Breaking news and publications from Direct Action Everywhere.
Media inquiry? Please email press@dxe.io.
TOP PRESS
October 9, 2024
The Intercept
Videos shared with The Intercept prior to the report’s public release show, among other scenes, lambs with their throats slit hanging upside down and thrashing on the slaughter line; one animal with an internal organ that has been torn inside-out and left dangling behind it as it heads to slaughter; injured lambs being led to slaughter; workers laughing, spanking animals, and engaging in simulated sex acts with nearby machinery as lambs are having their throats slit; and the apparent use of so-called Judas sheep — adult sheep kept alive at the facility and used to lead the young sheep to slaughter.
TOP PRESS
October 9, 2024
The Intercept
PRESS
December 20, 2023
TruthDig
For the 1,000-plus lives I’ve saved, I’ve mostly received praise from the general public and from public officials. As a result of my rescue work, I was invited to deliver a TED talk when I was 15. But in Sonoma County, I’m being called a terrorist for saving criminally abused chickens and ducks from suffering and painful death. What are we supposed to do, as concerned members of the public, when law enforcement fails to help animals in need of aid?
PRESS
December 20, 2023
Press Democrat
Blaming those who expose flaws is a disservice to public health. Let’s redirect focus toward transparency and advocating for humane and health-conscious farming practices.
PRESS
December 16, 2023
New Yorker
The enduring challenge for any activist is both to dream of almost-unimaginable justice and to make the case to nonbelievers that your dreams are practical. The problem is particularly acute in animal-rights activism.
PRESS
December 15, 2023
Press Democrat
All animals are thinking sentient beings and deserve a natural life. Animal agriculture pollutes land and water. It is a significant contributor to climate change. And it's really bad for the hapless slaughtered animals.
PRESS
December 13, 2023
One Green Planet
The sentencing also includes a prohibition on any form of contact with his co-conspirators, a list that includes close friends and co-defendants in an upcoming trial related to a beagle rescue.
PRESS
December 13, 2023
One Green Planet
PRESS
December 8, 2023
Food Safety News
[Hsiung's] law license is not necessarily at risk, and his conviction and sentence appeal are an opportunity to argue that people can enter the property and remove exploited or distressed animals.
PRESS
December 8, 2023
Food Safety News
PRESS
December 4, 2023
Unchained TV
[Arrestee Zoe] Rosenberg has since publicly declared, “I want the world to know that I am not afraid, because nothing the legal system can do to me, including depriving me of a (medical) device I rely on to survive, will ever compare to the atrocities that take place every day…” in the animal factories she investigates.
PRESS
December 4, 2023
Unchained TV
BLOG
December 2, 2023
BLOG
December 2, 2023
Whether I lose my freedom for days, weeks, months, or even years, it is worth it to give even one or two animals a chance to experience freedom for the first time in their entire lives.
PRESS
December 1, 2023
KTSF26
The defendant's father, Xiong Hansheng, said: "I think it's unfair, he didn't commit a crime, he just wanted to protect animals, so I'm a little disappointed, but I also feel that I hope Wayne's behavior can make many animals more protected."
PRESS
December 1, 2023
KTSF26
TOP PRESS
October 10, 2024
Vox
In principle, there’s a lot of sense in capping the size of factory farms. Measure J’s proponents are betting that progressive Sonoma County, better known for its tasting rooms than its slaughterhouses, can push California — and the nation — in that direction.
TOP PRESS
October 9, 2024
The Intercept
Videos shared with The Intercept prior to the report’s public release show, among other scenes, lambs with their throats slit hanging upside down and thrashing on the slaughter line; one animal with an internal organ that has been torn inside-out and left dangling behind it as it heads to slaughter; injured lambs being led to slaughter; workers laughing, spanking animals, and engaging in simulated sex acts with nearby machinery as lambs are having their throats slit; and the apparent use of so-called Judas sheep — adult sheep kept alive at the facility and used to lead the young sheep to slaughter.
TOP PRESS
August 30, 2024
San Francisco Chronicle
In dimly lit indoor aisles at Weber Family Farms in Petaluma, hundreds of thousands of white chickens live out their 90 weeks of life. They fly from perch to perch. They dust bathe in the bedding. They nip at water dispensers. They lay egg after egg. And they never leave. These barns are at the heart of a bitter fight that Mike Weber and Samantha Faye are waging for the future of local farming.
TOP PRESS
April 4, 2024
Los Angeles Times
Lewis Bernier, an animal rights activist supporting the initiative, said he has visited several factory farms across the country, documenting inhumane treatment, and one farm in Sonoma County stands out as having “the worst and most systemic animal cruelty that I’ve ever seen.”
