Utah Judge Convicts Vegan Activist Curtis Vollmar in Free Speech Case
Vegan activist Curtis Vollmar was found guilty of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct after leafleting at a park in Utah.
Los Angeles, April 28th, 2023 — Beaver County Judge Shadrach Bradshaw found Curtis Vollmar, a vegan activist from the animal rights organization Direct Action Everywhere (DxE), guilty of criminal trespass and disorderly conduct after he was confronted by police while leafleting about Smithfield Foods, at a park in Utah. In a trial without a jury that barely lasted two hours on the morning of April 25, 2023, Judge Bradshaw fined Vollmar $850.
Vollmar Plans to Appeal
This will not be the end of this saga. Vollmar has vowed to appeal, saying “I feel that this company has a lot of power over this town,” referring to Smithfield Foods, which until layoffs in 2022 employed one of every four workers in the county, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. So, there will likely be another trial before a different judge as Vollmar is filing a de novo appeal.
What Happened to Free Speech in America?
UnchainedTV closely followed the case and unpacked the verdict with expert panelists who expressed shock and alarm over the implications for first amendment rights and overall free speech in America. Hosted by UnchainedTV’s Jane Velez-Mitchell, the panel was composed of Wayne Hsiung, attorney and co-founder of DxE, Nathan Semmel, a defense attorney and former Manhattan Assistant DA, Carla Cabral, DxE activist, Mick Davoudian, philanthropist for animal liberation, Ellen Dent from Animal Alliance Network, and defendant Curtis Vollmar himself, and others who joined later. You can watch the fascinating conversation here:
What Did Curtis Vollmar Do?
Curtis Vollmar is a community organizer with the animal rights group DxE who has sometimes volunteered as a reporter for UnchainedTV. According to an article he wrote about the incident, it was on July 24, 2022 that he joined several other activists at a public park maintained by Beaver City, Utah. Local citizens were observing Pioneer Day. Curtis, and his colleagues, were there to peacefully leaflet, gather petition signatures and engage in conversation with residents. They talked about the cruel practices of Smithfield Foods, and the criminal trial involving the rescue of two sick piglets from Smithfield’s massive Utah pig factory farm. That trial ultimately ended up in not guilty verdicts for both of the accused. As he leafleted, Vollmar says he was met with hostility from Beaver County law enforcement officials who cited him for disorderly conduct, despite ample evidence that he was having constitutionally protected conversations with the public.
Cop ‘Caught on Tape’ Goes Viral
According to Vollmar, the law enforcement officers repeatedly interrupted his outreach efforts and even went as far as to tell passersby “don’t talk with these people” and that “these are the people that are trying to shut down Smithfield.” One officer, in particular, made it clear that it was the content of Vollmar’s speech that he didn’t like. Vollmar recorded the entire incident and submitted the video to the popular police accountability YouTube channel “Audit the Audit.” That video has gone viral, garnering 2.7 million views, with many calling for the officers involved to be stripped of their badges. On August 2, several individuals and members of animal rights groups initiated a civil lawsuit against Beaver County’s officials over the incident. Vollmar believes his criminal prosecution is an attempt by the Beaver county establishment to weaken the civil lawsuit against Beaver officials.
“For the Utah District Attorney to believe that this was a fair prosecution is beyond absurd. There’s video evidence of Curtis doing nothing more than exercising his First Amendment right.” — Nathan Semmel, defense attorney
What Happened in Court?
On the day of the trial, the prosecution began by presenting a lease agreement between a church organization, which owns the park property where the leafleting occurred, and the city of Beaver, which rents the property nearly every day of the year. They argued that, during the Pioneer Day Festival when the outreach occurred, the Church was using the property for a private event.
However, Vollmar’s attorney, Mary Corporon, pointed out that the city paid for services such as parking and trash during the event. She also argued there was no evidence presented by the prosecution of any disorderly conduct. Nonetheless, the judge convicted Curtis on both charges and Curtis was fined $850.
Curtis said this about the verdict: “I was not shocked. It’s definitely something that we were expecting and we realized that there was a high likelihood of that happening. I will admit, I was a little bit disappointed. I am going to come back to Beaver again. The silver lining in all of this is that the story is going to continue. Seems like a never-ending thing here with our organization and then Utah, and Beaver County specifically. So, basically this whole thing is going to be done all over again.”
Wayne Hsiung, who is an attorney who taught constitutional law, made this comment about the verdict: “This was quite possibly the most absurd verdict I’ve ever seen in my life… Let’s just be clear. Curtis was convicted of disorderly conduct despite the fact that, today in evidence, the only things we heard in testimony were words like, he was friendly, he was polite.”
We invite any of the officers, the church members. Smithfield representatives or anyone connected in any way with this story on to discuss the case and comment.
“The industry, and the powers that be in Beaver County, perceived Curtis Vollmar’s mere speech, his mere belief system, as a threat.” — Wayne Hsiung, co-founder of DxE
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