A St. George police officer caught my attention and asked, “How have we been treating you?” It was a sunny October day in St. George as several of us gathered outside the courthouse. We were there to show support for Paul Darwin Picklesimer and Wayne Hsiung who faced felony charges and ten years in prison for investigating Smithfield’s Circle Four Farms and rescuing two sick piglets, Lily and Lizzie. Their subsequent acquittal represented a victory for freedom of speech over corporate oppression. The jury’s decision, outspoken support of the rescuers, and condemnation of Smithfield exemplifies the thoughtfulness and compassion that I’ve come to learn are characteristic of the people of Utah.
I replied, “You all have been great!” I told him I was a veterinarian who came to watch the trial and support the activists. The officer explained his team recently saw the viral Audit the Audit video titled “HUGE LAWSUIT! These Cops Had NO IDEA What They Were Doing!” The video received 2.7 million views and discussed a recorded interaction between Curtis Vollmar and Officer Warren Woolsey that occurred in June. He said they watched that video to learn, “What not to do.”
Vollmar, an animal rights activist, attended Beaver’s Pioneer Day Celebration to talk with community members and pass out leaflets about the upcoming trial of the pig rescuers. The video shows Woolsey telling him he is “not wanted in this community,” that Smithfield was a major employer and if he stuck around he would “definitely be killed.” The officer’s words shocked me as this was not representative of the usual warmth I had come to expect from Utahns and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Vollmar was charged with trespass and disorderly conduct and was found guilty after a short trial presided over by Shadrach Bradshaw, a retired dairy farmer, not an attorney. While Vollmar is appealing, this verdict signals a bigger problem: How corporations have managed to make us forget the values that hold our country together.
I would be ashamed of my city if any visitor was told they were not wanted, especially by our law enforcement. A thriving democracy depends on the free exchange of ideas, and freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our liberty. These are the same rights church members benefit from when they travel to communities to share their faith. These rights must be protected.
Woolsey told Vollmar, “You don’t realize your group has been a direct influence on shutting down Smithfield Foods. You don’t realize that’s the major employer in our county? There’s a lot of people who lost their jobs and you come into this community, and pour salt into the wounds of people...” Last year, Utah declared a state of emergency when Smithfield made the cost-cutting decision to downsize their operation — a decision that Officer Woolsey credited to the advocacy efforts of Direct Action Everywhere.
The stranglehold Smithfield has on the state of Utah and Beaver County is deeply concerning. One-quarter of Beaver County residents are employed by Smithfield. For a community to be so enmeshed with a foreign company that protecting the corporate image is more important than protecting American values of liberty, freedom and our First Amendment rights, should sound alarm bells.
The anger is palpable, but it’s misdirected. One Beaver resident said in a court filing, “My wife was afraid I was going to hit him. I was so riled up that I had to leave the festivities and go home to calm down.” I sympathize with those who lost their jobs, but Americans are resilient enough to resist occupation by a foreign corporation’s exploitative and destructive business model. It’s time to wean the county from Smithfield’s bloody teet.
The enemy at the gates isn’t someone leafleting about Smithfield. It’s the insidious nature of oppression that seeks to turn us against one another and vanish our freedom in pursuit of power and profit. We must resist the urge to submit to fear and division and protect the inherent dignity that exists within us all. In the words of Frederick Douglass, “liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one’s thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist.”
Crystal Heath
Crystal Heath, DVM, is co-founder of OurHonor.org.