TOP PRESS
March 15, 2024
The New Yorker
Instead of planning actions, many activists now spend their time litigating microaggressions and small disputes within their ranks... As a response, [DxE co-founder Wayne] Hsiung has tried to promote a maxim of "braver spaces, not safer spaces," which encourages the animal rights community to put aside their individual concerns, if possible, and do things like risk felony jail time for the cause.
TOP PRESS
January 30, 2024
The Guardian
If successful in Berkeley, a liberal San Francisco Bay Area town that’s often been at the forefront of US environmental policy, the method can be replicated elsewhere, [activists] say. “We can pave the path to abolishing factory farming,” said Cassie King, an organizer with Direct Action Everywhere, one of the groups that pushed for the measure.
TOP PRESS
November 9, 2023
Vox
Hsiung’s trial and conviction show the extraordinary difficulty of trying to discuss what happens to animals on factory farms in a legal system that only sees them as property. At both factory farms in this case, DxE had documented gruesome conditions prior to their open rescue actions and had submitted animal cruelty complaints to authorities (though no action was taken by legal officials, King said). Yet it was the activists, not the farm owners, who were criminally charged and had to explain themselves to a jury.
TOP PRESS
November 8, 2023
Wired
For the first time, guerrilla animal rights group Direct Action Everywhere reveals a guide to its investigative tactics and toolkit, from spy cams to night vision and drones. Bernier says that DxE decided to publicly release its guide, even in the wake of Hsiung’s conviction, to help activists who are already committed to carrying out covert investigations do their work more safely and effectively.
TOP PRESS
November 4, 2023
The Intercept
Hsiung’s defense was in many ways stymied from the jump. The judge barred almost all photo and video evidence of animal cruelty from the trial, as has been the case in a number of previous DxE trials. As I’ve previously noted, the decision to disallow such evidence is usually made to benefit a defendant — not showing gruesome images of a murder victim, for example. Such logic has been flipped in DxE cases, including Hsiung’s most recent, to the benefit of powerful agribusiness.
BLOG
May 1, 2023
I have seen firsthand the trauma these programs inflict on children and the violence they inflict on animals. It’s time we reform 4-H and FFA to no longer include programs where kids raise animals to die.
BLOG
March 23, 2023
We have the momentum and we cannot stop now. 2023 will bring more open rescues, more bold actions, and more trials. As we tear down the industry, we lift up animals. We show the world the violence that must be left in the past, and the beauty the future can hold.
BLOG
February 1, 2023
Utah legislators with ties to the Farm Bureau released House Bill 114, “Theft Defense Amendments,” in direct response to the outcome of the Smithfield Trial.
BLOG
January 28, 2023
In the first-ever Bay Area Direct Action Skill Share (B.A.D.A.S.S.), starting March 25, a cross-movement cohort of 100 activists will unite in Oakland for 5 days of intensive direct action training.
BLOG
January 13, 2023
DxE Korea is unstoppable; disrupting the NBA playoffs gets people talking (and not just about sports); and a landmark verdict for the Right to Rescue
BLOG
January 11, 2023
Keeping sanctuary animals safe; activists who saved chickens demand a date with the justice system; and Charlie, a piglet whose story touched thousands
BLOG
January 10, 2023
Read how Dora saved herself, how "No More Factory Farms" was introduced as legislation in California, and why two brand-new activists decided to get loud for animal rights
BLOG
December 13, 2022
The feeling of hearing those words “not guilty” after five long years of the uncertainty and judicial bureaucracy was indescribable. But mostly I felt proud. Proud of the jury, our legal team, and Direct Action Everywhere.
BLOG
December 6, 2022
Preliminary hearings finally happened for Rachel and Jon. The prosecution argued that they were "co-conspirators" in the 2018 and 2019 rescues at Sonoma County factory farms. Judge Urioste agreed to send the case to trial on felony charges.
PRESS RELEASE
October 1, 2020
Arrestees include photographers and videographers, as well as activists who chained themselves to the building
PRESS RELEASE
August 25, 2020
PRESS RELEASE
August 7, 2020
Smithfield faces nuisance lawsuit judgements totaling hundreds of millions for waste pollution sprayed disproportionately on communities of color
PRESS RELEASE
July 14, 2020
Rotting pig carcasses are seen being fed on by wild animals after workers cut infected flesh out of carcasses before selling them for human consumption
PRESS RELEASE
July 3, 2020
Activists say proposal for partial divestment doesn’t go far enough
PRESS RELEASE
June 23, 2020
Factory farm investigator alleges improper connections between Smithfield Inc. and Utah Attorney General
PRESS RELEASE
June 5, 2020
Twelve activists now face charges, including felonies, as campaign seeks industry-wide ban
PRESS RELEASE
April 15, 2020
Protesters of Smithfield slaughterhouses and vendors say it undermines the well-being of employees, animals, whistleblowers and the public
PRESS RELEASE
March 5, 2020
Organizers now planning major demonstrations with 1000+ #LetDairyDie activists, calling on supporters nationwide to join
