What does each of these actions have in common? They are non-violent and legal (excepting the civil disobedience). And yet, I am out-of-pocket $4,000.00 in legal expenses; was arrested and am on 12 months probation; am the subject of a year-long FBI investigation which has included visits to friends, AR allies, co-workers, and relatives; have a TRO against me (which I was too green to fight last year, not realizing that TRO's obtained against activists are a violation of our First Amendment rights); am fighting three additional TRO's related to the KU Med campaign; was a victim of serious First Amendment violations by law enforcement during one of our demonstrations; and am banned from the KU Med Center campus under threat of arrest for criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor offense which would be a violation of my probation.
As a father to a teen-age boy who needs my presence, as a person who needs to maintain a job outside of my avocation of activism, as a person who makes much of the AR activism in KC happen, and as a person who has a mortgage and two rescue pit bull companion dogs, the political and legal persecution and the threat of extended jail time have consequences that impact many more people and other animals than just me. While I've been fortunate enough to find resources, enlist an excellent attorney, and garner the assistance of the ACLU, my pro-active battles are far from over in the legal arena.
I am going public with at least a general sketch of my situation to illustrate that the Green Scare is a very real phenomenon. Those of us who are fighting for Animal and Environmental Rights are every bit as persecuted as the Communists were during the First and Second Red Scares. TRO's, grand juries, agent provocateurs, FBI harassment, police intimidation, First Amendment violations, and the AETA are but a few of the ways the state is cracking down on those of us who are taking a stand for other sentients and the Earth. I offer myself as an example of a legal, above-ground activist who has faced serious violations of his civil rights, harassment, utter loss of privacy, intimidation, arrest, financial strain, potential threat to career, and the potential of even more serious consequences. There are thousands of other above-ground activists facing persecution like me and still thousands more who have gone the route of underground, illegal activism who are suffering even worse fates (the ones whom have been caught anyway).
From what I can discern, my affiliation with the North American Animal Liberation Press Office, my philosophical support of animal liberations and the destruction of the tools of animal/Earth exploitation, and my philosophical support (through my writings) of the notion that violence (against human beings) is inevitable in the Animal Rights Movement (because it has been in all social justice movements, save that for the disabled, AND because the state so vigorously protects the "rights" of exploiters to continue torturing and killing nonhuman animals), along with my relentless legal street activism, were the catalysts for the political and legal persecution I now face.
Astoundingly, I recently learned that when law enforcement runs me in their databases, an alert comes up with my "FBI number," a warning from the Terrorist Screening Center that I could be on a terrorist watch list, and advice to law enforcement to "USE CAUTION when dealing with Miller."
What elevate the above to the level of absurdity are the facts that:
- I have never had a felony conviction.
- I have never been arrested for violent acts and have no history of violent behavior.
- My activism is non-violent. I educate and am a voice for the animals through my writing, publishing and peaceful on-the-street activism.
- I have no ties with the underground or militant activists.
- I have never threatened any of the subjects of my campaigns or their families nor have I "stalked them."
- I am an Animal Rights activist currently engaged in a campaign to stop primate vivisection (which is barbaric, unnecessary, and a waste of federal tax dollars) at the University of Kansas Medical Center. The USDA cited KU Med Center for 160 violations of animal welfare laws, a number which indicates that they need to be shut down.
What is abundantly clear is that those of us who have chosen to respond aggressively (even if we act non-violently and legally) to the call of conscience and act as proxies for the billions of defenseless animals who suffer and die needlessly each year will face harsh consequences doled out by the state and the institutionalized animal exploiters whom they represent.
Hence my statement to the world:
While those with a vested interest in the ongoing torture and slaughter of billions of defenseless nonhumans portray and treat me as a criminal or potential terrorist, I am neither. I am a man who has responded to the call of conscience to become a voice, a writer, a publisher, and an activist for nonhuman animals. And so I shall remain.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
