PETA believes “Jones” is an alias of Paul McComb, a human resources representative at SeaWorld San Diego sent to monitor their actions.
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“Suspending your own agents is an old trick, which usually comes with a backroom deal of compensation and a promise to bring them back when things die down, which is unlikely to be the case with this beleaguered business”, she said.
Furthermore, we do not believe that SeaWorld has limited its espionage efforts to McComb’s activities. “It has hired protesters to attend SeaWorld rallies, and PETA is now looking at two more men we believe were SeaWorld agents hired to infiltrate PETA as ‘volunteers, ‘ and the list may grow”.
SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. has put an employee on paid leave and begun an investigation after an animal-rights group claimed the staffer posed as an activist and protested at company events.
“The allegations made yesterday against a SeaWorld employee are very concerning”, Manby said in the statement, which didn’t name the employee.
A representative for the Pasadena City Attorney’s Office did not immediately reply to a request for comment. The SeaWorld statement linked to an online job posting for a PETA “undercover investigator” who would visit or work at facilities that use animals in order to document conditions there. The claims were “very concerning”, Manby said.
Members of the animal rights group first became suspicious of McComb after the Rose Parade, when police released him without charge and even lost records of his arrest, according to Matthew Strugar, director of litigation for the PETA Foundation, in an appearance last week on Democracy Now! PETA is also preparing to release the names and photographs of other people it wishes to question with regard to their presence at demonstrations and volunteer activities. “These allegations, if true, are not consistent with the values of the SeaWorld organization and will not be tolerated”. PETA wants to examine the arresting officer’s notebook, which should contain details of any arrest, the petition says. That response came from the chief of police, saying he was providing a redacted police report, which contained no mention of Jones or McComb, Perle said.
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PETA’s lawsuit alleges the department refused to provide records related to McComb’s detainment, according to a statement from the animal-rights organization. No additional information was provided. PETA’s petition states that all of the protesters were handcuffed, taken to the police station, lined up and ordered to remove their belts and shoelaces.
