An open letter to the FBI on the occasion of a Salt Lake City raid

March 17, 2010           Author: Denis Henry Hennelly

Agent Dale Cooper

If I hadn’t become a filmmaker, I would have been an FBI agent.  I feel confident I would have gotten in… I’m smart and disciplined and a good problem-solver.  As a child, I read every detective story and mystery book in the library… literally.  I was the kid who played detective instead of cops and robbers.  I staked out neighbors’ garages and houses in elaborately imagined crime stories.  I would have never believed you if you’d told me that as an adult I would feel deeply disillusioned with the FBI.

My impression of an FBI agent was a stalwart defender of American justice and a tireless fighter against crime and violence.  It seemed a noble and righteous vocation.  Digging through evidence, interrogating witnesses, following leads, analyzing clues, and getting your man (or woman).  That man or woman would be someone who committed a crime against an innocent individual, someone who was a threat to society and a danger to our freedom.

Ironically, it was the story of a very peculiar FBI agent that drew me into filmmaking and away from dreams of working for the bureau.  Agent Dale Cooper drove into the town of Twin Peaks and my bedroom television one night in 1990.  The mystery and beauty of that world entranced me, and I became obsessed with the idea of creating fictional worlds.  Agent Cooper was intuition and virtue embodied.  He was everything an FBI agent should be: concerned with justice, open to unique ways of solving a case, and always alert to the changing dynamic of a case.  He never took the question of good and evil at face value and never let prejudices get in the way of seeking the truth.  And he always had time for a slice of cherry pie and a damn good cup of joe.

As I got older, I learned more about the checkered history of the bureau.  I learned about Hoover’s obsession with ripping apart the civil rights movement.  I learned that he had directed the FBI’s powers against such American heroes as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X.  I learned about COINTELPRO and the evil that could be done by individuals who gained power over an organization whose stated goals spoke to the preservation of justice and freedom.  But surely this was just an anomaly.  Surely the bureau had been saved from this ignoble period and was once again on the right path.  I mean, Clarice Starling was interested in saving lives threatened by Hannibal Lecter!  She wasn’t tapping the phones of social movement activists and sending letters encouraging them to commit suicide.

Unfortunately, it seems the FBI continues to not live up to the image portrayed by our popular media or the dictates of their charter.  They continue to operate as a tool of special interests dedicated to removing or defeating those who stand up for justice and freedom.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  The FBI is composed of individuals who I suspect dedicated their lives to the organization with the hope of accomplishing good and fighting evil.  Brave men and women who choose everyday to put their life on the line to make this a safe and free country.  I do believe that most agents probably would prefer to spend their time fighting serious and violent crimes.  And I do believe that change can happen from the bottom of an organization.

So this is my open letter to those of you in the FBI who do not want to see the days of COINTELPRO repeated.  To those of you who don’t want to go down on the wrong side of history.  To those of you who took the job to fight crime, not to protect the profits of corporations.

Yesterday, the FBI raided a house in Salt Lake City.  They took computers, phones, notebooks, and other personal belongings of the people who live there.  They did this because those people have been engaged in a social movement to stop the exploitation of animals.  The warrant they used said they were there to gather evidence related to an act of “terrorism.”  That act of “terrorism” occurred at the University of Iowa on November 14, 2004.  401 animals were taken from laboratories where they had been sentenced to endure unspeakable torture and certain death.  They were placed in loving and compassionate homes where they’ve been allowed to live out their lives in peace and comfort.  Several offices where their torture had been orchestrated were vandalized and information relating to this torture was stolen.

This act of saving lives is called terrorism because that word was bought by corporations who profit from the exploitation of non-human animals, including the National Association for Biomedical Research, Fur Commission USA, GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Wyeth, United Egg Producers, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and others.  It was bought through campaign donations and the work of lobbyists who pushed for the passage of a bill in 2006 called the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act which was hurried through the congress and voted on by only a handful of people in the House of Representatives.  It is worth noting, for those of you who care about the sanctity of our legal system, that this bill was not even in existence when the supposed act of terrorism occurred.

Here is the video of the heinous act of “terrorism” which is now being used to justify the theft of property and harassment of activists based solely on their philosophical beliefs and personal associations –

So again, ladies and gentleman of the FBI… is this the kind of system you wish to give your lives in service to?  Is this the kind of case you worked so hard to be in a position to solve?  According to reports from the Justice Department for 2001, the most recent year for which I could find figures, there are many unsolved violent crimes in the US that require your attention.  In the United States in 2001, 46.2 percent of all violent crimes were cleared (solved).  Within this category, 62.4 percent of murders were cleared, 56.1 percent of aggravated assaults, 44.3 percent of forcible rapes, and 24.9 percent of robberies were cleared.  When all the rapes, murders, and assaults are cleared, perhaps we can get around to vandalism.

