A London court has ruled that U.S. animal rights activist Daniel San Diego can be extradited to the United States to face charges over bombings connected to animal testing more than
20 years ago.
San Diego, 47, a U.S. citizen, is accused of involvement in two 2003 attacks in California claimed by the Revolutionary Cells of the Animal Liberation Brigade. Fortunately, no one was injured in either incident.
Authorities say the first bombing targeted biotechnology company Chiron Inc. near Oakland in August 2003. Responding officers discovered a second bomb that may have been aimed at first responders. A month later, a nail bomb exploded outside nutritional products firm Shaklee, also claimed by the Animal Liberation Brigade.
Lawyers for U.S. authorities noted that both companies had ties to British firm Huntingdon Life Sciences, which has long been the target of both legal and illegal protests over animal testing.
San Diego was apprehended in Wales in November 2024. He had been on the FBI’s most-wanted terrorist list since 2009, making him the first domestic terrorist to appear alongside figures such as the late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Defense lawyers argued that extradition would prevent San Diego from receiving a fair trial, citing alleged political influence over the U.S. Department of Justice during the Trump administration. However, Judge Samuel Goozee rejected these claims, stating there was “no evidence of any improper political involvement in (San Diego’s) case or any evidence of any presidential interference… now or in the future.”
The case now clears the path for San Diego to face trial in the United States, bringing renewed attention to a series of decades-old attacks tied to the animal rights movement. Photo by User:Coolcaesar, Wikimedia commons.