Man Arrested for Violent Actions at Geese Protest
Animal rights activists have been out in force recently protesting efforts by federal wildlife officials to round up and euthanize geese in Seattle as part of an annual cull to control the population. Officials last week arrested a 55-year-old Seattle man after he allegedly tried to cause an accident with a U.S. Department of Agriculture truck.
Witnesses told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that the man was driving an older Toyota and had been pulling in front of USDA trucks and slamming his breaks. The third time he tried this stunt, he hit a truck driven by a 45-year old federal wildlife official who was taken to a hospital and treated for neck and back injuries. The man was released the same day.
Although the paper did not disclose the man’s name, it quoted a member of the University Washington Chapter of the Northwest Animal Network as saying that the man was known for participation in animal rights protests and had organized “geese patrols” in an effort to disrupt the USDA cull efforts.
Mike Linnell, assistant state director for the USDA, told the Post-Intelligencer,
Everybody’s free to voice their opinion, but when they start running into us . . . There was a deliberate attempt to cause an accident. Someone could have very easily been injured or killed.
. . .
Our people are scared. This isn’t the first time it’s happened.
Animal rights compassion on display in Seattle.
Source:
Protests against killing of geese turn violent. Hector Castro, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Report, June 22, 2002.