ABC-7 News
Pamphlet threatens UCSC researchers
By Lisa Amin
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local&id=6298111

SANTA CRUZ, CA (KGO) -- There are some people in Santa Cruz very
nervous over a pamphlet that contains a lot of personal information
about them. Police are looking for whoever left pamphlets listing the
names and addresses of U.C.S.C. researchers at a cafe.

The crudely-constructed pamphlet titled "Murderers and Torturers Alive
and Well in Santa Cruz" warns "We know where you live. We know where
you work. We will never back down."

A customer at a café brought the pamphlet to police. It was the title
that caught his attention, but once he opened it, he found what could
be considered a hit list.

In between all of the advertisements and coupons that cover a wall at
Caffe Pergolesi were 12 small booklets, available for anyone to take.
They show personal information about a dozen area medical researchers
and scientists.

"The language that was used in this brochure is very threatening,"
said Zach Friend, from the Santa Cruz Police Department spokesperson.

Each page had the researchers' picture, home address, and telephone
number. The booklet's back cover made it clear. Whoever is responsible
for compiling this list will not stop until the abuse of animals ends.

"We don't know if these addresses are even accurate. Any individuals,
any local community member can be living in these homes, not even
necessarily an animal researcher, so for us, they could be targeting
absolutely the wrong people," Friend.

Santa Cruz Police, county officials, and the FBI are warning everyone
on the list. Half are researchers at U.C. Santa Cruz, including, one
who was terrorized back in February. The U.C.S.C. cancer researcher
who works with mice was attacked at her home. No one has been arrested
and detectives don't know if the same people are responsible for both
incidents.

"A threat like this is kind of scary, Santa Cruz is pretty nice area
so it's surprising someone would make a threat on other people's
lives," said Michelle Brackett, a Scotts Valley resident.

At Caffe Pergolesi, those who come here daily never noticed the
pamphlets. Police have no idea how long they'd been sitting on this
shelf, but the fact that they even exist, isn't necessarily hard for
some regulars to believe.

"I've heard a lot of stories about people in Santa Cruz who have
strong beliefs about things like this, about animal rights, vegetarian
movements and stuff like that. So it doesn't surprise me that much,"
said Coady Barnum, a Santa Cruz resident.

No groups have taken responsibility for this, but I'm told the FBI is
watching a few local groups very closely.

-------------------------------------------

San Jose Mercury News
Cops and Courts
Santa Cruz: New details in animal rights case
July 30, 2008
http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_10039570

Santa Cruz police on Tuesday released an update in the investigation
into an animal rights protest that occurred at the home of a UC Santa
Cruz biomedical researcher in February.

Investigators from the FBI and the police department determined that a
laptop hard drive that was confiscated from a Riverside Avenue house
had been wiped clean at least five times before police took it during
a search of a Riverside Avenue house the night of the protest,
according to police spokesman Zach Friend.

Friend said erasing the hard drive is not illegal, but the action
creates suspicion.

"If the individual was seeking to be honest and transparent, this
wasn't the way to do it," Friend said. "While it isn't a crime to wipe
your hard drive per se, it does create a perception that someone's
trying to conceal something."

The Feb. 24 demonstration became violent when the five protestors
tried to force their way into the researcher's home and struck her
husband on the arm, police have said. The husband chased the group off
the porch and hit one of them as they dispersed. Police searched the
Riverside house, which was home to five people, including some UCSC
students, that evening.

No arrests have been made.

Yeah it is a crime to wipe your hard drive if you distribute slander and try to cover it up. Someone did get hurt, and if it's due to the publication, a lovely obstruction of justice and criminal negligence charge could be slapped on him/her. Probably even more charges.