Who is an animal activist? What do they do? Described as “the most dangerous animal rights organization out there,” Direct Action Everywhere (or DxE) hopes to expose the controversial practices of the factory farm industry. A self-described “global grassroots network of animal rights activists,” DxE engages in non-violent forms of protest as a way of both educating the public and pushing reform. WIRED Senior Writer Andy Greenberg learned more about the people who make up this network of activists and their operations.

In Part I of this two part story, we talk to Wayne Hsuing, co-founder and activist of DxE, as he describes the groups’ origin and his involvement in Operation Deathstar -- a sting operation (with a full Virtual Reality camera rig), in hope of bringing awareness to the practices of industrialized farming.