Animal rights activists were
up in arms after a grand jury investigating the sabotage carried out at
the University of Minnesota recently called the student who claimed to
be an Animal Liberation Front Press Office Spokesman. On May 5, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation raided the home of Kevin Kjonaas and searched
the house for two hours.
Two days later Kjonaas was
subpoenaed and testified before the grand jury on June 14. The Minnesota
legislature briefly included a provision in an anti-animal rights terrorism
bill that would have penalized those who acted as spokespersons for terrorist
organizations, but the provision was removed from the final law that Gov.
Jesse Ventura recently signed.
Many activists were up in
arms at the raid and the subpoena, but it shouldn’t be too surprising
that someone who claims knowledge of a crime apparently obtained in some
manner from the perpetrators of the crime would be investigated as a possible
suspect. For example another former ALF “spokesperson,” Rodney Coronado,
had a habit of taking part in the crimes for which he later claimed to
serve only as a spokesperson.