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== Early life and activism ==
== Early life and activism ==


Rod Coronado was born to [[Pascua Yaqui]] indigenous ancestry and raised in California. As a child, he was teased for his love of nature. Among his formative experiences, the television video of a Canadian commercial [[seal hunt]] affected him deeply. He joined the [[Sea Shepherd Conservation Society]], an anti-whaling activist [[direct action]] group, as a teenager. Coronado later joined [[Earth First!]], its editorial board, and the [[Animal Liberation Front]], an underground [[animal rights]] group that released animals from [[fur farm]]s and [[animal research|research]] facilities.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Norrell |first1=Brenda |title=Sierra Club honors Yaqui animal rights activists |work=Indian Country Today |page=B2 |date=1999-12-08 |language=English |issn=10665501 |id={{ProQuest|362610777}} }}</ref><!-- more to paraphrase in source -->
Rod Coronado was born in 1966<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Watkins |first1=Mary |last2=Bradshaw |first2=G. A. |title=Mutual Accompaniment and the Creation of the Commons |date=2019-06-25 |language=en |isbn=978-0-300-23614-9 |publisher=Yale University Press |p=258 }}</ref> to [[Pascua Yaqui]] indigenous ancestry and raised in California. As a child, he was teased for his love of nature. Among his formative experiences, the television video of a Canadian commercial [[seal hunt]] affected him deeply. He joined the [[Sea Shepherd Conservation Society]], an anti-whaling activist [[direct action]] group, as a teenager. Coronado later joined [[Earth First!]], its editorial board, and the [[Animal Liberation Front]], an underground [[animal rights]] group that released animals from [[fur farm]]s and [[animal research|research]] facilities.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Norrell |first1=Brenda |title=Sierra Club honors Yaqui animal rights activists |work=Indian Country Today |page=B2 |date=1999-12-08 |language=English |issn=10665501 |id={{ProQuest|362610777}} }}</ref><!-- more to paraphrase in source -->


⚫
In November 1986, Rod Coronado and David Howitt [[1986 Hvalur sinkings|sunk two whaling ships]] in [[Reykjavik]] harbor and sabotaged Iceland's sole whale-processing facility in [[Hvalfjord]]. The two members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society had spent weeks in Iceland working at a fish processing factory and plotting their action. On November 8, the pair dismantled the Hvalfjord facility's computer files, refrigeration, and laboratory equipment with [[cyanic acid]] and [[sledgehammer]]s over eight hours. They drove 50 miles south to Reykjavik, where they boarded two of the whaling company's four ships and opened their [[sea valve]]s. Watchmen prevented them from accessing the other ships. Coronado and Howitt fled to Luxembourg via plane.{{sfn|Derr|McNamara|2003|p=28}}<!-- more to paraphrase in source --> About $2 million in damage had been done (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|2|1986}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref>{{Cite news |title=Saboteurs Wreck Whale-Oil Plant in Iceland |work=[[The New York Times]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=1986-11-11 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/11/world/saboteurs-wreck-whale-oil-plant-in-iceland.html |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
=== Hvalur sinkings ===

{{main|1986 Hvalur sinkings}}

⚫
In November 1986, Rod Coronado and David Howitt sunk two whaling ships in [[Reykjavik]] harbor and sabotaged Iceland's sole whale-processing facility in [[Hvalfjord]]. The two members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society had spent weeks in Iceland working at a fish processing factory and plotting their action. On November 8, the pair dismantled the Hvalfjord facility's computer files, refrigeration, and laboratory equipment with [[cyanic acid]] and [[sledgehammer]]s over eight hours. They drove 50 miles south to Reykjavik, where they boarded two of the whaling company's four ships and opened their [[sea valve]]s. Watchmen prevented them from accessing the other ships. Coronado and Howitt fled to Luxembourg via plane.{{sfn|Derr|McNamara|2003|p=28}}<!-- more to paraphrase in source --> About $2 million in damage had been done (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|2|1986}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}).<ref>{{Cite news |title=Saboteurs Wreck Whale-Oil Plant in Iceland |work=[[The New York Times]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=1986-11-11 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/11/world/saboteurs-wreck-whale-oil-plant-in-iceland.html |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all }}</ref>

