VIOLENT ACTIVISM. Three animal-rights activists have been handed prison sentences for terrorizing U.S.-based employees of a British life sciences company. The trial, heard before a federal court in Trenton, New Jersey, was the first to be conducted under a new antiterrorism provision that was added to the Animal Enterprise Protection Act in 2002. The activists are members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), which has been running a global campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences. The company tests drugs on animals at centers in the United Kingdom and in Princeton, New Jersey.
In a 12 September ruling, U.S. District Judge Anne Thompson found the three guilty of stalking Huntingdon employees and of provoking threats and vandalism against them. She sentenced Kevin Kjonaas, 28, to 6 years' imprisonment, Lauren Gazzola, 27, to 4 years and 4 months, and Jacob Conroy, 30, to 4 years and ordered them to pay $1 million in damages to the company.
