Breaking news and publications from Direct Action Everywhere.
Media inquiry? Please email press@dxe.io.
TOP PRESS
October 24, 2025
The Guardian
I asked Rosenberg what outcome she was hoping for. “My ideal outcome is honestly just whatever is best for the animals,” she said. “An acquittal wouldn’t set an actual legal precedent, but it would set a social precedent, to some extent, and send an important message.”
TOP PRESS
October 24, 2025
The Guardian
TOP PRESS
November 4, 2023
The Intercept
Hsiung’s defense was in many ways stymied from the jump. The judge barred almost all photo and video evidence of animal cruelty from the trial, as has been the case in a number of previous DxE trials. As I’ve previously noted, the decision to disallow such evidence is usually made to benefit a defendant — not showing gruesome images of a murder victim, for example. Such logic has been flipped in DxE cases, including Hsiung’s most recent, to the benefit of powerful agribusiness.
TOP PRESS
November 4, 2023
The Intercept
PRESS
November 3, 2023
Sentient Media
On top of the gag order, Passaglia consistently barred the defendants from introducing what could have been damning evidence — specifically the name and symptoms of a deadly disease spreading on the duck farm, and much of their footage capturing conditions where animals are housed.
PRESS
November 3, 2023
Sentient Media
PRESS
November 3, 2023
Davis Vanguard
DxE said Hsiung “plans to appeal the conviction in Sonoma based on several rulings by Judge Laura Passaglia that constitute prejudicial and reversible error, including the exclusion of almost all photo and video evidence showing animal cruelty at the factory farms where the rescues occurred.”
PRESS
November 3, 2023
Davis Vanguard
PRESS
November 2, 2023
Northern California Public Media
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.
PRESS
November 2, 2023
Northern California Public Media
PRESS
November 2, 2023
Press Democrat
The group, Direct Action Everywhere, has been investigating animal cruelty at the two farms where protests occurred while the trial went on, organizer Zoe Rosenberg told reporters. They sought to file what they said is evidence they have gathered with DA Carla Rodriguez, who, according to Rosenberg, had indicated to the group that she would consider an investigation of their claims after the trial concluded.
PRESS
November 2, 2023
Press Democrat
PRESS
October 27, 2023
KRON4 News
On Saturday afternoon, animal rights advocates with Direct Action Everywhere and Stop Bloodsports will gather outside the Golden Gate Fields for a demonstration calling out the horseracing industry and memorializing horses who died at the track this fall.
PRESS
October 26, 2023
Northern California Public Media
On Wednesday, jurors asked two questions seeking legal clarifications related to the case, but a verdict was not reached. The defendant's committed group of supporters, mostly associated with the group Direct Action Everywhere, were once again camped out in front of the court, holding signs and standing in wait for the trial’s outcome.
PRESS
October 26, 2023
Northern California Public Media
PRESS
October 25, 2023
Davis Vanguard
Hsiung was indeed transparent in his closing, telling the jury, “We did what we did because 11 days before the rescue effort at Sunrise, I saw this bird, half blind, unable to move away, unable to even jump up two feet to reach food and water and I left her to die. When I left her to die, that broke my heart.”
PRESS
October 25, 2023
Davis Vanguard
PRESS
October 24, 2023
Press Democrat
Hsiung emphasized his intent to help struggling animals in the 2018 demonstration. But he denied involvement in the second one in 2019.
PRESS
October 24, 2023
Press Democrat
TOP PRESS
October 25, 2022
Vox
The pigs’ essentially zero value is baked into the meat industry’s business model... 15 percent of piglets die before they’re finished weaning. The pork industry may slaughter over 125 million pigs a year, but they breed far more, knowing many will die from disease and injury.
TOP PRESS
October 18, 2022
New York Times
During the closing statements in the trial, in which I represented myself, I told jurors that a not-guilty verdict would encourage corporations to treat animals under their care with more compassion and make governments more open to animal cruelty complaints.
TOP PRESS
October 11, 2022
Democracy Now!
