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FUR COMMISSION USA PRESS RELEASE, JULY 11, 2001
See here for Jan. 30, 2002 update.
One Dark Night in Capitola : The Case of Schnell and Whyte
Plus: "No More Frolicking" by Matt Whyte from behind bars; and How Much Do They Know?
By FCUSA Executive Director Teresa Platt
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT last January, two young animal rights conflict gypsies in possession of bomb-making materials were nabbed behind the City Hall in Capitola, a small town in Santa Cruz county, just south of San Francisco. They now face federal charges that could result in 10-year prison sentences and hefty fines.(1)
On Jan. 23, Capitola police caught Peter Schnell, 20, and Matt Whyte, 18, with at least 10 plastic milk bottles, gasoline and "Magic Re-Light Candles". On Feb. 16, a San Jose federal grand jury indicted the two men with making and possessing unregistered destructive devices.
Schnell explained away the late hour and the incendiary materials as a "craft project", according to an affidavit filed by Special Agent Dennis Larko of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF). Larko reported that officers found five containers of gasoline inside Whyte’s car.
According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, federal prosecutors also believe the two may be associated with the Animal Liberation Front (ALF).
Whyte, from Orange, California, is represented by attorney Mark Vermeulen, hired by Whyte’s parents. Vermeulen described the parents as "shocked and surprised" as well as "realistic and supportive."
Schnell, an electrician by training from Ocean, New Jersey, chose representation by well-known conflict industry attorney Lawrence Weiss.(2) Weiss commented that the government’s accusation that his client was associated with ALF was out of line. "The whole ALF issue is a red herring," he stated.
Schnell and Whyte made bail and the case was moved to San Jose Federal Court, where a suppression hearing is scheduled for September.
Started Young
Schnell is a regular at protests around the country organized by the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT) and the Animal Defense League (ADL). He has been arrested on numerous occasions,(3) including at a 1998 protest in New York organized by CAFT and ADL when he was just 17.
Whyte was only 16 when he was arrested at a 1999 protest in Washington State, on a day and at an hour when he should have been at school back in California. Protest organizer JP Goodwin of CAFT told the Associated Press he did not know why Whyte was not in school.
Hours later, three more out-of-state juveniles were arrested at a nearby mink farm after they donned masks, climbed a tall fence, vandalized animal pens and scattered the terrified animals.(4) The rest of the vandals, who numbered about a dozen in total, fled.
Later that same year, Whyte was arrested during a protest at UC San Francisco, and again for property destruction in Seattle during the World Trade Organization protests.(1)
ADL Support
So it was no surprise when Darius Fullmer of ADL sought to rustle up support for the two detainees.
First he issued a plea of support for Schnell in an Internet chat forum, describing him as a "longtime Animal Defense League-New Jersey activist" who "was with the ADL-NJ since the very beginning and is one of the most dedicated activists I know."(5)
He also extended a helping hand to Whyte by posting a statement of solidarity and a plea for funds written by Whyte himself (see "No more frolicking").
More interesting is the stance of CAFT’s JP Goodwin, now known as John Goodwin of the Humane Society of the United States. Neither JP nor "John" have issued any statement on their former comrades now facing lengthy terms behind bars.
Concerned citizens with information on the Schnell/Whyte case should contact ATF Special Agent Dennis Larko: (408) 535-5015; dmlarko@sfdi.atf.treas.gov
NOTES:
(1) "Arrest in Alleged FBI Bomb Threat", San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 16, 2001; "Lawyers allege bomb-making materials were seized illegally", Santa Cruz Sentinel, Mar. 7, 2001, plus Sentinel articles on Feb. 14, Feb. 3 and Jan. 26.
(2) No Compromise Fight Back!, Issue 6, "Walking Through a Grand Jury" by L. Weiss, www.nocompromise.org/issues/index.html
(3) Schnell has shared the police wagon with such conflict gypsies as Darius Fullmer, Kim Berardi, Patrick Kwan, Andy Stepanian, Joe Bateman, Brett Wyker and Lance Morosini.
(4) See Quick Arrests for Bungling Terrorists, FCUSA press release, Feb. 23, 1999.
