Minn. Animal Terrorism Suspect Says He's No Threat

PATRICK CONDON, Associated Press Writer

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ― Two weeks after the federal government charged him with terrorism for an alleged attack on a University of Iowa animal research lab, Scott DeMuth was back home in Minneapolis making plans to return to his sociology classes, visit his grandparents and get back to a regular routine.

Under the terms of his release, the 22-year-old DeMuth must stay close to home. The man that an assistant U.S. attorney dubbed a "domestic terrorist" is confined only by an ankle monitoring bracelet.

"It's a little inconvenient," DeMuth told The Associated Press Wednesday, in his first interview since being charged.

Last month, the U.S. Attorney's office in Iowa's southern district charged DeMuth with one count of conspiring to commit animal enterprise terrorism. Prosecutors say he played an unspecified role in the November 2004 raid on Spence Laboratories at the University of Iowa, where animal rights activists released more than 300 animals, dumped chemicals on data, damaged about 40 computers and publicized the home addresses of several researchers.

He faces three years in prison or a $250,000 fine, or both if he is convicted of the charges under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act.

One other person, Carrie Feldman, has been detained in connection with an investigation into the raid, although she has not been charged. DeMuth says Feldman used to be his girlfriend.

A self-described anarchist, DeMuth denies he was involved in the raid at all and has vowed to fight the charges at a trial. He says he has never been an animal rights activist and believes he has been targeted because he has got to know some underground animal rights activists and holds unpopular political views.

"I'm not a threat to the community," DeMuth said, adding that his own views on animal rights don't prevent him from eating meat or bow-hunting. "I was 17 and in high school at the time" of the raid, he said.

Mike Bladel, spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Iowa, would not comment on the charges since the case is active. Prosecutors moved to keep DeMuth in jail, but U.S. District Court Judge John Jarvey in Davenport ordered his release pending trial, saying the government failed to demonstrate he's a public danger or flight risk.

DeMuth is a member of EWOK! — "Earth Warriors Are OK!" — a Minneapolis group whose members describe themselves as advocates for animal rights and environmental activists facing criminal charges. DeMuth says he is motivated by a belief that the federal government is using the courts to squash unpopular political dissent.

His supporters believe the break-in warrants charges against vandalism, property damage and theft, but not terrorism.

University of Iowa officials disagree.

At a U.S. Senate hearing in 2005, the university's then-president, David Skorton, declared the raid an act of terrorism.

Damage was estimated at $500,000 for the break-in at Spence Laboratories, the research facility for the school's Department of Psychology. Several professors saw their home addresses, names of family members and other personal information posted online, which many saw as an incitement for other activists to come after them.

A spokesman for the school, Tom Moore, said some of the faculty members felt terrorized by the 2004 raid.

"They were very concerned for their own safety, their families' safety," Moore said.

DeMuth's interest as a researcher and activist has centered around the history and rights of Dakota Indians, and underground social movements. In 2008, he was living in a home with other anarchists that authorities raided just before the Republican National Convention. Several personal items seized from DeMuth have turned up as evidence against him.

DeMuth believes federal investigators want details about underground activists he knows — information he said is protected by academic freedom.

"I'm more than excited to take this to trial," DeMuth said. "As someone who's involved with movements for justice, it seems like I have a duty to fight this thing."