CHICAGO — Two California men who allegedly released about 2,000 minks from cages were indicted this week for damaging a mink farm.
One defendant, Tyler Lang, 25, was arrested Thursday by FBI agents in El Segundo, Calif. The other defendant, Kevin Johnson, 27, is in state custody in Woodford County, Illinois,.
Both defendants are scheduled to be arraigned to be in federal court in Chicago later this month.
In addition to the release of 2,000 minks, parts of the fencing around the farm were removed allowing the minks to escape from the property in Morris, Illinois, which is about 60 miles southwest of Chicago, was damaged and approximately 2,000 minks
A barn was painted with the words “Liberation is Love,” and a caustic substance was poured or sprayed on two farm vehicles, damaging the paint, federal officials said.
Both men are identified on their own website (www.supportkevinandtyler.com), and the site of a group called the Animal Liberation Front (www.animaliberationfrontline.com), as animal rights activists who were arrested in Illinois last August, the night after the Morris mink farm raid, and charged with possession of burglary tools, according to the Chicago Tribune.
According to accounts on those sites, the Chicago Times reported that police found bolt cutters, wire cutters, acid, ski masks and camouflage clothing in the men’s car. Both ultimately accepted plea deals, with Johnson sentenced to 2-1/2 years, and Lang released in November 2013 after being sentenced to time already served.
According to Tuesday’s indictment, the Morris mink farm and the Roanoke fox farm were in the business of breeding, raising, and selling the animals to fur manufacturers.
Between Aug. 5 and Aug. 15, 2013, Johnson and Lang allegedly conspired to travel throughout the United States, including through Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, for the purpose of damaging mink and fox farms.
On Aug. 14, 2013, they allegedly traveled to Morris where they allegedly caused damage of more than $10,000, according to authorities.