Anti-fur pair get terror charge
They’re accused of causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage across U.S.
SAN DIEGO — Under the cover of darkness, Joseph Buddenberg and Nicole Kissane allegedly completed mission by mission in the name of animal activism. They are accused by prosecutors of vandalizing a family-run fur shop in San Diego, freeing thousands of minks from Idaho to Pennsylvania and trying to flood the home of a fur auctioneer employee in Wisconsin.
Prosecutors say their alleged actions weren’t merely illegal, but a form of domestic terrorism.
The Oakland pair was arrested Friday by the FBI, accused of embarking on a 40,000-mile cross-country rampage on the fur industry. Their actions caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage, the U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego said.
Kissane, 28, who used to live in Escondido, and Buddenberg, 31, originally from Virginia Beach, Va., have been indicted on charges of conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Both were expected to be transferred from Oakland to San Diego to face the charges.
“We’ve been targeted over 30 years by these terrorists, and we’re pleased law enforcement is able to apprehend people,” said Kimberley Graf, whose family owns the San Diego fur shop that was vandalized.
The covert road trips occurred the summer and fall of 2013, according to the indictment unsealed Friday.
It began in June 2013, when they drove from Portland, Ore., to Southern California, the indictment states.
On July 15, 2013, according to the charges, the pair trashed Furs by Graf in Kearny Mesa. The San Diego store was spray-painted — markings that included the words “killer” and “murder” — and the windows were destroyed with etching materials. Acid was sprayed into the shop, and glue was put on the door locks.
The court document lays out some details about Buddenberg and Kissane’s alleged cross-country path:
In the Bay Area, they allegedly glued the locks of various animal-related businesses, slashed the tires on several trucks of a meat distributor and broke windows of a market, the indictment says.
In Montana, they are accused of releasing a bobcat from Frazier Fur Farm in Plains, then the next day vandalizing the vehicles of the police chief in Darby, who is disliked by animalrights activists, according to the indictment.
In Idaho, they released minks from the Moyle Mink Ranch in Burley.
“Communiques” publicizing their actions were posted on websites associated with animal-rights extremism, authorities said. In the San Diego incident, a Florida animal-rights website posted a message from the Animal Liberation Front that claimed responsibility for the vandalism. The indictment does not mention whether Buddenberg and Kissane are part of any organization.
“Whatever your feelings about the fur industry, there are legal ways to make your opinions known,” U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy said in a statement. “The conduct alleged here, sneaking around at night, stealing property and vandalizing homes and businesses with acid, glue and chemicals, is a form of domestic terrorism and can’t be permitted to continue.”