assault on press freedom, period
a few things police and indymedia are both aware of, i'm sure:
1) indymedia does not keep logs of traffic or http requests/connections, so there is no point in demanding the logs, or raiding the servers to get them.
2) hardcore animal rights activists are not dumb; if they post information such as that, they will do so through a proxy and over an unencrypted public wi-fi or public university/library LAN which dozens of other unidentifiable people may use in a given day. TOR is quite simple to configure if using a private computer, and there are plenty of open wi fi hotspots to choose from or MAC addresses to spoof, so there is no point in assuming the IP addresses of incoming traffic are valid even if they are logged.
3) indymedia runs on a shoestring budget. the loss of any equipment will severely hamper their ability to function as an independent journalistic operation.
4) indymedia, while on the whole about as left wing as the guardian most days, nevertheless allows full anonymous and largely unedited content to be posted online by anyone who wants. if something like this comes up, they will publish it.
as a result of all of these, it's pretty easy to conclude that this is nothing more than yet another attempt by the government to bully a pro-freedom, non-corporate press organization. say what you will about it's editorial decisions, this was an extralegal punitive measure with no value in any investigation.