SHAC7 Member Josh Harper Now Home

Josh Harper, one of the SHAC7, was released from prison at the end of June. After a few weeks at a halfway house, Josh is now on his own.

Almost a year ago today I wrote a blog post about the SHAC 7 and, in particular, Josh Harper.

The group ran a Web site that chronicled the work being done to shut down Huntingdon Life Sciences, an animal-testing facility in New Jersey. This group didn't participate in any of the acts; it simply wrote about them after they occurred.

A few of the SHAC7, including Josh, also were alleged to have faxed black paper to HLS to keep their fax machines busy and their toner in use. Not exactly the work of terrorists, yet the U.S. government charged this group under the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992, now the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. Josh was sentenced to three years.

Today, though, is a cause for celebration, as Josh is home.

"I'm feeling amazing," Josh told me via e-mail. "Every day outside of prison is a good one. Seeing the horizon without razor wire still makes me giddy."

Josh has three years of supervised release, one of the conditions being that his computer usage is monitored.

He's the third SHAC7 member to be released. Three remain in prison. (The "seventh" member was the organization itself.)

Correction (7/24/09): According to Josh Harper, he was not accused of "black faxing." He was accused of talking about "black faxing." I'm sorry for the error.

(Josh Harper (left) and three friends celebrate Josh's release from prison. Photo courtesy of Josh.)