(5) See http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adl-nj/message/935
By Matt Whyte from behind bars
Source: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/adl-nj/message/942
Greetings! The days in jail have began to melt together since Peter and myself have been arrested for a crime we did not commit. We both fiercely believe in following our hearts as individuals and as a community with all our relations. The solidarity and support from friends and family have lifted hopes, to fly wild and free with spirits and souls. In order for the months and years not to melt by and for us to run through wildlands once again, lawyers are desperately needed to sufficiently represent our defense. We are both financially poor and need that kind of support, along with emotional support while in domesticative captivity. … The jail is not of physical hardship, but lacks sun wilderness, and limitless frolicking. Petey and I are in separate housing units and I’ve been able to trade to eat here and there. We live in a world or dreams, not artificial nor monetary. We’re all in the same boat together, whether in captivity or not. Let us not be a ship of fools.
All my relations,
Matt.
FEDERAL PROSECUTORS BELIEVE Schnell and Whyte - caught red-handed with materials for burning things down or blowing them up - have ties to the criminal Animal Liberation Front (ALF). Red-handed or not, Schnell’s lawyer says any attempt to tie them to ALF is just a "red herring". In search for the truth, prosecutors are surely reviewing some of the many crimes committed in California and the Pacific Northwest in the name of "saving" animals or the environment, looking for links to the detainees. Following are some of the more shocking crimes of recent years. Will the latest arrests lead to yet more? How much do Schnell and Whyte know?
NOTE: Guilt claims: * ALF; # ELF; § Jointly by ALF, ELF.
2001
#Jan. 2: Arson at Superior Lumber Co., Glendale, OR. Damage: $400,000.
2000
*Dec. 11: Incendiary devices planted under three trucks at Ferry Meat Market, Vancouver. One explodes. Damage: $60,000.
May 7: Arson at timber company Holbrook Inc., Port Olympia, WA. Damage: $150,000. Guilt claim: "ROTT" (Revenge of the Trees).
Mar. 17: Thieves break into animal trailer at College of Notre Dame in Belmont, CA, and steal all 250 test mice. This terminates research project begun in 1928, on generational observations of colony development in the search for causes of genetic birth defects and osteoporosis.
Mar. 16: Farm Bureau in Sonoma County, CA, trashed. On Feb. 23, the Bureau had announced $50,000 reward for information leading to arrest and conviction of raids in Bay Area claimed by ALF.
Feb. 27: Vandals smash windows at Neiman Marcus store, San Francisco, spray-paint "ALF" on wall. Damage: $100,000.
*Feb. 25: Four bombs destroy trucks at B&K Universal in Fremont, CA. B&K breeds animals for research.
Jan. 15: Bombs explode in offices, trucks at Petaluma Farms, San Francisco. Two trucks destroyed.
*Jan. 5: R&R Research Rabbitry in Stanwood, WA, broken into, 23 rabbits stolen.
*Jan. 3: Incendiary devices placed in offices, storage facilities, trucks at Rancho Veal Corp., Petaluma, CA. Damage: $250,000.
1999
#Dec. 25: Arson at timber management office of Boise Cascade Corp., Monmouth, OR. Damage: $1 million.
*Dec. 20: Failed arson at Fulton Poultry Processors, San Francisco.
Nov. 27: 180 raspberry bushes destroyed at University of Washington, Seattle, after being mistaken for hybrid poplars. Guilt claim: "Washington Tree Improvement Association".
*Nov. 20: Labs, offices trashed at poultry research facility, Washington State University.
Nov. 1: Four bombs thrown into Gap clothing store in Seattle. FBI attributes attack to ALF.
*Oct. - Nov.: Labs at Western Washington University struck twice. Offices, experiments destroyed, animals removed.
Aug. 29: Forty-six dogs stolen from pacemaker manufacturer Bio-Devices, Orange County, CA.
Apr. 24: Three research labs at University of California at San Francisco trashed, medical research destroyed.
1998
#Dec. 26: Arson at US Forest Industries, Medford, OR. Damage: $700,000.
§June 21: Arson at US Department of Agriculture Animal Damage Control building, Olympia, WA. Damage: $2.3 million.
See also:
Careers in the Conflict Industry: HSUS and the Making of a Conflict Industrialist FCUSA commentary on JP Goodwin, August 12, 2001.
FCUSA Press Kit Special Feature: Safe Farms Campaign.
For further information contact: Teresa Platt, Executive Director, Fur Commission USA, PMB 506, 826 Orange Avenue, Coronado, CA 92118-2698 USA, (619) 575-0139, (619) 575-5578/fax, furfarmers@aol.com, www.furcommission.com.
To take a cyber-tour of a fur farm, visit Fur Commission USA's Fur on Film at http://www.furcommission.com/video/index.htm