There are also approximately 800,000 missing children under the age of 18 in the U.S.  They need your attention.  A frequent criticism of animal rights activists is that we care more about non-human animals than humans.  But we are not the ones diverting resources to finding rats and mice and mink that have been liberated instead of spending that manpower and money on finding missing children.

And real terrorism, meaning acts of violence that are committed with the intent of inspiring terror in our population and threatening freedom and liberty, are still being planned.  Animal rights activists hate terrorism as much as any sane individual.  And we want our tax dollars to go towards fighting those who seek to harm the innocent in service of religious, social, or political intolerance.

This is your chance to say no.  Say no to those above you who ask you to waste your time going through the cell phones of people who are just speaking out in favor of animal rights.  Say no to those above you who ask you to interrogate individuals guided by their conscience to encourage the consideration of the most vulnerable living beings in our country.  Say no to those who believe that a sign held in protest is more dangerous than a gun held in greed or anger.  Say no.  America thanks you for your service.  But it will not thank you for a repeat of past injustice.

I want to love my country.  And I want to be proud of its law enforcement officers as I was when I was a child.  I believe that kind of America is possible.  But only if you stand with those who are fighting for it, not against them.


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Comments

9 Comments on An open letter to the FBI on the occasion of a Salt Lake City raid

  1. Jim Rhoads on Wed, 17th Mar 2010 12:21 pm

    2. I am sorry Denis, but the minute a person chooses to break into and vandalize private property, they are subject to the same laws as anyone and for any cause.
    By doing this, whatever cause even as noble as yours, is compromised.

    I don’t disagree with your cause, I disagree with these kinds of actions. Unless going to jail is an honorable banner, no one has the right to complain of being subjected to the same laws as anyone that breaks into and vandalizes private property of any kind for any reason.

  2. Denis on Wed, 17th Mar 2010 3:48 pm

    3. Jim – There are two points you’re missing.

    1. The individuals whose home was violated were not accused of this action. You may not be familiar with the incident. You can read about it here.
    http://www.sltrib.com/News/ci_14687398

    2. I am not saying that vandalism is not a crime or that it should not be punished. That is a separate conversation that has to do with whether breaking the law is always doing something wrong (“Never forget, everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”) This post does not say that vandals should not be pursued by local police and prosecuted as such (punishments for vandalism are dictated by local and state laws). The point is that we should not be bringing the full force of the federal government and the costs (both financial and opportunity costs) associated with that to bear against vandals because of their ideology and calling it terrorism. That is a thought crime, not a real crime. And the FBI should not be involved. They should be dealing with more serious crimes. The only reason they are involved is because of corporate power.

  3. Philip Steir on Wed, 17th Mar 2010 7:31 pm

    4. ” Often do the spirits
    Of great events stride on before the event
    And in today already walks tomorrow”

    Johann Von Schiller

    This post is a vivid warning. FBI, CIA, MTV…HSUS.
    The recent trends in the US (pre and especially post 911) present us with a grim view of our future and our freedoms in this so called democracy we live in. We are approaching a totalitarian future controlled by corporations. The invasion of Iraq (much worse than breaking into labs freeing animals), the distribution of wealth back to the big banks who criminally failed… the war against healthcare, the pro fascist AETA laws and the bizarre machinary that is Fox news all contribute to a very dire picture of what we will become.
    Facing all of us now and our slow loss of freedom is the partnering of big business and it’s control and collusion with our own Govt to an extent we’ve never seen before.
    Corporations as only a few months ago are now considered persons and will be able to spend whatever it takes to demonize any politician who fights and questions their power. They will and have begun to lock up those who speak out against the oppression of non humans.
    It really is imperative that we begin to wake up to this slow but precise negating and denial of our individual freedoms and democratic rights. The future of Democracy and our speaking out for non human liberation go hand in hand…they are not separate issues!
    Anyone who cares about the future of freedom…whether it’s personal, non human or democratic cannot ignore the frightening scenarios that are inching their way toward us in this corporate style fascism.
    The reality is…Mussolini who invented fascism (not spicy spaghetti sauce) and defined it as a combination of corporate control of state power brought it all to reality and importantly….he did it slowly and methodically. He used big business money, domestic repression, the hatred (fear) of others and propaganda to take control.
    Our splintering of our own compassionate communities our desperate longing for materialism, our being distracted by youtube /Facebook nonsense (I spent 2 hours looking at old school funk drummer videos last night on the internets) and a trap of non stop competition only fuels this style of industrial-global capitalism that will chew us up and leave the animals locked in more efficient and violently guarded cages.

