How an ex-animal activist is forcing the FBI to tell him its secrets

Ryan Shapiro is a thorn in the FBI’s side. The 37-year-old MIT PhD student has a background in animal activism and hardcore punk, but now spends much of his time requesting government files through the US’ Freedom of Information Act. A Mother Jones profile calls Shapiro the the FBI’s “most prolific” information requester, and explores how the man who used to rescue sick and injured ducks from foie gras factories is now able to legally pull “mosaics” of data out of the government that the FBI says could “significantly and irreparably damage national security.”