(02/06/06) TRENTON ? Demonstrators gathered outside a Trenton courtroom Monday to protest the domestic terrorism trial of seven animal rights activists.

Prosecutors say the activists, members of the Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC) group, encouraged violent actions on their Web site. Attorneys believe the site spurred a group of individuals to destroy property and harass employees of Huntingdon Life Services, a company that uses animals for lab research. The seven individuals on trial were charged under the federal Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act.

Animal rights activists protesting the trial say an organization?s Web site should be protected under the First Amendment. According to demonstrators, those responsible for the acts against Huntingdon Life Services were acting on their own.