The conspiracy charges against DxE’s Wayne Hsiung marked a troubling shift — and an overreach — by prosecutors in animal rights cases.
Animal rights activist and lawyer Wayne Hsiung was found guilty of felony conspiracy and two misdemeanor charges on Thursday for rescuing ailing animals from factory farms in Sonoma County, California.
Hsiung and fellow activists with the animal liberation group he founded, Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE, have for years engaged in the public removal of sick and injured animals from farming facilities — a tactic known as “open rescue,” since they are publicized. The rescues regularly lead to criminal charges, which for the most part have been dropped or led to acquittals in court. Hsiung’s conviction marks the first time a DxE open rescue case has ended with an activist’s incarceration: He faces up to three years in prison.
“I could be going to jail for organizing others and trying to take sick and injured animals to the vet,” Hsiung said in a video posted on social media the day before his conviction. “That’s all I did.”
Following the guilty verdict, Hsiung was indeed put in jail, where he awaits his November 30 sentencing hearing.
After several trials of dropped charges and not-guilty verdicts for DxE open rescues, Hsiung’s felony charges suggest a shift in tactics by the authorities — and a troubling prosecutorial overreach. Past cases against DxE activists had often involved theft or burglary charges based on allegedly stolen animal property. Hsiung was convicted of felony conspiracy to commit misdemeanor trespass; the punishment for planning to trespass in this case is far heftier than for the trespassing itself.
Cassie King, an organizer with DxE, told The Intercept that, a week before Hsiung’s trial began, the government dropped theft and burglary charges, while pushing forward with felony conspiracy and trespassing.
“The prosecutor was very strategic. I’m sure he’d followed what happened in other cases that led to acquittal.”
“The prosecutor was very strategic,” said King, who has faced charges for open rescues. “I’m sure he’d followed what happened in other cases that led to acquittal.”
Hsiung’s charges stem from DxE mass actions in Sonoma County at two poultry farms: one at Sunrise Farms in 2018, one at Reichardt Duck Farm in 2019. Prior investigations by DxE and other animal welfare organizations had found rampant violations of animal cruelty law at the facilities, prompting the open-rescue plan. At both locations, over 500 activists demonstrated outside, while a smaller number entered the properties to identify and remove dozens of sick and injured animals, which were then brought to a vet.
