It was less than a year after September 11, and I was at the Chicago Tribune writing about shootings and murders, and it was leaving me feeling pretty dark and depressed. I had done some activism in college, so I decided to help a local group hang door knockers against animal testing. I thought it would be a safe way to do something positive, but of course I have the absolute worst luck ever, and we were all arrested. Police took this blurry photo of me holding leaflets as evidence.
Pasara menos dun ano do 11-S e estaba no Chicago Tribune escribindo sobre tiroteos e asasinatos o que me poñía un pouco triste e deprimido. Fixera algo de activismo na universidade así que decidín axudar a un grupo local a distribuír panfletos contra a experimentación animal. Pensei que era unha forma segura de facer algo positivo. Pero como teño a peor sorte do mundo arrestáronnos a todos. A policía tiroume esta foto borrosa termando dos panfletos como proba.
My charges were dismissed, but a few weeks later, two FBI agents knocked on my door, and they told me that unless I helped them by spying on protest groups, they would put me on a domestic terrorist list. I'd love to tell you that I didn't flinch, but I was terrified, and when my fear subsided, I became obsessed with finding out how this happened, how animal rights and environmental activists who have never injured anyone could become the FBI's number one domestic terrorism threat.
Os cargos desestimáronse pero unhas semanas despois dous axentes do FBI chamaron á porta e dixéronme que se non lles axudaba a espiar a grupos de protesta, poríanme na lista de terroristas domésticos. Gustaríame dicir que non me amedrentei pero estaba aterrado, e cando o medo sosegou obsesioneime con descubrir como pasara isto, como os dereitos de animais e activistas ambientais que non lle fixeran dano a ninguén se podían converter no número un da lista do FBI da ameaza do terrorismo doméstico.
A few years later, I was invited to testify before Congress about my reporting, and I told lawmakers that, while everybody is talking about going green, some people are risking their lives to defend forests and to stop oil pipelines. They're physically putting their bodies on the line between the whalers' harpoons and the whales. These are everyday people, like these protesters in Italy who spontaneously climbed over barbed wire fences to rescue beagles from animal testing. And these movements have been incredibly effective and popular, so in 1985, their opponents made up a new word, eco-terrorist, to shift how we view them. They just made it up.
Anos despois, invitáronme a testificar perante o Congreso sobre o meu informe. Díxenlles aos lexisladores que mentres todos falan de volverse verdes algúns arriscan as súas vidas para defender os bosques e parar os oleodutos. Basicamente estanse pondo en risco entre os arpóns baleeiros e as baleas. Son persoas correntes, como os manifestantes de Italia que espontaneamente saltaron un valo de arame de espiño para rescatar beagles da experimentación animal. E estes movementos foron moi efectivos e populares. Así que en 1985, os seus opositores crearon un termo novo: "ecoterrorista", para cambiar o xeito como os viamos. Inventárono.
Now these companies have backed new laws like the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, which turns activism into terrorism if it causes a loss of profits. Now most people never even heard about this law, including members of Congress. Less than one percent were in the room when it passed the House. The rest were outside at a new memorial. They were praising Dr. King as his style of activism was branded as terrorism if done in the name of animals or the environment.
Agora estas compañías apoiaron novas leis como a Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, que converte o activismo en terrorismo se causa unha perda de beneficios. A maioría da xente nunca escoitou falar desta lei, incluídos membros do Congreso. Menos do 1% estaban na sala cando se aprobou na Cámara. O resto estaba nun novo memorial. Estaban eloxiando ao Dr. Luther King cando o seu tipo de activismo se catalogaba como terrorismo se se facía en nome dos animais ou do medio ambiente.
Supporters say laws like this are needed for the extremists: the vandals, the arsonists, the radicals. But right now, companies like TransCanada are briefing police in presentations like this one about how to prosecute nonviolent protesters as terrorists. The FBI's training documents on eco-terrorism are not about violence, they're about public relations. Today, in multiple countries, corporations are pushing new laws that make it illegal to photograph animal cruelty on their farms. The latest was in Idaho just two weeks ago, and today we released a lawsuit challenging it as unconstitutional as a threat to journalism.
Os defensores din que estas leis son precisas para os extremistas: vándalos, pirómanos, radicais. Pero agora mesmo empresas como TransCanada están instruíndo á policía en presentacións coma esta sobre como procesar manifestantes non violentos como se fosen terroristas. Os documentos do FBI sobre ecoterrorismo non falan de violencia, falan de relacións públicas. Hoxe en moitos países as empresas están impulsando novas leis que ilegalizan fotografar crueldade animal nas súas granxas. A última foi en Idaho hai dúas semanas e hoxe puxemos unha denuncia que a cuestiona como inconstitucional, como unha ameza ao xornalismo.
The first of these ag-gag prosecutions, as they're called, was a young woman named Amy Meyer, and Amy saw a sick cow being moved by a bulldozer outside of a slaughterhouse as she was on the public street. And Amy did what any of us would: She filmed it. When I found out about her story, I wrote about it, and within 24 hours, it created such an uproar that the prosecutors just dropped all the charges.
O primeiro destes procesos "mordaza", como lles chaman, foi a unha rapaza nova, Amy Meyer. Amy viu que movían unha vaca enferma cunha escavadora fóra dun matadoiro mentres estaba na rúa. Amy fixo o que faría calquera: Gravouno. Cando souben a súa historia escribín sobre ela e ás 24 horas creara tal barullo que retiraron a denuncia.
But apparently, even exposing stuff like that is a threat. Through the Freedom of Information Act, I learned that the counter-terrorism unit has been monitoring my articles and speeches like this one. They even included this nice little write-up of my book. They described it as "compelling and well-written." (Applause) Blurb on the next book, right?
Pero parece que expor cousas coma estas é unha ameza. Grazas á Lei pola Liberdade da Información souben que a unidade de contraterrorismo estivo vixiando os meus artigos e charlas coma estas. Incluso incluíron esta agradable crítica do meu libro. Describírono como "cativador e ben escrito". (Aplausos) Publicidade para o próximo libro, non si?
The point of all of this is to make us afraid, but as a journalist, I have an unwavering faith in the power of education. Our best weapon is sunlight.
O propósito de todo isto é amedrentarnos pero como xornalista teño unha fe firme no poder da educación. A nosa mellor arma é a luz do sol.
Dostoevsky wrote that the whole work of man is to prove he's a man and not a piano key. Over and over throughout history, people in power have used fear to silence the truth and to silence dissent. It's time we strike a new note.
Dostoievski escribiu que todo o traballo dun home é demostrar que é un home e non un teclado de piano. Unha e outra vez ao longo da historia a xente no poder usou o medo para silenciar a verdade e o desacordo. É hora de que marquemos a pauta.
Thank you.
Grazas.
(Applause)