Biography
Kevin Kjonaas is an animal rights activist imprisoned as part of the SHAC 7, animal rights activists of the organization Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA (SHAC USA) who were convicted on March 2, 2006, under the controversial Federal Animal Enterprise Protection Act. The charges stem from these activists’ alleged participation in an international campaign to close the notorious animal product testing lab Huntingdon Life Sciences. Huntingdon Life Sciences was notorious for its abuses against animals, getting fined $50,000 by the Department of Agriculture in 1998. It kills around 75,000 animals every year. Kevin started his six year sentence on November 16, 2006 and
Kevin Kjonaas (also known as Kevin Jonas) is an American animal rights activist and former president of SHAC USA. He was a central figure in the SHAC 7 prosecution — a landmark federal case in which activists were charged under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act for conspiracy, interstate stalking, and related offenses stemming from their campaign against Huntingdon Life Sciences. In 2006, a federal jury convicted Kjonaas and his co-defendants. He received one of the longer prison sentences in the group — approximately 72 months — and was also ordered to pay restitution as part of the judgement. Kjonaas’s case has been widely referenced in discussions about the criminalisation of dissent and the reach of terrorism-related laws against animal rights activists.
