HSUS Staffers Hobnob with Criminals and Terrorists
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) likes to describe itself as “seeking a humane world for people and animals alike.” Okay, sounds great. But this claim loses all credibility when you look at the company HSUS keeps.
Paul Shapiro, Kenny Torrella, Ken Botts, and Kristie Middleton – all staffers at HSUS, including a vice president – were featured as speakers at this year’s Animal Rights National Conference in Los Angeles. The annual conference congregates the nation’s most radical and aggressive activists in the animal liberation movement, and what they had to say was truly alarming.
Here’s a sampling of crowd-pleasers from this year’s speakers, per the Animal Ag Alliance, which went behind enemy lines to see what these people were saying. Some highlights:
“All of these events [agricultural fairs, eating contests, political rallies] need to be interrupted and shut down.” – Zach Groff of Direct Action Everywhere
DxE prides itself on harassing shoppers and diners around the country, and is now expanding its disruptive activities to public gatherings wherever possible. Just last week, the Secret Service had to drag away a DxE activist who attempted to charge the stage at a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
“When it is time to launch the campaign, find a vulnerable target, prepare everything for at least a few weeks and then assemble an overwhelming force to utilize from day one. The crueler it is, the quicker the fight is over. ”– David Coman-Hidy of The Humane League
Coman-Hidy was joined by Humane League founder Nick Cooney, who has embellished his career with a conviction for making terroristic threats. The Humane League also racked up a long list of restraining orders.
“There’s a lot of us, we’re angry, and we’re gonna win.” – Kevin Kjonaas, founder of Stop Huntington Animal Cruelty (SHAC), considered a terrorist group by the FBI.
Kjonaas and fellow SHAC speaker Lauren Gazzola are both convicted criminals who have urged their extremist peers not to be deterred by their rap sheets. Before entering federal prison to serve her sentence, Gazzola told her fellow extremists to “make our conviction a victory for the animals.”
“We terrify them – let’s remind them why.” – activist Ryan Shapiro, referring to the meat industry.
Shapiro was arrested for burglary (and pled guilty to trespassing), and is the brother of HSUS VP Paul Shapiro.
Other speakers included Jonathan Paul, a convicted arsonist and animal-liberation terrorist; Peter Young, a former Animal Liberation Front activist who served time in prison; and Jerry Vlasak, whose controversial remarks have included openly advocating for the murder of doctors.
Credit must be given to the Animal Agriculture Alliance, who sent representatives to AR2016 to get an inside look at animal rights radicalism. A weekend of fitting in with this crowd surely qualifies for hazard pay.
On television and in other fundraising campaigns, the HSUS advertises itself as a protector of life and a promoter of peace among humans and animals. So for all of the moralizing from HSUS, why does it choose to associate with violent convicts?
Whatever the preferred methods of “seeking a humane world” are, it should be glaringly obvious that rubbing elbows with ex-cons is not one of them.