  4. Nik on Thu, 18th Mar 2010 2:39 am

    5. Great article, Denis! Smart, thoughtful & honest! Rock on brutha!

  5. Denis Henry Hennelly on Thu, 18th Mar 2010 2:50 am

    6. Thanks Nik! Let’s all keep rockin’ in the free world.

    And Philip, you’re right… the time to start resisting this is now, because repression does occur gradually. I remain heartened and inspired by people like the activists in SLC, Lauren Gazzola (http://supportlauren.com/03.01.09.htm), and Carrie Feldman.

  6. Antigone1000 on Thu, 18th Mar 2010 3:53 am

    7. One man’s vandalism is another man’s liberation–Though some people look at the what happened in 2004 as vandalism of property, I see only the freeing of tortured innocent beings.

  7. Denis Henry Hennelly on Thu, 18th Mar 2010 4:00 am

    8. I agree with you, Antigone. The law is partly based on morality and partly based on the priorities of whoever is in power at the time it is written/enforced. Moving it towards the former and away from the latter is the challenge of civilization… which is largely left to the few who dare to stand up for the rights of the vulnerable. But I think that even if you do consider this vandalism, you should be infuriated that our limited federal law enforcement resources are being spent in this way when violent criminals remain at large.

  8. ease on Thu, 13th Jan 2011 10:25 pm

    9. I don’t agree with the use of the word “terrorism”. It’s inaccurate. But I guess it depends on who is in power and who it affects.

    Many may say that sending our military to third world countries to rid those countries of its dictators is an act of liberation (even though the dictators were placed by the US in the first place). However, from the civilians’ point of view, they may feel like they’re being terrorized.

    Someone like myself would say that hunters and fishermen are terrorists, because from the animal’s point of view, they are in fact being terrorized, without a doubt.

    Many don’t consider the feelings of non-humans, much in the same way a corporation may disregard the feelings of the natives of another country when they decide to drill on their land. This ruins their environment and kills their families (as well as wildlife) through environmental pollution. That’s what I’d like to call corporate terrorism–BP comes to mind.

    In those examples above, there is loss of human life. Yet with Animal Lib, animals are rescued, no life is taken.

    I imagine if you were to rescue the animals and leave without damaging property, there might be some leniency. I mean let’s face it. They don’t care about the animals. We all know that.

    It’s their property they care more about and most importantly the loss of money. In fact, to them, and corporations that pay them, money is more important than life itself, whether it be human or non-human–even those who are “trying” to find a “cure” for some human disease.

    There is so much more evidence that animal testing for diseases is futile, but they continue to test because they are paid to. Yet they discourage us from adopting a healthier alternative lifestyle to rid ourselves of disease (my father would’ve lost his leg from cancer if he didn’t adopt a vegetarian diet). I mean nobody makes any money from finding better ways to help oneself.

    To be honest, I’m not one to break any laws (no matter how unfair those laws may be). Although, for the most part, laws are made to protect the interests of those in power. They have nothing to do with protecting the innocent or even the guilty. At the same time this is a broad brush. However, in some countries, it’s okay to rape your wife or even a stranger. It’s stands to reason that just because something is legal or illegal, doesn’t make it right or wrong.

    With that being said, I believe there are better ways to handle situations. We must work with those in human rights and the environment (more popular to general public) and make the necessary connections to all fields. The connections are there if people would take a look.

    Think about it. AR, HR, and ENV would make a great, yet peaceful, force to reckon with.

    Anyway, I’m rambling on here.

    Peace.

    ease

  9. Misty on Sun, 25th Sep 2011 4:05 pm

    10. I found this post because I have written my own similar letter to the feds and for very similar reasons. On September 24th 2010, agents raided the homes and offices of the anti-war committee and others, citing the same terrorism charges. Go to stopfbi.net and help us fight against state repression of social activists of all movements. Because history has shown that the FBI is more a tool of repression than anything agent Cooper prepared us for. It’s more like 1984, where the names of the offices as the exact opposite of what they do (department of homeland security). We need to stand up to them.







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