SHAC 7

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The SHAC 7 are six members of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, an animal liberation group, who were convicted by a federal jury of "terrorism and internet stalking" on March 3, 2006 under the United States' Animal Enterprise Protection Act.^[1] Specifically, the activists operated a website that reported on and expressed ideological support for protest activity against Huntingdon Life Sciences and its business affiliates.

Originally, seven individuals were charged, along with the organization Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA. The individuals were Kevin Kjonaas (former president of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA), Lauren Gazzola, Jacob Conroy, Joshua Harper, Andrew Stepanian, Darius Fullmer, and John McGee. McGee was eventually dropped from the case.^[2]

All of the defendants were charged with conspiracy to violate the Animal Enterprise Protection Act, in the first application of the 1992 statute. Kjonaas, Gazzola, Conroy, and Harper were also charged with conspiracy to harass using a telecommunications device (sending black faxes). Kjonaas, Gazzola, Conroy, and SHAC USA were charged with conspiracy to commit interstate stalking and three counts of interstate stalking via the Internet.^[3] The case first went to trial in June 2005, but ended in a mistrial when one of the key defense attorneys fell ill during opening statement. It resumed February 6, 2006. The defense of the SHAC 7 rested largely on the 1969 case Brandenburg v. Ohio, in which the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that political speech is legal unless it can be shown that a defendant has told specific individuals to commit specific, imminent acts of violence.^[4] On March 3, 2006, the defendents were convicted and sentenced to an aggregate of 24 years in prison, and ordered to pay a joint restitution of $1,000,001.00.^[5]

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