Sonoma County prosecutors on Thursday highlighted animal activist Zoe Rosenberg’s history of protests and controversial tactics to counter her assertion that she played only a minor role in a series of Petaluma Poultry incursions that ended with her taking four chickens June 13, 2023.
Prosecutors began questioning her Friday and continued into Monday before proceedings ended early Tuesday when Rosenberg became ill. According to her social media posts, she has gastroparesis — a paralyzed stomach that prevents food from moving normally — and the tube delivers nutrients directly to her intestine. She said she was hospitalized last month before pretrial motions began.
She has not denied taking the birds but testified last week that she got involved only after a former co-defendant, Raven Deerbrook, launched an animal cruelty investigation into Petaluma Poultry that spring.
Deputy District Attorney Matt Hobson pressed Rosenberg on Thursday to show jurors that the June 13 incident fit a pattern of activism she had long championed.
“You want open rescue to be something that happens everywhere?” Hobson asked.
“Yes,” Rosenberg replied.
She testified that the events of that day coincided with her birthday and an annual conference for her organization, Direct Action Everywhere, or DxE. She said she disguised herself as a Petaluma Poultry worker using a fake badge and earpiece connected to a burner phone. Jurors also watched a 2018 video of Rosenberg giving a speech about DxE’s 40-year plan to “liberate animals” and end slaughterhouses.
Prosecutors presented evidence of her past demonstrations, including videos of her interrupting professional sporting events to protest animal cruelty. Among them was footage from December 2022, when Rosenberg chained herself to the base of a basketball hoop during an NBA playoff game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Minnesota Timberwolves. She was arrested afterward.
Hobson also showed jurors photos of Rosenberg pouring fake blood on a Safeway floor and sitting in a UC Berkeley fountain tinted red to symbolize blood. She held a sign reading, “UC Berkeley drop factory farms.”
Hobson also cited her prior activism at Sonoma County poultry facilities, suggesting the June 13 incursion was part of a coordinated campaign. Prosecutors allege Rosenberg entered Petaluma Poultry multiple times that spring, accessed company computers, attached GPS trackers to delivery trucks and removed four chickens from a trailer while roughly 50 DxE members demonstrated outside. She was arrested that November outside the courthouse, shortly after DxE co-founder Wayne Hsiung was sentenced to 90 days in jail and two years’ probation in a similar trespassing and conspiracy case. If convicted, Rosenberg faces a sentence ranging from probation to five years in jail.
Deerbrook, the former co-defendant, faced similar charges before reaching a plea agreement in June 2024. She described herself as a former DxE member and testified for Rosenberg last week.
The trial began Oct. 6. Prosecutors rested Oct. 10 after calling three witnesses involved in the investigation. The defense opened Monday with testimony from DxE member Carla Cabral, who said Rosenberg brought her the rescued chickens after the June 13 visit. Prosecutors later questioned Cabral’s ties to both Rosenberg and the group before Deerbrook and Rosenberg took the stand.
Deerbrook testified that she began investigating Petaluma Poultry in April 2023 and notified Rosenberg about possible animal cruelty. Rosenberg said she first visited the site in May to observe conditions, returning June 13. She denied placing tracking devices on vehicles or searching company records.