Steve Duin wrote an excellent op-ed for The Oregonian at the end of September which talked about the epidemic of animal rights terrorism. Duin describes chilling testimony given by Dr. Michael Conn during hearings held by the Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is trying to coordinate efforts at dealing with terrorism from political extremists, including radical pro-lifers and animal rights extremists.
Conn, the associate director of the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center, testified about flying to Florida in August 2001 for a job interview at the University of South Florida in Tampa.
Conn described how Gary Yourofsky posted details of his trip on the Internet — the same Yourofsky who in July told the Toledo Blade that he would “unequivocally support” the killing of an “animal abuser.”
Animal rights protesters were waiting for Conn at the airport when he arrived, and harassed him in his hotel room with threatening calls. As he was preparing to leave the airport for his flight back to Oregon, Conn described animal rights extremists “physically surrounding” him on the escalator, telling him, “We came to say goodbye.”
Conn testified that, “I felt unsafe the whole time I was there. I was an easy target.”
Source:
The evolution from landmarks to land mines. Steve Duin, The Oregonian, September 27, 2001.