O.R.C.

Albert “Ali” Kazemian, of NJ, is a dedicated animal rights activist who works with the group BEAR. Despite two previous convictions (for interfering with black bear hunting and interfering with black bear trapping), he poured urine on the bait of bear live-traps to prevent bears from entering them. A home-owner saw him and the police set up surveillance on the trap. When he returned, he was caught. He was sentenced to the 30 days, but fought for an appeal. Now, the sentence has been confirmed and he has begun to serve his term (see link for address).

Perhaps because he is arabic, he has also been accused at various times of making “terrorist” threats, although obviously the veracity of those accusations is suspect.

New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country, and the slow return of black bear populations has hit it particularly hard. There have been numerous strained human-bear interactions recently, including when a black bear stole a minivan and drove it. There have also been a few bear attacks.

For an interesting discussion of the issue from a gay-bating, homophobic perspective, see the forums on the new jersey hunter webpage.