Young activist jailed
Danae Kelly is back in jail, this time for allegedly making threats during an animal-rights protest
By Kelly Davis
Danae Kelley, the animal-rights activist who two years ago spent two-and-a-half months in jail for refusing to testify before a grand jury, is back in jail, this time for allegedly making threats during an animal-rights protest in La Jolla. Out of roughly 20 protestors, Kelley was the only one arrested, said San Diego Police Department spokesperson Monica Munoz. She's being held at the Las Colinas women's jail in Santee on $50,000 bail.
Munoz couldn't elaborate on what it was that Kelley said, only that she "made threats." Under state law, it's a felony to threaten to kill or injure another person, even if the person who made the threat has no plan to carry it out. If convicted, the 23-year-old could face up to a year in jail. The protest happened in the 8100 block of Prestwick Drive--the same block where billionaire Ernest Rady lives.
"I think we both know Danae would never hurt another human being," said Njeri Sims, a friend of Kelley's, in an e-mail to CityBeat.
The news of Kelley's arrest was posted to the website San Diego Indymedia, though the post said only that she was arrested during "a legal demonstration in San Diego" and that there were concerns about whether Kelley, a vegan, was getting proper food and why her bail was set so high.
Kelley made news in July 2005 when she and David Agranoff, another animal-rights activist, refused to testify to a criminal grand jury about who attended a talk given by environmentalist Rod Coronado in Hillcrest in August 2003. The two were held in contempt of court, jailed for two weeks, released and then jailed again until federal prosecutors gave up on trying to get their testimony. Last year, Coronado was arrested and charged with violating federal law--at the 2003 talk, he picked up a jug of apple juice and briefly mentioned how, during his more radical days, he'd turn similar containers into incendiary devices. Prosecutors argued that someone who saw his talk could make a similar device and use it to commit a crime. Coronado's trial starts next month.
Update: Kelley was released from jail on Wednesday after the District Attorney declined to press charges.
Published: 08/22/2007
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