Minn. man charged in UI vandalism to stay in jail

Associated Press

Last update: November 26, 2009 - 3:54 PM

DAVENPORT, Iowa - A federal magistrate has ordered a Minnesota activist arrested in the 2004 animal rights vandalism at the University of Iowa to remain in jail so prosecutors can appeal an order to release him pending trial.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Ross Walters said in an order issued Wednesday that Scott DeMuth must remain in the Muscatine County Jail until at least 3 p.m. Monday.

In 2004, vandals released hundreds of animals and caused about $500,000 in damage to psychology department laboratories at the University of Iowa. After the break-in, the Animal Liberation Front claimed responsibility and made threatening statements to university researchers.

An FBI agent testified that DeMuth was linked to the break-in after a journal and a lock-picking device were seized from his home during an investigation into protests at the Republican National Committee convention in St. Paul, Minn., in 2008.

DeMuth pleaded not guilty on Nov. 21 to conspiracy to commit animal enterprise terrorism. This week the University of Minnesota graduate student was issued a release order that would have allowed him to return to Minneapolis while the federal case is pending, but prosecutors argued DeMuth is a domestic terrorist and likely to flee.

"This offense is a crime of violence," Assistant U.S. Attorney Clifford R. Cronk III wrote. "Therefore ... there exists a rebuttable presumption that the defendant poses a danger to the community and a risk of non-appearance."

Prosecutors describe DeMuth as an anarchist who would go "underground" to avoid prosecution.

"Persons associated with the ALF movement will work together to satisfy their violent agenda and will assist one another in avoiding detection, apprehension, and prosecution," Cronk wrote in the motion.

If released, DeMuth would be placed on house arrest and have to wear a GPS tracking monitor.

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Information from: The Gazette, http://www.gazetteonline.com/

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