"Second Animal Rights Activist Sentenced In Illinois Mink Farm Case"
March 23, 2016
Tyler Lang, an animal rights activist from California, was sentenced Wednesday for his involvement in freeing 2,000 minks from an Illinois fur farm in 2013.
U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve sentenced Lang to three months time already served, six months of house arrest, six months community confinement and one year of supervised release. He is also required to make a $200,000 restitution payment to the farm operators.
Lang and his friend Kevin Johnson, also from California, were accused of freeing the minks from a Morris fur farm and spray painting "liberation is love" on a barn there. The men's actions reportedly resulted in the deaths of hundreds of minks and the farm's closure.
"This is a very serious offense that caused a substantial loss to the victim. It wiped out their business and life savings," St. Eve said at Lang's sentencing hearing, reported the Chicago Tribune. "You destroyed their feelings of security and their trust of others, in addition to their business."
The men faced "animal enterprise terrorism" charges. According to a news release from the two men's support team, Lang and Johnson each "entered into non-cooperating plea agreements through which they pleaded guilty to violating the" Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, a federal law pushed by the pro-corporate and conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).
Last month, Johnson received a three-year prison sentence and was ordered to make a $200,000 restitution payment.
In a statement, Lang and Johnson's support team said "Tyler and Kevin's case should be a reminder to us all that we have to show each other love and support in the face of State oppression."
(originally posted at http://www.progressillinois.com/news/content/2016/03/23/second-animal-rights-activist-sentenced-illinois-mink-farm-case)
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