Salt Lake City, Utah, October 13, 2011

I’m here today because of the arsons I committed at The Tandy Leather Factory in Salt Lake City, and the Tiburon Restaurant in Sandy, Utah which sells the incredibly cruel product foie gras. The US Attorney wants to give me the maximum sentence and beyond, not because of my ‘crimes,’ but because I am unrepentant and outspoken. My intuition tells me that this court is not going to show me mercy because I became ‘suddenly sorry.’ So instead of lying to the court in a feeble attempt to save myself, as I’m certain many do when they face their sentencing day, allow me to tell you what I am sorry for.

I am sorry that when I was 19 years old I built two slaughterhouses that are still killing Animals, even now as I speak. I am sorry that Tandy Leather sells skin that has been ripped from the dead, and often live bodies of such Animals as cows, ostriches, rabbits, snakes and pigs. I am sorry that the leather tanneries that supply Tandy Factory, poison the earth with dangerous chemicals. I am sorry that the restaurant Tiburon profits from the force feeding of geese and ducks until their livers explode, so that rich people can then use that as a paté for crackers and bread. I am sorry that they make a living from the dead bodies of wild and exotic Animals. I am sorry that we live in a day and age where you can rape a child or beat a woman unconscious and receive less prison time than an Animal Rights activist that attacked property instead of people. I am sorry that my brother was so desperate to get out of debt that he flew from Iowa to Colorado just to get me in a taped and monitored conversation for reward money. I am sorry that I am biologically related to such a worthless little snitch! I am sorry that I waited so long to become an Animal Liberation Front operative. For all of these things, I will always have some regret. But as far as the arsons at the Leather Factory and Tiburon go, I have no remorse.

I realize that the laws of the land favor a business’ ability to make a profit over an Animal’s right to life. It also used to favor a white business owner’s ability to profit from a black person’s slavery. It also used to favor a husband’s ability to viciously attack his wife and act on her as if she were an object. Those who broke the law and damaged property to stand against these oppressions were also called ‘terrorists’ and ‘fanatics’ in their time. But that did not change the fact that society progressed and is still progressing along those lines. So today I’m the bad guy. That is just a matter of historical coincidence. Who knows… perhaps a less brutal and less violent society will one day exist that will understand that life and earth are more important than products of death and cruelty. And if not, then to hell with it all anyway! Whether my supporters or detractors think I’m a freedom fighter or a lunatic with a gas can makes no difference to me. I have spent years verifiably promoting, supporting and fighting for Animal Liberation. I have seen the Animal victims of human injustice — thousands of them — with my own eyes and what I saw was blood, guts and gore. I made a promise to those Animals, and to myself, to fight for them in any way I could. I regret none of it, and I never will! You can take my freedom, but you can’t have my submission.

Walter Bond
A.L.F. – P.O.W.
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