In a major victory for animal rights, a jury in Utah has acquitted two animal rights activists who each faced up to five and a half years of prison time for rescuing two sick piglets from Smithfield’s Circle Four Farms, one of the world’s largest pig farms.
TOP PRESS
October 8, 2022
The Intercept
“Whenever I think about the condition Lily was in and the desperation we felt when we saw her there, struggling and so small and so sick, a little baby in such a horrible, awful, brutal place,” Hsiung said in a video posted to Instagram, “we just wanted to get her out.” Animal rescue “is not the worst part of us as human beings. It’s the best of us.”
TOP PRESS
October 8, 2022
New York Times
Many animal welfare advocates viewed the trial as a display of corporate power, and a test of whether the meat industry can legally prevent the public from seeing the sometimes unsavory aspects of modern mass food production.
TOP PRESS
October 3, 2022
Fox 13 Salt Lake City
“They did a nonviolent action, and they saved the lives of two piglets who would have been discarded by the industry anyway.”
TOP PRESS
September 19, 2022
Harper's Magazine
Most readers care about humans, not pigs. What gets us going is a compelling main character facing many years in prison, not several million pigs spending a lifetime in circumstances that make prison look comparatively relaxing.
TOP PRESS
April 28, 2022
New York Magazine
Protests are often unpopular, but as this article shows, in the end, they tend to be right.
TOP PRESS
April 14, 2022
The Intercept
DxE documented video footage of the depopulation at Rembrandt Enterprises, demonstrating the brutal reality of VSD and the true toll of our broken "food" system.
BLOG
October 27, 2025
Updates and summaries from Week 7 of the Perdue Rescue Trial
BLOG
October 20, 2025
Updates and summaries from Week 6 of the Perdue Rescue Trial
BLOG
October 13, 2025
Updates and summaries from Week 5 of the Perdue Rescue Trial
BLOG
October 6, 2025
Updates and summaries from Week 4 of the Perdue Rescue Trial
BLOG
September 29, 2025
Updates and summaries from Week 3 of the Perdue Rescue Trial
BLOG
September 22, 2025
Updates and summaries from Week 2 of the Perdue Rescue Trial
BLOG
September 15, 2025
Updates and summaries from Week 1 of the Perdue Rescue Trial
BLOG
September 12, 2025
The Perdue Rescue Trial begins on Monday, September 15th at the Sonoma County Superior Court in Santa Rosa, California.
BLOG
July 31, 2025
Trader Joe’s is known as “America’s most reputable brand,” and I’m learning firsthand that this might be because they relentlessly silence their critics and go to great lengths to protect their image from public scrutiny.
PRESS RELEASE
November 16, 2021
“No More Factory Farms” campaign asks legislators to prohibit the construction of new factory farms and slaughterhouses
PRESS RELEASE
October 29, 2021
“Red Light, Green Light” demonstration inspired by hit show dramatizes activists’ concerns about animal cruelty and supply chain transparency
PRESS RELEASE
October 27, 2021
UCB administrators claim the world’s largest chicken producer doesn’t use factory farming
PRESS RELEASE
October 13, 2021
Company has faced nuisance lawsuits for waste pollution sprayed on local communities, resulting in hundreds of millions in judgements against it
PRESS RELEASE
September 28, 2021
11 peaceful activists from the same group are still in custody on over $1 million total bail, following California slaughterhouse blockade Tuesday
PRESS RELEASE
September 27, 2021
Just-released hidden camera footage from inside the Foster Farms facility reveals fully-conscious animals routinely being improperly slaughtered -- conduct activists allege is criminal
PRESS RELEASE
September 2, 2021
Imposter disavowed nonviolent animal rights activists as“terrorists”
PRESS RELEASE
August 24, 2021
Student-led investigation into UCB chicken supplier Tyson Foods shines new light on administration’s erroneous claims that it doesn’t supply from factory farms
PRESS RELEASE
August 8, 2021
Group behind Berkeley vegan transition bill says Newsom’s inaction on environmental impact of animal agriculture is unacceptable
