The so-called People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals turned 40 last month. With millions in the bank, celebrity endorsements and a cemented position in pop culture, PETA has become more mainstream. PETA, which once gave $70,000 to help an arsonist, has today lost some of the tactical edginess it once had, even if its overall agenda hasn’t moderated at all.

Younger animal rights groups with more fervor and risk tolerance have also noticed PETA’s dulling. They are now vying to fill the void.

Taking up the mantle is Direct Action Everywhere, a group of animal rights extremists founded in 2013. The group put itself on the map after it filmed its activists storming a restaurant and berating guests for eating chicken. And it’s only gone downhill from there.

Like PETA, DxE has a knack for getting media with extreme action. During a Bernie Sanders stump speech last year, several topless DxE members stormed the stage and poured pink sludge on themselves to protest the dairy industry.

Its more recent stunts include deceiving their way into a Fox Business interview in December by impersonating Smithfield’s new CEO. This comes after DxE activists poured tens of gallons of feces onto the (real) Smithfield CEO’s lawn this summer.

The group is also one of the largest proponents of “open rescue” — which is really just openly sneaking into a farm in the cover of night, “liberating” a few animals, and posting a video about it on social media.

The most troubling part is the group’s willingness to break the law. The phrase “direct action” has a specific meaning. According to the FBI, direct action is “criminal activity designed to cause economic loss or to destroy property or operations.” And that has been the bread and butter of DxE’s activities.

Expect it to get worse. Despite breaking onto farms for years, DxE has yet to be held legally accountable. Ridiculously, DxE is organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that can raise tax-exempt donations, as if it’s a legitimate charity despite breaking the law. The organization I manage filed a complaint about this farcical situation with the IRS nearly two years ago — yet nothing has happened.

Similarly, there are federal laws against animal enterprise terrorism, which have in the past been used successfully to prosecute animal activists who cross the line. Yet the Department of Justice has done nothing about DxE interstate sprees.

That’s not going to change, either. Recent events have shown there is a federal double standard with illegal protesting. The boneheads who invaded the US Capitol building this month were quickly tracked down and charged with crimes, and rightly so. But rioters who spent last summer destroying businesses? Their cause was “politically correct” and so they haven’t faced the same level of enforcement (or negative media).

Don’t think that is lost on DxE. If there’s no punishment to crime, criminals are emboldened to act. And the people running DxE think of themselves as a “civil rights movement” for animals. Their end justifies the means.

DxE has faced some state-level charges. But these charges have floundered, with not a single conviction to date. Court cases have been punted repeatedly.

But the state and local level are still our best hope for fighting back. Generally, the states where offenses against farmers are committed have ag-friendly legislatures. These actions are happening in your communities where you have roots.

State associations must work together and create a groundswell. We must put pressure on local district attorneys and state attorney generals to not only take action but make it a priority. No plea deals allowed.

Take a page from their book and organize. Make loud voices heard. That’s the only way to stop this.

Part of DxE’s 40-year plan includes seeing that “Animal eaters [are] forced to hide in remote refuges and, when identified, are prosecuted by the Animal Rights Division of the Department of Justice.”

Let’s make sure they see some justice in 2021.

Prepare for more “Direct Action”

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