PETA Gets Probed

It appears that PETA has recently garnered the unfavorable attentions of both the corporate community and the federal government. The group has made legal headway in its lawsuit alleging that Ringland Bros. Circus mounted a campaign of spying and disinformation against PETA as a result of its anti-circus efforts. At the same time, the feds have taken an interest in PETA, as well as other leftist groups such as Greenpeace and the Catholic Worker’s Group. The FBI has been using its new powers under the Patriot Act to gather information from public sources on the groups in question, as well as attending public demonstrations and planting informants within the groups. This is all done under the justification of possible criminal activity on the part of the targeted groups. That some of these organizations are engaged in illegal activity is beyond question; Greenpeace makes civil disobedience a key part of its tactical strategy, and PETA is strongly linked to the violent Animal Liberation Front. It’s probably worth noting that Martin Luther King also engaged in habitually criminal behavior. It also interesting that as usual, the feds are targeting the left extremists while completely ignoring the actions of those on the right, such as the Army of God or the National Socialist Movement. Those familiar with the COINTELPRO program of the 1960’s and 1970’s will not be terribly surprised at these revelations, as the suppression of the radical left has been a key goal of the FBI since its founding.