Posted on 12/08/2005 6:36:31 AM PST by Irontank
Four animal rights activists were arrested Wednesday morning on hunter harassment charges, including one man who allegedly told a state park ranger and a pair of hunters that he would "get my Arab friends and hunt you down."
The arrests took place on a hiking trail in Wawayanda State Park in Vernon, an area where activists have been especially active during this week's black bear hunt. Since Monday, an unknown number of them have canvassed the woods, pledging to find and rescue any bears that have been wounded, but not killed, by hunters' gunfire.
Those arrested were Angela Metler and Albert Kazemian, both 49 and from the Highland Lakes section of Vernon, Janet Piszar, 52, of Millburn, and Theresa Fritzges, 57, of East Windsor.
Metler is the director of the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance. She was previously arrested last year after crawling into a bear trap in Highland Lakes to prevent a problem animal from being captured and killed. She was later fined about $1,000.
Details of the incident that led to Wednesday's arrests were sketchy, but it involved a heated confrontation between the group and two hunters who apparently were accompanied by a park ranger.
"From what I understand, the hunters were walking down a path and the anti-hunt activists got in their way and refused to move," Martin McHugh, director of the state Division of Fish and Wildlife, told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
"They had a video recorder and they were verbally abusing the hunters. The hunters requested that they step aside and please let them go on and they didn't," McHugh said.
All four defendants are charged with disorderly conduct, obstructing the administration of law, hindering the lawful taking of wildlife and resisting arrest.
Complaints filed by an officer in the State Park Police, as the rangers are now called, describe the group as yelling, making loud noises and gesturing at the hunters to distract them. They then refused to obey the officer by ignoring his commands and walking away from him.
Kazemian was additionally charged with making terroristic threats, a crime punishable by three to five years in prison. The complaint says he told the officer and hunters: "I'll get my Arab friends and hunt you down; see how you like it."
He then allegedly pulled away from the officer when told he was under arrest.
The incident was described as a "sting operation" by Lynda Smith, director of the Bear Education and Resource Group, of which the activists are all members.
Smith also said the hunters were taunting Kazemian, who is of Iranian descent, with racial slurs.
The group had encountered the same two hunters on Tuesday after the hunters shot a bear close to where the activists were in the woods, Smith said. The group followed the blood trail — hoping to find the bear only wounded — but instead found it had already been gutted and dragged away.
On Wednesday, Smith said, the hunters returned to the woods in the company of the park ranger.
"They got into it with the same people, and today they came back with a ranger in a ski mask — come on, that's an ambush," Smith said. "There's more to it, but clearly these two hunters had a grudge."
State officials provided little information on the incident beyond what the charges were, saying they did not yet have a detailed report on what happened.
Kazemian, the one defendant charged with an indictable offense, will make a first appearance in Vernon Municipal Court on Tuesday. The case as a whole will then be moved to Superior Court, according to Municipal Court Administrator Donna Zuidema.
Metler, reached at home Wednesday evening, declined to speak about the case, citing the advice of her lawyer. She did say that seven lawyers had already offered to defend the group, but they had not yet decided whom to retain.
As of 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, day three of the hunt, 14 bears had been killed, bringing the tally for the week to 216. Monday's harvest was 136 and 66 bears were killed Tuesday.
During the state's last six-day hunt, in 2003, 328 bears were killed.
I've seen no bear or deer either, unfortunately.
I believe NJ Freeper was up at Hamburg Mountain WMA in Vernon, and didn't see any ALF thugs protesting. Maybe he can confirm.
I'm going to Wawayanda next week for deer, so maybe I'll run into these folks in the woods.
I had done everything right except I underestimated the size of the crowd. Had I know they would be hiking in that far I would have set up another 1/2 mile or so further in and would have gotten him.
Oh well.
"What's witht his hyphenated American crap? Either you are American or your not."
In this case, not.
How incredibly kind.
Or stupid.
One of the two.
Well you had better luck than me because I didn't see a bear or even bear tracks. I went on Tuesday after a fresh blanket of snow had fallen. I saw plenty of deer tracks but no bear tracks. I've seen bears in this part of the woods before often too.
Still too dark, that was one of the protesters no doubt.
Smart.
Next year I might try private land if I can find some otherwise I think I'm going to go to Pensy. Corzine will probably cancel the Bear Hunt anyway, but if I had some private land to hunt I might consider putting in the work.
"I would like to see the Video of them approaching a wounded bear.
Future 'darwin award?""
Future Sundance award if carefully lit and videoed. And the DVD sales to Safari Club and NRA members would amount to a tidy profit.
From your weight estimate, that was not only a protestor, it was a sow protestor.
Let me get this straight...members of a religion which ritually slaughters animals are now...animal rights activists?
I'll believe them when they go to Mecca to protest the ritual slaughter of sheep during the Haj.
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