Beaver County Sheriff Cameron Noel told Mid-Utah Radio that they received a report of a break-in at Smithfield Foods near Milford.
The reported break-in happened several months ago, but wasn’t reported until recently due to a video released to the Washington Post by animal rights activist group Direct Action Everywhere.
Direct Action Everywhere posted a video of their members breaking into the barns and taking two piglets.
Sheriff Noel reported that the sheriff’s office contacted the FBI and are working with them in a current investigation and they hope to get some federal indictments for those that broke in to the barns.
Direct Action Everywhere posted a follow up video stating that they were under investigation by the FBI. They also stated that in response they were coming back to Utah to protest Smithfield Foods. The protest took place last weekend at the farm near Milford.
Sheriff Noel stated that the protest didn’t disrupt workflow, but it cost taxpayers a significant amount of money.
“Smithfield was generous enough to allow them to go on a piece of their property and hold their protest. And I had made contact with the organizers of the event and explained to them that they were allowed to protest but if they went on private property or attempt to break in to the barns they would be arrested and charged,” Noel said. “However it did cost taxpayers money for them to do that. We had to get officers from the state of Utah and we had quite a few outside agencies come in and of course our own people that spent most of Saturday and Sunday just in case they decided to commit any violations.”
Sheriff Noel also recommended that individuals look up Direct Action Everywhere and learn more about their leader Wayne Hsiung.
“I suggest that you get on their web page and look up their founder, Wayne Hsiung,” Noel said. “When we get finished with our investigation you’ll find out that a lot of this is driven by money. This particular individual almost reminds me of a cult leader.”
Noel said the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office is continuing to work with the FBI and he doesn’t have a timeline on when the investigation will wrap up.
