Man arrested while protesting black bear hunt will serve 10-day jail sentence

One of the three people arrested while protesting during the first stage of New Jersey's black bear hunt will spend some time in jail. Bill Crain, Eleanor Hoffman and Catherine McCartney entered guilty

News 12 Staff

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Dec 9, 2016, 8:36 AM

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Updated 2,958 days ago

One of the three people arrested while protesting during the first stage of New Jersey's black bear hunt will spend some time in jail.

Bill Crain, Eleanor Hoffman and Catherine McCartney entered guilty pleas Thursday evening at the Andover Township Municipal Court to answer for their actions on Oct. 10 during the bow hunt season.

Hoffman and McCartney admitted that they left a designated protest and didn't return when they were ordered to. They will have to pay a $250 fine.

But Crain was sentenced to 10 days in jail. This was the latest of several run-ins with the law over protesting. Crain says that he wanted to go to jail.

"I guess you could put it that way, in order to show how seriously I feel the life of the bears matter and how deeply affected we are by the slaughter that is going on," Crain says.

"He just really believes in the fact that the hunt shouldn't be happening and that's his way of showing and bringing attention to this that it's not the right thing," says Hoffman.

The New Jersey Division of Fish and Game has repeatedly said that the hunt is necessary in New Jersey. The agency says that reducing the bear population will cut down on dangerous human-bear interactions.

The first stage of the hunt involved bow-hunting and muzzle-loading guns. The second stage started earlier this month and included firearms.

Three more bears were killed Thursday, bringing the total of bears killed to 623. There are two more days remaining.

Crain will serve his sentence on Jan. 6, 2017. None of the defendants indicated that they would stop protesting the hunt.