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FBI arrests activists accused of releasing 5,740 mink from farms

Published  July 24, 2015 7:41pm PDT
Associated Press



A picture taken on April 28, 2015 shows a mink looking out from a cage at a mink farm. (Photo: DANIL SEMYONOV/AFP/Getty Images)



OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Two animal-rights activists have been charged with terrorizing the fur industry during cross-country road trips in which they released about 5,740 mink from farms and vandalized the homes and businesses of industry members.

The FBI says 31-year-old Joseph Brian Buddenberg and 28-year-old Nicole Juanita Kissane, of Oakland, California, were arrested there Friday by its Joint Terrorism Task Force.

A federal grand jury indictment unsealed Friday says they caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages during 40,000 miles of cross-country trips over the summer of 2013.

They allegedly slashed tires, glued businesses' locks and smashed windows.

The FBI says Buddenberg and Kissane covered their tracks by avoiding phones, the Internet and by using cash while traveling.

They also allegedly drafted communiques and posted them online to publicize their actions.