As I’ve written about previously, members of extreme animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere (DXE) have faced several trials over the past two years stemming from “open rescue” incidents in various states. According to DXE, “open rescue” is when activists enter farms to “investigate” conditions and take animals out that they claim need urgent medical care. DXE is campaigning for a legal “right to rescue” animals from farms, likening it to rescuing dogs from hot cars (which 14 states have laws allowing people to do without facing legal consequence).

Frustratingly, despite activists filming themselves entering farms and plants without permission and taking animals, these trials have had mixed outcomes. In the first trial in December 2021 in North Carolina, DXE co-founder Wayne Hsiung was found “guilty” of two felony counts (breaking and entering and larceny after breaking and entering) for stealing a goat from a farm in 2018. Hsiung received a suspended sentence and supervised probation. In February of this year, Hsiung appealed the conviction and asked for a new trial, claiming his initial trial was “tainted by incorrect jury instructions” and the judge’s failure to dismiss a “biased juror.”

However, in the next two trials (Utah in October 2022 dealing with theft of piglets and Merced County, Calif., in March 2023 dealing with theft of chickens from a transport truck), activists were found “not guilty” on all charges after effectively making emotional appeals to the juries. Activists argued that their actions were a “necessity” and the alleged poor state of the animals in the barns they entered forced them to take action, and that they were mistaken as far as what their legal rights were, as attorneys (sympathetic to or directly involved in the animal rights movement) had written legal opinions for them about the “right to rescue.”

The “guilty” vs. “not guilty” score has evened once again, as last week the verdict finally came in the latest trial in Sonoma County, Calif. The charges in this trial stemmed from two of DXE’s largest-scale “mass open rescue” incidents, targeting Sunrise Farms (an egg farm) in 2018 and Reichardt Ducks in 2019. During both incidents, hundreds of attendees from DXE’s Animal Liberation Conference in Berkeley were driven by bus to the farms to conduct mass protests while a smaller group entered each facility and took birds. Hundreds of activists were initially arrested and charged with misdemeanors.

Six of the core DXE activists were charged with felonies. Four of them took plea deals and one individual had their charges dropped, leaving Hsiung as the only defendant by the time arguments began in the trial. While we were hesitant to be too optimistic, the fact that four activists chose to take plea deals rather than going through the trial seemed to indicate that DXE thought the result might not go their way as it had in the other two most recent trials. DXE activists typically see going to court as a point of pride and an opportunity to get their messaging in front of a broader audience via media coverage. The last activist to take a plea deal said she “chose the animals” in doing so, as she could not continue her activism from jail.

The Sonoma County trial moved quite slowly, getting underway on Sept. 9 with several weeks of pre-trial motions and jury selection. According to social media posts, DXE felt that the judge was biased against them during this process. In a Facebook Live in late September, activists discussed how unfair the trial had been for them and that a loss would not really be a loss, but a “loss forward,” as they could appeal in a higher court. They said that despite their negative feelings about the trial, it had shown them that “open rescue is working” and that the “industry is scared of them.”

Hsiung, an attorney, defended himself in the case, in which he faced two misdemeanor counts of trespassing and two felony counts of conspiracy, one for each farm targeted. During his arguments, he claimed that he did not go to the farms planning to commit crimes, only to help animals. Closing arguments were heard on Oct. 24 and the jury began deliberations, which went on for a total of six days. The jurors initially could not agree on the charges, with the foreman telling the judge that the vote was unanimous on one charge but 11-1 on the other three. After additional deliberation, the verdict was finally announced: Hsiung was found guilty of trespassing charges and the conspiracy charge from Sunrise Farms. The jury could not come to a unanimous decision on the conspiracy charge from Reichardt Duck Farm, so a mistrial was declared on that charge.

Hsiung was remanded into custody and bail was set at no bail. He’ll return for a sentencing hearing at the end of the month, where he’ll face up to three years in prison. Of course, DXE was ready to react to the decision, proclaiming “you can’t imprison a movement” and releasing what they claim is additional, new “investigations” from Reichardt Ducks and Sunrise Farms. Activists are posting photos of themselves on social media holding photos from the “investigations” using the hashtag “ProsecuteThis” and have held demonstrations at the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office and the jail along with going to the sheriff’s department to demand they press charges against the farms.

While it is a relief that Hsiung was found guilty in this case, it will undoubtedly add fuel to the fire of DXE’s “right to rescue” campaign as we’ll see continued activities attempting to take advantage of media interest in the trial and sentencing. Hsiung also has already said he plans to appeal, due to “prejudicial rulings” and “significant error” on the part of the judge. According to coverage in The Intercept, DXE activists are hopeful “that an appeal provides another opportunity to raise a necessity defense and fundamentally challenge case law around animal welfare.” In the same article, an attorney and law professor connected to DXE and the animal rights movement is quoted as saying, “This conviction is less a setback than an opportunity to litigate the legal status of animals in the appellate court and in the court of public opinion.”

The ”right to rescue” effort from animal rights extremists is far from over, and being vigilant in farm and plant security is more important than ever as they will seek more opportunities to take their arguments to court.

DXE co-founder found guilty in latest “open rescue” trial

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