Animal rights activist charged with trespassing at UF

By Nathan Crabbe, Staff writer, The Gainsville Sun

Published: Monday, August 1, 2011 at 3:44 p.m.

An animal rights activist has been charged with trespassing in a University of Florida building where she allegedly posted fliers offering a reward for information about students who experiment on animals.

Lisa Ann Grossman, 50, of Jacksonville, had been issued a trespass warning for a protest in December inside a fundraiser at UF’s Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. The warning barred Grossman, a member of the animal rights group Negotiation is Over, from the UF campus for three years.

She is accused of violating that warning July 9 by entering the UF Cancer/Genetics Research Complex to post about 100 fliers. The fliers offer $100 in cash for personal information such as the name, picture, address or phone number of any student learning to experiment with animals.

The State Attorney’s Office last week filed a trespassing charge against Grossman. The second-degree misdemeanor is punishable by as many as 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

Grossman couldn’t be reached for comment Monday.

UF police allege that someone let Grossman into the locked cancer and genetics building to post the fliers. A Health Science Center official subsequently warned employees against admitting strangers to locked facilities and encouraged them to contact police to report suspicious persons.

Negotiation is Over previously has put the addresses and phone numbers of UF faculty researchers on its website over claims they conducted animal research. The website describes a campaign involving students as a way to show them that animal research can result in “car bombs, 24/7 security cameras, embarrassing home demonstrations, threats, injuries, and fear.”

Contact Nathan Crabbe at 338-3176 or nathan.crabbe@gvillesun.com.