UnchainedTV Launches LIVE Trial & Breaking News Coverage of Underreported Events
UnchainedTV, the new global streaming TV network, launched its LIVE breaking news coverage with 16-plus hours of LIVE coverage of the groundbreaking trial of two men facing prison for rescuing two sick piglets from a Utah factory farm. The massive facility was described this way by The New York Times: “The film shows sows with bloody and mangled teats; pregnant sows gnawing on the bars of the narrow stalls they live in until they give birth; and piglets clambering over and nibbling dead siblings.”
“Beyond the crucial issue of the gruesome treatment of animals in massive industrial facilities, aspects of the trial raise concerns about fairness within the justice system,” said UnchainedTV founder and former cable news host Jane Velez-Mitchell. “Astoundingly, the jury was not allowed to view the video of the alleged crime in progress. In order to avoid accusations that the footage presented a distorted impression of the facility, the video — titled Operation Deathstar — was recorded by the defendants utilizing a 360-degree virtual reality camera system.”
Both defendants were found not guilty on all counts. That led to an emotional and electrifying celebration on the courthouse steps. The acquittal, characterized by The Intercept as “historic,” was also covered by The New York Times, AP, local TV news stations and some other print outlets. “But it appears to have been completely ignored by advertiser-based national cable TV news networks,” Velez-Mitchell added. The defendants, both part of an advocacy organization named Direct Action Everywhere, argued for their right to rescue the animals from suffering, much as someone would be hailed as a hero for breaking into a hot car to rescue a suffering dog.
UnchainedTV was launched to counteract the national broadcast media’s apparent news blackout on the animal rights and vegan movements. This completely free streaming TV network advocates compassionate plant-based solutions to society’s most pressing problems, such as climate change, habitat destruction, wildlife extinction, water pollution, drought, antibiotic resistance, heart disease and world hunger. UnchainedTV LIVE-STREAMED throughout the trial, simulcasting its coverage on the UnchainedTV APP, its YouTube page and more than 30 Facebook pages.
UnchainedTV featured LIVE commentary from prominent attorneys and journalists, including Marina Bolotnikova reporting on the case for The Intercept, famed TV commentator and law firm founder/owner Lisa Bloom, former Assistant District Attorney and respected litigator Nathan Semmel, Vegans for Black Lives Matter founder Gwenna Hunter, documentary filmmaker and Their Turn founder Donny Moss, Social Compassion in Legislation’s Communications VP Simone Reyes, philanthropist Mick Davoudian, UnchainedTV’s Velez-Mitchell and others.
Defendant Wayne Hsiung — who chose to represent himself in court and is also an attorney who taught constitutional law — spoke LIVE, post-acquittal, to Velez-Mitchell. He said, “This is the first domino, legally, because if we have the right to rescue these two animals, we have the right to rescue the rest, and that’s where we’re going.”
“The public has a right to know about the horrific treatment of animals behind closed doors. Despite efforts by multi-billion dollar industries, the truth is getting out, and the caring public is becoming increasingly appalled by industrialized animal agriculture,” said Velez-Mitchell, adding, “The U.S. Supreme Court is about to consider a pork industry challenge to California’s Proposition 12, which takes aim at cruel farmed animal confinement practices. This is news and needs to be reported. So if the TV networks won’t, we will.”
