Author Will Potter Talks About Why Animal Activists Are Targets of Government Repression
Will Potter. That's a name all of us should know.
Will is the author of Green Is the New Red: An Insiders Account of a Social Movement Under Siege. In this book, he explains how the animal rights movement and the environmental movements became targets of government surveillance and repression after 9/11. This book is so good that it was named a best book of 2011 by Kirkus Review.
Will was motivated to write this book after FBI agents visited his home a few years ago and threatened to put him on a terrorist watch list if he did not become a government informant. At the time, Will was involved in a campaign called Stop Huntingdon Life Sciences, a mostly successful campaign to get Huntingdon to stop using animals in labs. He was well known to many activists and would have been a decent informant.
This is essential viewing for anyone involved in the animal rights or environmental movements. It just takes moments to listen to this great video.
Also, there's no need to get paranoid just because you're involved in animal rights. Going to demos and actions, and writing letters and making calls will not get the FBI's attention. Will was a target because he was more involved in the movement than most people. He was also an organizer with Students Against Cruelty to Animals, UT's animal rights group.
Will Potter also runs a great blog called Green is the New Red. Visit it here:
www.greenisthenewred.com/blog/
You can also friend him on Facebook.
