Pixiq

The two charges listed, on bgwillia's link, is criminal mischief and trespass. Both are ONLY misdemeanors.

My question is how did these misdemeanors rise to the point where an off duty officer, out of county (not his jurisdicition), felt he needed to chase this guy down and draw his gun!

What was his reasoning for this level of use of force?

"Arnold Christopher Lagergren, an animal rights activist..."

The ALF is number one on the FBI's Domestic Terrorist Threat list.

"But then again, the FBI is saying he is a member of a terrorist organization; the Animal Liberation Front, which releases captive animals from farms and laboratories."

The ALF have firebombed houses on the left coast. Including the wrong address of a 70 year old woman and a house with women and children in it. They had to escape via a second story fire ladder in the middle of the night. I believe one child was 2 yrs old.

The amount of bail aside, was the guy trespassing on private property where he been told not to go previously? It appears that's the case, and if it is, the fact that he was taking photos of an activity in public view isn't really relevant in terms of his being arrested. Or did I miss something?

Agree with hhamlet; if this guy IS ALF, and if they're anything like the way the ALF operate in the UK, they're terrorists pure and simple. In the UK they've letter bombed, firebombed, beaten, car bombed, stolen and ransomed the corpse (!) of the grandmother of the owner of a farm they disapproved of, and committed numerous other acts of seriously nasty harassment and hate.

Of particular note to us here, on one occasion they kidnapped and branded, by way of punishment, a journalist who had filmed them undercover, then produced an unflattering expose about their activities.

Zero sympathy here. If the guy is ALF, he should be looking at a long jail term for membership of a proscribed organization. Trespass be damned; that's just a holding charge. They'll only let him make bail if they can't find anything more serious to make stick. In the case of terrorists, I have no problem with that.

Mike

Mr Miller's account of what really happened is full of holes and mis-statements. He states that Lagergren's twitter account has a website attached to it that hasn't been updated in two years, it, in fact, was updated in July 2011 for a protest at the Miami Seaquarium. Also, as a frequent volunteer for the Marine Mammal Conservancy, I know for a fact that Mr. Lagergren has been warned to stay off of the MMC property many times. Mr. Miller says that Lagergren was only taking pictures but that is also untrue. He was seen opening the fence in the water that houses one of the whales that was being held at the MMC site in Key Largo. If he was indeed trying to release this whale known as 300, he was surely not helping that whale. She is unreleasable because she cannot dive to the depths needed to hunt food due to scarred lungs from pneumonia. She does not have the lung capacity to do that and to release her would only cause her death at the hands of either predators like sharks or starvation, both very horrible deaths. She has scoliosis in her tail and is currently at Sea World undergoing rehabilitation for that affliction. She would never be able to out-swim her natural predators. If he is a member of the ALF, and I believe he is, then he likely has no respect for the laws of this nation and will possibly do whatever it takes to achieve his agenda. The slogan on his website states that by saying... "Activism through Action!" The ALF will KILL HUMANS TO FURTHER THEIR CAUSE! They don't care about you or I, or our families as witnessed by the statement made by the ALF spokesman, Dr. Jerry Vlasak “…if you had to hurt somebody or intimidate them or kill them, it would be morally justifiable.” It has been estimated that the ALF has committed more than 700 criminal acts and more than $100 million in damage. Rodney Coronado, the founder of ALF says “When you use violence, you’ve got to expect violence in return” but yet the ALF mission describes themselves as a non-violent organization. Robin Webb, the Press Officer for the ALF has gone so far as to say that even children are “justifiable targets for protest.” This group is considered an Eco-Terrorist group by the FBI and the ATF. Law enforcement officials say that groups like the ALF and the ELF (Earth Liberation Organization) now pose one of the most serious threats in the nation. (http://articles.cnn.com/2005-0519/us/domestic.terrorism_1_animal-rights-...) Animal and environmental rights extremists have claimed responsibility to more than 1,200 criminal incidents since 1990. ATF officials currently have more than 55 open investigations into the ALF and the ELF related to violent acts. So the bottom line is I don’t feel sorry for Lagergren or his current criminal woes. Let a jury of his peers decide if he’s guilty or not. As far as Sgt. Ortiz’s use of a gun, again, I say, that is up to his superiors to decide whether it was justifiable or not. I do know one thing, Lagergren was NOT just “taking pictures” as stated by Mr. Miller.

Mr Baroot- Thank You for your response, but I must disagree with you on a few points.
#!
The ALF has taken credit for the June 2006 Molotov cocktail placement, on the doorstep of a 70 year old woman in Bel-Air, California. The explosive device was actually intended for a UCLA primate researcher, Lynn Fairbanks but was mistakenly placed on her neighbor’s door instead. I’m pretty sure that constitutes violence and the potential for the loss of life. ALF spokesman, Dr. Jerry Vlasak said in regard to the attack, “Force is a poor second choice, but if that’s the only thing that will work…there’s certainly moral justification for that.”

#2
On August 2nd, 2008 at 5:30am, a firebomb erupted in the townhouse of assistant biology professor David Feldham. Trapped in the house was his wife, his 7 year old son, 6 year old daughter and the professor. They had to use a drop ladder from the second story bedroom to escape. The ALF has taken credit for this as well. An entire family could’ve been killed-again, I believe this is also a violent act meant to harm HUMANS! Let’s take another comment from the ALF spokesman, Dr. Vlasak, “…if you had to hurt somebody or intimidate them or kill them. It would be morally justifiable.” He goes on to say, “It won’t hurt our movement if someone gets killed in an animal rights action. It’s going to happen sooner or later.” Also in response to the Feldman firebombing he said, “The inconvenience and the suffering of any children or any family members pales in comparison to the suffering and oppression that goes on in these animal laboratories.” Again, Mr Baroot, this does NOT sound like an organization who is trying to avoid human casualities as you say. These are just two of many acts of violence on researchers and their families. I could list many more. The ALF is also responsible for violent attacks on humans in Italy and Mexico as well, all in the name of helping animals. It is only by pure luck that no one has been killed yet and I do mean yet! Terroristic acts are NOT the answer to the problem. And by the way, what exactly do the members of these animal rights group plan on doing with all of these animals they want to SET FREE? Where are we going to put all of the current animals in captivity? Release them to what will be an assured death? Let the mice and rats run rampant in the street? Release the primates back to the wild to just die of starvation? Where will the chickens and cows go? Who will pay to feed all these animals now that they are FREE? I am an animal lover and I donate my time to many different animal organizations to try and be part of the solution not just go off, half-cocked causing damage and destruction at all cost. I don’t agree with a lot of the things that happen to animals but I do know that releasing animals will nilly without regard for what will happen to them is ludicrous and non-sensical. That is NOT the answer and I don’t have the answer either, I wish I did. Fire-bombing researchers homes and endangering the lives of innocent people is truly not the answer either.

#3
And, finally, Mr. Lagergren did NOT commit his acts in the middle of the day or in front of any onlookers. It was in the middle of the night when he began to dismantle the fence, entering the water from the adjacent property and allegedly trespassing on MMC property. It was only by chance that he was spotted. Sounds a little “underground” to me. And it was the FBI who has labeled him a member of the ALF, not me. And he likely is an idiot as he constantly gets caught doing things like this by members of MMC. So maybe he’s just not a very good “underground” warrior for the ALF.