Minneapolis activist indicted for animal lab 'terrorism'

By BOB VON STERNBERG, Star Tribune

Last update: November 19, 2009 - 4:03 PM

A man from Minneapolis has been indicted on a charge of conspiracy to commit vandalism during a five-year-old animal-rights incident at the University of Iowa.

Scott DeMuth, who is being held in jail in Davenport, is scheduled to make his first appearance in U.S. District Court Friday.

According to the indictment, unsealed today, DeMuth committed "animal enterprise terrorism and cause[d] economic damage to the animal enterprise in an amount exceeding $10,000" between Nov. 9 and Nov. 20, 2004.

The Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility for vandalizing two labs and three offices at the University of Iowa on Nov. 14, 2004.

DeMuth and Carrie Feldman, another activist from Minneapolis have been jailed since Tuesday for refusing to answer questions before the federal grand jury in Davenport.

They were found in contempt of court by U.S. District Judge John Jarvey after they were offered limited immunity for their testimony before the grand jury to compel them to talk.

Feldman has not been indicted, a court spokesman said.

Earth Warriors are OK! (EWOK), a Twin Cities political organization that backs DeMuth and Feldman, issued a statement in their behalf, calling the indictment is "a heinous example of the increasingly repressive tactics that the Federal government has used against people ...We will continue to support Scott as he resists the government's attempt to criminalize his political beliefs."

An e-mail message left Thursday for DeMuth's attorney, Barbara Nimis, was not immediately returned.

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