical underground groups.
The Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act will protect individuals and companies engaging in medical, biomedical and environmental research and penalize persons supporting animal or ecological terrorist acts.For more information about The Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act, please contact the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance at (614) 888-4868 or [email protected].
For more info go to US Sportsmen's Alliance website.