Four animal rights activists charged with terrorizing University of California researchers

Mercury News
Posted: 02/20/2009 02:24:04 PM PST

Four animal rights activists — including one from Berkeley and another
from Pinole — have been arrested for allegedly terrorizing University of
California researchers, the FBI announced this afternoon.

A complaint filed Thursday in federal court in San Francisco alleges the
four used force, violence or threats to interfere with the University of
California in violation of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.

The four are identified as: Joseph Buddenberg, 25, of Berkeley; Maryam
Khajavi, 20, of Pinole; Adriana Stumpo, 23, of Long Beach; and Nathan
Pope, 26, of Oceanside.

They each face up to five years in prison, if convicted.

The FBI says the arrests are connected with incidents dating back to
October 2007.

The FBI alleges Pope, Stumpo and Khajavi were among five or six people
who attempted to forcibly enter the home of a UC Santa Cruz researcher
on Feb. 24, 2008. The researcher's husband struggled with them and as
they left one of the them allegedly yelled "we're gonna get you."

On July 29, Buddenberg, Pope and Stumpo were allegedly were involved in
the production and distribution of flyers titled "Murderers and
torturers are alive & well in Santa Cruz." There were subsequently two
firebomb attacks outside the homes of UC Santa Cruz researchers, the FBI
says.

Buddenberg, Pope and Sumpo were also allegedly among about 20 people who
demonstrated outside a UC Berkeley professor's El Cerrito home on Oct.
Advertisement
21, 2007. The FBI said they trespassed on private property and accused
the professor of being a murderer.

All four also allegedly demonstrated at the homes of other UC Berkeley
professors on Jan. 27, 2008.

Pope and Stumpo were arrested Thursday in Charlotte, N.C. as they
returned from Costa Rica. They are scheduled to be extradited to California.

Buddenberg was arrested at the Alameda County Courthouse this morning.
Khajavi was arrested in Oakland this morning.