A federal grand jury in Davenport is investigating a nationally publicized, animal-rights-related break-in at a University of Iowa lab in 2004, according to a 20-year-old woman from Minneapolis who says she is a possible target of the inquiry.

Carrie Feldman refused to testify when she was subpoenaed to testify at the federal courthouse on Oct. 15, she said. She will refuse again at a second ordered appearance on Nov. 17, she said. Ultimately, she could be held in contempt of court and taken into custody.

At least four masked people released hundreds of animals and caused hundreds of thousands of dollars of damage at a psychology department lab five years ago. No one was ever arrested.

Feldman denies involvement in the crime. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Iowa would not confirm or deny any information about grand jury proceedings.

Feldman was 15 and a sophomore in high school in Minneapolis at the time of the break-in, she said. Feldman's trip to Iowa this month was the first time she had been in the state since she was a small child, when her family barely crossed over the border so they could say the visited Iowa, she said.

"The assertion by the prosecutor that I may be a target of this investigation is ridiculous," she said. "I believe that I am being targeted because of my political activity and beliefs, not my involvement in any crime."

Officials also requested her attendance records from her high school from the time of the break-in, she said.

Grand jury proceedings - used to determine if there is enough evidence to indict a person in connection with a crime - are secret. They are not open to the public. On her blog, www.supportcarrie.wordpress.com, however, Feldman posted a statement she read to the members of the grand jury. She invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

"But beyond that, I am refusing to cooperate based on a sincere belief that to do so would run counter to my deeply held convictions and values," the statement says.

Grand jury investigations, she said, do not afford witnesses basic rights, including having a lawyer present. "Just cooperating with that is allowing it to happen. I don't want to do that."

The FBI was called in to investigate the November 2004 vandalism and break-in at the University of Iowa's Spence Laboratories and Seashore Hall.

The Animal Liberation Front, an underground animal-rights activist group, claimed responsibility for the damage to lab equipment and the release of 88 mice and 313 rats used in psychology department experiments. The break-in was designated as domestic terrorism.

UI officials estimated the damage in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and offered a $10,000 reward for tips leading to identification of the vandals. The university also increased security at its labs following the break-in.

A 50-minute video released to the media by ALF after the break-in showed at least four masked people had access to electronic keys and took their time as they ransacked the laboratories.

David Skorton, then president of the university, condemned the destruction and the implied threat to researchers in an e-mail, which listed researcher names, home addresses and phone numbers. The e-mail was posted on a Web site that posts reports of ALF activity.

The environment for researchers at the university, Skorton said, was "permanently altered."

ALF, according to its Web site, is "a loosely-associated collection of cells of people who intentionally violate the law in order to free animals from captivity and the horrors of exploitation." The people in one cell do not know people in other cells to "prevent legal authorities from breaking up the organization."

They break into buildings to release animals, destroy property and use intimidation to "prevent further animal abuse and murder," the site says.

People associated with the group have "a very well-thought-out ideology" and they have attempted to make change with peaceful means, said Jerry Vlasak, a spokesman for the group. "When those things are proven ineffective, they are willing to break the law."

Vlasak compared the actions to people who worked to free slaves or those held by the Nazis.

The group lists people imprisoned for ALF-related acts on its site. They also list agents and former activists who work with law enforcement activities against ALF.

The organization also is opposed to the use of grand juries, Vlasak said.

"They are secretive organizations," he said. People who testify are not allowed a lawyer and are threatened with imprisonment if they do not comply, he said. "They are basically fishing expeditions."

Feldman is not the only person fighting grand jury testimony on ALF-related activities. Jordan Halliday, who lives in Utah, failed to testify before a grand jury that ALF says is investigating animal rights activities in Utah. He was held on a civil contempt charge for three months.

Halliday was released in June after he was criminally indicted for refusing to obey an order of the court. His case is pending. One condition of his pre-trial release is that he have no association with ALF, the Earth Liberation Front or Vegan Straight Edge.

A rally is planned in advance of Feldman's appearance in Davenport court on Nov. 17. She is working with attorneys to get the subpoena quashed before then. Meanwhile, she expects to be offered a specific type of immunity that would not allow prosecutors to use her statements against her in future proceedings.

She will still refuse to testify, she said.

"It is common for above-ground activists to be the targets of repression and intimidation when the government is failing to find the people who have actually carried out these actions," she said.

(Diane Heldt is a reporter for The Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.)