photo credit: Noah Abrams/KRCB
Hsiung supporter Zoe Rosenberg expresses
anger after the verdict was handed down.

After six days of deliberation, jurors have found Wayne Hsiung - an animal rights activist, lawyer, and runner up in the 2020 Berkeley mayoral election - guilty for his role in “open rescues” at two poultry facilities in Sonoma County.

After the verdict was read Thursday afternoon, Hsiung was taken into custody without an option for bail.

Hsiung, a co-founder and former member of the animal rights organization Direct Action Everywhere, unsuccessfully represented himself at trial. He was convicted on one count of felony conspiracy, and two counts of misdemeanor trespass for his role in large protests against Sunrise Farms in 2018 and Reichardt Duck Farm in 2019, both outside Petaluma. 

Hsiung described his actions, and those of the hundreds of other activists that took part, as akin to breaking a car window to rescue a child or pet trapped in a car on a hot day. He cited a section of California law, code 597e, as a legal justification to take birds he says were sick and dying for veterinary care.

Jurors disagreed with Hsiung’s defense, but could only reach a verdict on three of four counts against him. The jury failed to break an 11 to 1 deadlock on the second count of felony conspiracy, relating to Hsiung’s role at the 2019 protest at Reichardt Duck Farm, which gained wide attention after Direct Action Everywhere activists locked themselves to the production line.

Prosecutors declined to proceed with the outstanding count. A sentencing hearing for Hsiung has been scheduled for November 30, where he could face over two years in prison for his activism.  

Hsiung’s supporters, many with the group Direct Action Everywhere, expressed shock by Thursday’s verdict, many fighting back tears and wishing Hsiung well as he was taken for processing at Sonoma County's Main Adult Detention Facility.

Dayna Ghiradelli, executive director of the Sonoma County Farm Bureau, said she was “relieved and grateful that the outcome is what it is...and that justice prevailed.”

Cassie King, a co-defendant at the start of trial who had her charges dismissed by prosecutors said, “it feels enraging that this system has so much power that they get to pick and choose prosecuting non-violent people…who are just trying to help animals.”

An unnamed friend and supporter of Hsiung, who said they were able to speak with him after he’d been booked into the county jail, said he remained in good spirits and told everyone to remember “to be kind to one another.”