Animal rights activist pleads not guilty to Salt Lake area arson fires

SALT LAKE CITY — An animal rights activist who burned down a Colorado sheepskin store has returned to Utah to face federal charges related to two Salt Lake area fires.

Walter Edmund Bond, of Salt Lake City, pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court Wednesday to two counts each of arson and violence involving animal enterprises. Magistrate Judge Brooke Wells set a trial for June 20.

Bond, who turns 35 Saturday, allegedly set fire to Tandy Leather Factory, 1107 S. State, last June and Tiburon Fine Dining, 8256 S. 700 East, last July. The blazes caused $20,000 and $500,000 in damage, respectively.

A member of the Animal Liberation Front who goes by the nickname Lone Wolf, Bond appeared in court with a shaved head, glasses and assorted tattoos including a tribal pattern on half his face, crossed wrenches on his neck and the word "vegan" across his throat.

Bond apparently claimed responsibility for the fires on an ALF website.

"The arson Sheepskin Factory in Denver was done in defense and retaliation for all the innocent animals that have died cruelly at the hands of human oppressors. Also, be warned that leather is every bit as evil as fur. As demonstrated in my recent arson against the Leather Factory in Salt Lake City. Go vegan! ALF Lone Wolf."

He uses the moniker Lone Wolf because the businesses he allegedly targeted represent animals that wolves typically hunt, according to court documents.

In federal court in Colorado last month, Bond received a five-year prison sentence for admitting he set fire to the sheepskin store in April 2010. During the sentencing hearing, he made a defiant speech in which he called carrying out ALF actions "the proudest and most powerful thing I have ever done."

He was unapologetic and didn't consider prison a hardship. "In a society that values money over life, I consider it an honor to be a prisoner of war, the war against inter-species slavery and objectification," he said.

Other than saying he "totally" understood the charges against him, Bond didn't say much in court Wednesday. He remains in custody at the Davis County Jail pending trial. His lawyer told the judge Bond had not eaten in two days because the jail does not serve vegan meals. He requested a vegetarian diet for his client.

E-mail: romboy@desnews.com