In Iowa, prosecutors have dismissed a second case against Matt Johnson, an animal rights activist who released footage of hundreds of pigs being euthanized at two Iowa pork facilities in early 2020. Johnson is a member of the group Direct Action Everywhere. He secretly recorded video of pigs being killed at two pork plants owned by Iowa Select Farms, a major pork producer. The company was unable to send the pigs to slaughterhouses that were closed due to the pandemic, so they killed the pigs by shutting down ventilation in their barns and overheating them.

In December of 2020, Matt Johnson made headlines when he posed as the CEO of the pork giant Smithfield Foods and appeared on the Fox Business channel.

Matt Johnson: “Our industry poses a serious threat in effectively bringing on the next pandemic, with CDC data showing that three of four infectious diseases come from animals. And the conditions inside of our farms can sometimes be Petri dishes for new diseases. Hog farming also causes immense harm to our air and waterways.” 

Afterwards, Fox Business realized they’d been “punked.”