To protest the seal hunt, and animal rights activist put a pie in the face of a Canadian government minister. From the story:
An incident in which the federal fisheries minister was hit with a pie by a seal hunt protester should be seen as a terrorist act, says a Liberal MP. Gerry Byrne made the comment to Newfoundland radio station VOCM after Gail Shea was hit in the face Monday by an American animal-rights activist, unhappy with Canada’s seal hunt.
New York City resident Emily McCoy, 37, a member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is charged with assault. Byrne told VOCM the government should investigate the incident based on the definition of a terrorist act under the law in Canada. McCoy was arrested after the incident in Burlington, Ont. Shea was not injured, and said she has not changed her support for the hunt. In a statement following the incident, PETA executive vice-president Tracy Reiman said: “A little tofu pie on her face is hardly comparable to the blood on Ms. Shea’s hands.”
No, this isn’t terrorism–although terrorism is engaged in by some animal rights extremists–but it is a violence, literally an assault and battery on a government official. That is dangerous breach of the public peace. And it should mean serious jail for the perpetrator.
Moreover, I am really sick of PETA’s and other animal rights extremists’ self righteous claims of entitlement to humiliate and threaten people “in the name of those who can’t speak for themselves.” That is not free speech. It is not “civil disobedience.” It is not “Ghandi” or “King.” At best, it is tantrum throwing. At worse, a threat to the public peace and civility needed for free societies to function.
January 27th, 2010 | 11:30 am
The story you’re quoting really needs to be updated. It contains very little fact and plenty of half-truths. Unfortunately, a number of outlets have picked up the false quotes. The majority of news organizations doing any level of fact checking are using this quote:
“When someone actually coaches or conducts criminal behavior to impose a political agenda on each and every other citizen of Canada, that does seem to me to meet the test of a terrorist organization,” Byrne told VOCM radio station. “I am calling on the government of Canada to actually investigate whether or not this organization, PETA, is acting as a terrorist organization…… under Canadian law.”
Incidently, the USDA already considers PETA to be “domestic special interest terrorists.”
Wesley J. Smith Reply:
January 27th, 2010 at 11:42 am
Strat: I don’t think PETA is considered terrorist. Animal Liberation Front etc. SHAC, etc. are.
January 27th, 2010 | 11:53 am
See page 4 of the USDA questionaire entitled “APHIS Facility Security Profile.” PETA is the third choice of six available under the “domestic special interest terrorists” section. The ALF is check box number two :-).
January 27th, 2010 | 11:57 am
The same issue comes up when the AR’s demonstrate at medical researchers’ homes. Even if they do nothing illegal or overtly threatening, the message is clear: “We know where you live, and we can reach you any time we want.”
In this case in particular, there was an actual physical assault with obvious hostile intent. Assault is a crime in and of itself, or it would be legal for me to follow someone around swinging a baseball bat over their head, as long as I didn’t make contact.
There’s a bit more detail here, Strat:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100126/national/fisheries_minister_pied
Wes, your buddy David M has the PETA/terrorist summary at http://consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/h/4089-is-peta-going-for-the-gold-in-terrorism
It’s a bit of a stretch to call PETA a “terrorist organization” but they have links they have refused to break or disown. I don’t think PETA or HSUS would ever get close enough to a full-bore terrorist act to get their hands dirty. Might hurt their funding.
January 27th, 2010 | 12:25 pm
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January 27th, 2010 | 3:04 pm
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January 27th, 2010 | 4:47 pm
Just had a total wicked fantasy about pieing Ingrid Newkirk during a big PETA fundraiser. It would NOT be a vegan tofu soybean whip pie, either.
A man’s gots to have his dreams… Anybody willing to cover my bail? ;)
January 27th, 2010 | 6:53 pm
I’m against the killing of seals and I’m often sympathetic to PETA’s POSITIONS, just not to most of its tactics (ridiculing overweight people, encouraging college students to drink more beer, etc.) The person who did this should be fully prosecuted, as should anyone who throws food/paint (if it’s in this context of intimidating someone into keeping quiet or advancing a political cause).
There’s a place for silliness and throwing food/water/etc., and that’s the context of friendly practical jokes and messing around in the backyard. If the “victim” is having as much fun as anyone else, then everything’s cool. If the intent is real, genuine humiliation or ostracization, then it’s an act of malice and it’s a completely different thing — a crime, in fact.
As a homebound instructor, I’ve covered part of a history textbook that centered on the civil-rights movement of the 1960s. There is a picture of sit-in participants (TRUE civil-disobedience activists) getting food dumped on them by bigots (as a way to intimidate them). I would explain to my student that this is completely different from people consensually having fun by throwing food (and hopefully donating much more than that amount of food to the hungry). There’s another picture of Bull Connor’s goons turning the fire hoses on activists, and I’d explain that it’s quite different from friends spraying each other at a charity car wash…
January 28th, 2010 | 3:13 am
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January 28th, 2010 | 8:30 am
It was a cheap display, no doubt about it. On the other hand, when the pied Anita Bryant —
January 28th, 2010 | 12:45 pm
That was funny, HW, although I think that’s because I tend to find the gay activists a tad less threatening than ALF. Not so many bomb threats from the rainbow people…
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