The new North American Animal Liberation Press Office was launched at a press conference held in Van Nuys, California, on December 3, 2004.
During the press conference, Steven Best and Jerry Vlasak, two of the four press officers, indicated that the office would be available around the clock to provide information and statements from the animal liberation movement to the press. The office is based in Canoga Park, California.
An announcement issued by the press office on December 7 explains why these spokespeople believe the office is necessary. "In dozens of news articles detailing numerous underground actions in the past few weeks, comment has been unavailable to counter the interests of the animal abusers, who have spoken largely unopposed."
The press office describes itself as a "growing group of tested, well-spoken above ground activists who will provide the media with information regarding actions by the underground, along with explanations of their ideology and philosophy."
The press office is not limited to speaking on behalf of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), the nation's most active extreme animal rights movement. The press officers are associated with other animal rights groups, both mainstream and more militant, like Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) and the Animal Defense League.
Background: Press Officers
Steve Best
Steve Best regularly speaks at animal rights conferences; at a Fresno State University conference in February 2003 on "Revolutionary Environmentalism: A Dialogue Between Activists and Academics," Best said, "Throughout history, property destruction and civil protest has been part of our heritage. If you have a problem with that, you have a problem with the Boston Tea Party."
Best writes many articles in defense of militant animal rights activism. In his article, "Thinking Pluralistically: A Case for Direct Action," Best said that "a new civil war is unfolding – one between forces hell-bent on exploiting animals and the earth for profit whatever the toll, and activists steeled to resist this omnicide tooth and nail."
A philosophy professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, Best hosts the radio show Animal Concerns of Texas, and is the co-editor of the recently published book: "Terrorists or Freedom Fighters? Reflections on the Liberation of Animals."
Jerry Vlasak
Jerry Vlasak is a member of the Animal Defense League, a radical animal rights group that carries out various direct actions, including home demonstrations. In July 2004, the forty-six-year-old heart surgeon from Los Angeles was banned from entering Britain to attend a conference held by SHAC-UK and SPEAK, an anti-vivisection group, for remarks he made to an audience at an animal rights conference in Los Angles in 2003. Vlasak told the earlier gathering that the assassination of scientists working in biomedical research would save millions of animals' lives and that "I think violence is part of the struggle against oppression. If something bad happens to these people [animal researchers], it will discourage others. It is inevitable that violence will be used in the struggle and that it will be effective."
Vlasak also said, "I don't think you'd have to kill too many. I think for five lives, 10 lives, 15 human lives, we could save a million, 2 million, 10 million non-human lives." (Although he was not allowed to attend the British conference, Vlasak addressed the gathering via video link.)
Vlasak has been arrested in connection with animal rights demonstrations on several occasions during the past few years. In one instance, Vlasak was arrested in March 2001 during a protest at a Las Vegas conference held by Huntingdon Life Sciences creditor Stephens Inc. Vlasak filed a federal lawsuit claiming that Las Vegas police and security guards violated he and his wife's civil rights by assaulting, arresting and illegally searching them.
Camille Hankins
Camille Hankins, a veteran animal rights activist who lives in New York, has organized protests outside of Huntingdon Life Sciences' Chairman Andrew Baker's New York apartment. She has been arrested twice for violating injunctions limiting the demonstrations.
Hankins reportedly discovered the SHAC campaign at an animal rights conference about four years ago. "Here I saw a group of people who had focused in on one target," she said. "It was the moment that I knew that this was the way to do it, this was the way to effectively accomplish our goals."
Angie Metler
Angie Metler is a member of the New Jersey Animal Rights Association and the Bear Education And Resource Group. In August 2004, she was arrested in Vernon, New Jersey, for locking herself inside a bear trap. "I did the only thing I could do. I followed my conscience," said Metler.
