Five California animal rights activists who said they were saving piglets from a Utah farm in a video they posted on social media are now facing some serious charges.
On Monday, the Utah Attorney General’s Office charged the Direct Action Everywhere members with engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, two counts of burglary committed against an animal enterprise, and theft of livestock, all second-degree felonies.
The theft from the Smithfield Food Circle Four Farms in Beaver County happened early March 2017, however authorities weren’t alerted until July 2017 when the farm became aware of the activists’ video in a New York Times article. In their video, “Operation Deathstar” viewers can pan the screen around nearly the entire visible environment captured. That’s how authorities were able to identify the five defendants.
Direction Action Everywhere, aka DxE, is known for entering farms at night to take animals they believe are living in unhealthy conditions.
The animal rights activists could each get up to 15 years in prison. Direct Action Everywhere has now started on online petition asking for Utah to drop the charges for “saving Lily.”
It is believed the five were also part of a “rescue” in January when three turkeys were stolen from the Norbest Farm in Moroni.
