Nine adult and two minor animal rights activists were arrested in Chester County, Pennsylvania on May 29 as they protested outside the home of Forrest Sheffy, an executive with Johnson Matthey Pharmaceutical Materials.
The arrested adults were Nicholas Cooney, Ian Ross and Lawrence Toft of Philadelphia, Pa; Ethan Wolf of Washington, D.C.; Christopher Price of Hughesville, Md.; Janice Angelillo of Highland Park, N.J.; Alexandra Deyo, of Short Hill, N.J.; Kristine Marusic of Cochranville, Pa; and David Lambon of Norristown, Pa.
Lambon told Daily Local News,
ItÂ’s our experience and a product of years of social research that says they donÂ’t listen when you protest at a business, but they do listen when you protest at their homes.
Our theory is, without customers, the company cannot continue to break the law, therefore Johnson Matthey needs to be stopped (in order) to stop Huntingdon.
A spokesman for Johnson Matthey, however, said the company does not currently have any business with Huntingdon Life Sciences.
Sheffy called police and told the Local Daily News,
It wasnÂ’t subtle, it was basically terrorism. They scared my kid and they scared the children in the neighborhood. I called the police right away because you let the professionals deal with this type of thing. It was totally inappropriate.
The activists were charged with criminal conspiracy, harassment, disorderly conduct. In addition, Cooney and Deyo were charged with corruption of minors due to the presence of the two juveniles arrested. Deyo told the Local Daily News that neither she nor Cooney were aware that the two individuals in question were minors.
State Police Cpl. Bill LaTorre told the Local Daily News, however, that the corruption of minors charges against the two were only added after consulting with the parents of the two minors,
It was indeed a corruption of minors. These kids were led to believe they were doing something in the city and ended up on private property in suburban Chester County. They (the parents) believed there was an appropriate time and place for this type of behavior and the minors were led to believe it was occurring under different circumstances.
Sources:
Animal rights activists arrested. Jill Nawrocki, Daily Local News, June 14, 2004.
Press Release. SHAC USA, May 30, 2004.