SALT LAKE CITY, UT -- Authorities picked up and jailed
Ryan Durfee, Josh Anderson and another activist for allegedly firebombing
a McDonald's that was burned down last August by the A.L.F. A fourth activist,
who was also supposed to be picked up, had moved out of state and the
investigators decided to not pursue him.
One activist was awakened in the middle of the night,
taken to the police station and interrogated. His room was completely trashed
by the authorities, who had a search warrant. They even dismantled the
heating ducts. All of his animal rights literature was confiscated except
for one A.L.F. manual that remained prominently positioned in his room.
The exhausted and frightened activist was interrogated
and signed a confession stating he was the lone individual responsible
for the arson.
When Ryan Durfee was picked up, he said he wanted to speak
with a lawyer before making any statements. The police stopped asking him
questions, but they continued to tell him all the "evidence"
they had against him in an attempt to scare a confession out of him. The
activist maintained his right to remain silent.
When Josh was questioned, he knew that the first activist
had confessed, and he confessed as well. The activists confessed because
they thought the evidence against them was enough to convict them and because
their interrogators promised to not charge them with Federal crimes in exchange
for their confession. If they had been charged Federally, they would have to
serve a minimum of 5 years if they were convicted, however now it is hoped that
they will only get 2 years suspended, while only having to serve 2 or 3 months.
However, it is yet to be seen if the police will keep their promises. As Josh
is a juvenile, he was placed on house arrest.
The other two activists were held in jail for more than
72 hours, which is the legal limit that police can jail people in Utah
without charging them. Even with the two confessions, charges were not
brought up against them and they were both released.
It is suspected that they have not been charged so that
charges can be held over their head as leverage to get them to inform on
other activists or to ensure that they stay inactive or possibly, to allow
for more surveillance so the authorities can see who their friends and
acquaintances are.
Although the "Utah Three" were not charged with
a crime, it did not stop some media outlets from reporting that the activists
were charged with arson, burglary and theft while running their photos
on the TV news. Oddly, no media mentioned the A.L.F. or the politics
surrounding the McDonald's arson. Instead, it was covered as if the action was
a purely criminal matter. The additional charges of burglary and theft further
promoted this perspective.
With the two others confessing, Ryan also confessed at
a later questioning. Still no charges have been brought against these activists,
and they were allowed to leave the state to visit friends in Seattle for
Thanksgiving. The ATF in Seattle greeted them by following them around
and busting into their friends' house. Ryan yelled at the ATF and said
they should either take him to jail now or leave him and his friends alone.
They left.
Activists outside of Utah are closely monitoring the situation
for further developments.