Animal rights activist delivers message to the home of JoCo Parks' director
Jason Miller has become a recognizable face to the employees of the Johnson County Park and Recreation Department. Over the past six months, the founder of Bite Club of KC has been the most outspoken and visible activist protesting the deer cull in Shawnee Mission Park. He's testified at public meetings and demonstrated in various dramatic forms at the park gates.
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| Jason Miller with Victoria, the dead deer head |
A little after 8 p.m. on Thursday, Miller visited the Olathe home of Michael Meadors, director of Johnson County Parks and Rec.
Miller says he simply delivered a "Notice of Dangerous Condition," a two-page list of Bite Club's concerns about safety precautions during the hunt at Shawnee Mission Park. Among the list of complaints, the letter alleges that a lack of warning signs and inadequate security personnel are putting area residents at risk of "physical trauma and death" from deer hunters.
"He answered the door and he recognized me," Miller says of the encounter with Meadors. "I said, 'Hello, Mike, I've got something for you to read,' and handed him the envelope and left. Then, about an hour later, the police showed up at my house."
An officer with the Olathe Police Department was dispatched to Meador's house at 8:30 p.m. According to the police report, Meadors explained Miller's affiliation as a "radical animal rights activist" and showed the cops the envelope. "The letter was not threatening in any way," the police report concluded.But Meadors was apparently uneasy with Miller's personal visit. "Michael advised that a few weeks ago two of his vehicles were broken into and then a deer head was left on his front porch," the police report said. "At the time, Michael was not sure that Jason was responsible because he did not believe he knew where he lived. However, Michael is now convinced that Jason is responsible for leaving the deer head on his porch. ... Michael advised that he and his family are concerned that Michael [sic] may become violent."
Miller says he wasn't the one who left the head on Meadors' doorstep and, though he supports, he does not participate in the brand of underground activism that breaks the law. "My conscience and my police record are both clean. I don't solve my problems with violence -- Meadors and Johnson County do," he told me in an e-mail. "Accusing me of vandalizing his childrens' cars and delivering a deer head to his house is absurd. While I make no secret of the fact that I consider all of those responsible for the deer slaughter to be murderers, I am no vigilante and I would have no reason to single out Michael Meadors."
Randy Knight, community relations manager for JoCo Parks and Rec, didn't comment on the personal visit, but did give me a statement about the safety concerns raised in Miller's letter. "The issues of concern Mr. Miller listed in his Notice of Dangerous Condition were taken into consideration in the process of developing the deer management program," he says.
Don't expect the protest to die down because of a police report, though, Miller says. Last week, the Bite Club founder sent e-mail alerts about the Shawnee Mission deer cull to more than 2 million animal rights activists around the country. He also says the cops don't worry him. "The more they try to intimidate me," he says. "The harder I fight."
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