David Barbarash
Encyclopedia
David Barbarash was the North American press officer for the Animal Liberation Front
from mid-1999 until late-2002. The ALF press office in the UK is run by Robin Webb
. Barbarash also founded the North American Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group in Toronto in the early 1980s.
Barbarash was convicted of breaking windows to fast food restaurants, fur stores and butcher shops in Toronto in 1988. Barbarash was also convicted of property damage worth $50,000 and the theft of 29 cats from the University of Alberta in Edmonton in 1992. His partner in this crime, Darren Thurston
was jailed, but Barbarash fled to the US to avoid arrest, and lived in hiding there for two years until the FBI found him in California. In 1994, Barbarash was deported back to Canada and served four months in jail before being released for time served and a guilty plea. Darren Thurston served two years in prison for this same action.
The RCMP's (Royal Canadian Mounted Police
) investigation of David Barbarash in 1997 began in response to a series of pipe bombs sent through the mail to various individuals and organizations across Canada in 1995. In 1998, Barbarash and Thurston were charged with sending letters with razor blades inside to hunters and guide outfitters across British Columbia. The charges were later dropped after the RCMP refused to provide documents to the defendants' lawyers. The documents would have confirmed that the RCMP were using undercover police agents, a fact they lied about at the defendants' Preliminary hearing
.
Barbarash always maintained his innocence and alleged the undercover agents were attempting to entrap him to commit crimes in the course of their investigation.
Barbarash's home in Courtenay, Canada
was raided on July 30, 2002 in response to a request from the U.S.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI), which regards the ALF as a domestic terrorist organization. Materials seized during this raid were returned to Barbarash without ever reaching US custody owing to a judge who overturned the search warrant in response to what she termed "triple-hearsay" used in obtaining the warrant.
Barbarash has been linked to Anti-Racist Action
, Anti-Fascist Militia, Militant Direct Action Task Force, the Justice Department
, Earth First!
, the Animal Liberation Front
and the Earth Liberation Front
.
"Just because they can’t speak up for themselves doesn’t mean that we have the right to do whatever we please to them."
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
from mid-1999 until late-2002. The ALF press office in the UK is run by Robin Webb
Robin Webb
Robin Webb is an English animal rights activist. He is a former member of the ruling council of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals , and former director of Animal Aid...
. Barbarash also founded the North American Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group in Toronto in the early 1980s.
Barbarash was convicted of breaking windows to fast food restaurants, fur stores and butcher shops in Toronto in 1988. Barbarash was also convicted of property damage worth $50,000 and the theft of 29 cats from the University of Alberta in Edmonton in 1992. His partner in this crime, Darren Thurston
Darren Thurston
Darren Todd Thurston is a Canadian anarchist and animal rights activist.In July 2006, Thurston pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy and related arson charges that occurred from 1996 through 2001 in Oregon and four other U.S. states, and which were claimed in the name of the Earth Liberation Front...
was jailed, but Barbarash fled to the US to avoid arrest, and lived in hiding there for two years until the FBI found him in California. In 1994, Barbarash was deported back to Canada and served four months in jail before being released for time served and a guilty plea. Darren Thurston served two years in prison for this same action.
The RCMP's (Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
) investigation of David Barbarash in 1997 began in response to a series of pipe bombs sent through the mail to various individuals and organizations across Canada in 1995. In 1998, Barbarash and Thurston were charged with sending letters with razor blades inside to hunters and guide outfitters across British Columbia. The charges were later dropped after the RCMP refused to provide documents to the defendants' lawyers. The documents would have confirmed that the RCMP were using undercover police agents, a fact they lied about at the defendants' Preliminary hearing
Preliminary hearing
Within some criminal justice systems, a preliminary hearing is a proceeding, after a criminal complaint has been filed by the prosecutor, to determine whether there is enough evidence to require a trial...
.
Barbarash always maintained his innocence and alleged the undercover agents were attempting to entrap him to commit crimes in the course of their investigation.
Barbarash's home in Courtenay, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
was raided on July 30, 2002 in response to a request from the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
(FBI), which regards the ALF as a domestic terrorist organization. Materials seized during this raid were returned to Barbarash without ever reaching US custody owing to a judge who overturned the search warrant in response to what she termed "triple-hearsay" used in obtaining the warrant.
Barbarash has been linked to Anti-Racist Action
Anti-Racist Action
The Anti-Racist Action Network is a decentralized network of anti-fascist and anti-racists in North America. ARA activists organize actions to disrupt neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, and help organize activities against fascist and racist ideologies. ARA groups also oppose sexism,...
, Anti-Fascist Militia, Militant Direct Action Task Force, the Justice Department
Justice Department (animal rights)
The Justice Department was founded in the United Kingdom by animal rights activists who declared they were willing to use violence against their opponents...
, Earth First!
Earth First!
Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that emerged in the Southwestern United States in 1979. It was co-founded on April 4th, 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, and less directly, Bart Koehler and Ron Kezar....
, the Animal Liberation Front
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
and the Earth Liberation Front
Earth Liberation Front
The Earth Liberation Front , also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the environment".The ELF was founded...
.
"Just because they can’t speak up for themselves doesn’t mean that we have the right to do whatever we please to them."
See also
- Animal liberation movementAnimal liberation movementThe animal-liberation movement, sometimes called the animal-rights movement, animal personhood, or animal-advocacy movement, is a social movement which seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, an end to the status of animals as property, and...
- VeganismVeganismVeganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...
- Henry SpiraHenry SpiraHenry Spira is widely regarded as one of the most effective animal rights activists of the 20th century....
- GANDALF trialGANDALF trialGANDALF was an acronym for the 1997 trial in the UK of the editors of Green Anarchist magazine, as well as two prominent British supporters of the Animal Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group , on charges of conspiracy to incite criminal damage.Starting in 1995, the...