=== Operation Bite Back ===


Coronado designed and led the Animal Liberation Front's early 1990s campaign against the fur industry and its supporting research institutions, known as Operation Bite Back. The first attack, in June 1991, was arson on [[Oregon State University]]'s experimental mink farm, burning research records and leading to the facility's closure. Within a week, the another attack firebombed the [[Edmonds, Washington]], Northwest Farm Food Cooperative, which supplied mink feed. In August, activists attacked a [[Washington State University]] mink farm. In February 1992, Coronado and two other Animal Liberation Front activists burned a [[Michigan State University]] mink research center, causing $200,000 in damages and incinerating 32 years of research. In 1995, Coronado was sentenced to 57 months of jail, three years probation, and a $2 million fine. The campaign continued after his imprisonment with a focus on freeing animals rather than economic sabotage.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Posluszna |first1=Elzbieta |title=Environmental and Animal Rights Extremism, Terrorism, and National Security |date=2015-01-29 |language=en |isbn=978-0-12-801704-3 |publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann |p=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OB8tBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 }}</ref> The 1992 federal [[Animal Enterprise Protection Act]], which was built to protect animal-based businesses, had been crafted largely in response to Coronado.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zellhoefer |first=Aaron |chapter=Animal Enterprise Acts and the Prosecution of the 'SHAC 7': An Insider's Perspective |editor-last1=Socha |editor-first1=Kim |editor-last2=Blum |editor-first2=Sarahjane |title=Confronting Animal Exploitation: Grassroots Essays on Liberation and Veganism |date=2013 |language=en |isbn=978-0-7864-6575-0 |publisher=McFarland |p=249 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VhJDSfRyzYcC&pg=PA249 |quote=In fact, this law was primarily developed to stop one individual—Rodney Coronado. }}</ref>
Coronado designed and led the Animal Liberation Front's early 1990s campaign against the fur industry and its supporting research institutions, known as Operation Bite Back. The first attack, in June 1991, was arson on [[Oregon State University]]'s experimental mink farm, burning research records and leading to the facility's closure. Within a week, the another attack firebombed the [[Edmonds, Washington]], Northwest Farm Food Cooperative, which supplied mink feed. In August, activists attacked a [[Washington State University]] mink farm. In February 1992, Coronado and two other Animal Liberation Front activists burned a [[Michigan State University]] mink research center, causing $200,000 in damages and incinerating 32 years of research. In 1995, Coronado was sentenced to 57 months of jail, three years probation, and a $2 million fine. The campaign continued after his imprisonment with a focus on freeing animals rather than economic sabotage.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Posluszna |first1=Elzbieta |title=Environmental and Animal Rights Extremism, Terrorism, and National Security |date=2015-01-29 |language=en |isbn=978-0-12-801704-3 |publisher=Butterworth-Heinemann |p=83 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OB8tBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 }}</ref> The 1992 federal [[Animal Enterprise Protection Act]], which was built to protect animal-based businesses, had been crafted largely in response to Coronado.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Zellhoefer |first=Aaron |chapter=Animal Enterprise Acts and the Prosecution of the 'SHAC 7': An Insider's Perspective |editor-last1=Socha |editor-first1=Kim |editor-last2=Blum |editor-first2=Sarahjane |title=Confronting Animal Exploitation: Grassroots Essays on Liberation and Veganism |date=2013 |language=en |isbn=978-0-7864-6575-0 |publisher=McFarland |p=249 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VhJDSfRyzYcC&pg=PA249 |quote=In fact, this law was primarily developed to stop one individual—Rodney Coronado. }}</ref>


⚫
Following threats of mountain lions looming in the foothills of [[Tucson]], the [[Arizona Game and Fish Department]] announced a hunt within the [[Sabino Canyon]] area on March 10, 2004. With split scientific opinion on the merit of lion relocation and ten days of protests, the department attempted to move the lions but found few tracks. The climax of the protests was Coronado's arrest, on March 24, for spreading lion scent in the park to sabotage tracking dogs. The hunt was called off four days later.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Tony |title=Cougar hunt creates uproar; Following a sensational search, Arizona residents push for tougher protections for mountain lions |work=High Country News |page=5 |date=2004-05-24 |language=English |issn=01915657 |id={{ProQuest|363058233}} |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Coronado, Earth First activist Matthew Crozier, and an ''[[Esquire]]'' journalist accompanying them were charged with trespassing during an emergency order of closure and interfering with an officer.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Swedlund |first1=Eric |title=New charge for Sabino lion-hunt intruders |work=Arizona Daily Star |page=B2 |date=2004-12-10 |language=English |issn=0888546X |id={{ProQuest|389594480}} |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Powers |first1=Ashley |title=THE OUTDOORS DIGEST; Journalist snared; When reporters accompany activists, do they get the story or do they become the story? |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=F.3 |date=2004-05-04 |issn=04583035 |id={{ProQuest|421925773}} |df=mdy-all }}</ref> From 2006 to 2007, Coronado served eight months<ref name=outlook>{{Cite news |last1=Archibold |first1=Randal C. |title=Facing Trial Under Terror Law, Radical Claims a New Outlook |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2007-05-03 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/us/03elf.html |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> of a ten-month federal sentence.<ref name=carter>{{Cite book |last1=Carter |first1=Edward C. |title=Criminal Law and Procedure for the Paralegal |date=2016 |language=en |isbn=978-1-4548-7352-5 |publisher=Wolters Kluwer |p=122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2d0uDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA122 }}</ref>
=== Mountain lions ===


Amidst the backdrop of the [[Green Scare]], a period of federal crackdown on radical environmental and animal rights activism,<ref>{{Cite journal |title=Rev. of Operation Bite Back: Rod Coronado's War to Save American Wilderness |journal=[[Kirkus Reviews]] |date=2009-05-01 |issn=19487428 |id={{ProQuest|917359296}} |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/dean-kuipers/operation-bite-back/ }}</ref> the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) arrested Coronado in February 2006{{r|outlook}} as part of its [[Operation Backfire (FBI)|Operation Backfire]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bezanson |first1=Kate |last2=Webber |first2=Michelle |title=Rethinking Society in the 21st Century, Fourth Edition: Critical Readings in Sociology |date=2016 |language=en |isbn=978-1-55130-936-1 |publisher=Canadian Scholars’ Press |p=148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oWO_DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA148 |access-date=2021-11-14 |archive-date=2021-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114045339/https://books.google.com/books?id=oWO_DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA148 |url-status=live }}</ref> Years prior, in August 2003, Coronado gave a speech in San Diego on activist rights that the FBI recorded. In response to an audience question about the Michigan State arson, Coronado used a nearby juice container to explain how the incendiary device worked.{{r|carter}} A [[grand jury]] led to charges that Coronado demonstrated an explosive device with intent to commit a crime.{{r|outlook}}
⚫
Following threats of mountain lions looming in the foothills of [[Tucson]], the [[Arizona Game and Fish Department]] announced a hunt within the [[Sabino Canyon]] area on March 10, 2004. With split scientific opinion on the merit of lion relocation and ten days of protests, the department attempted to move the lions but found few tracks. The climax of the protests was Coronado's arrest, on March 24, for spreading lion scent in the park to sabotage tracking dogs. The hunt was called off four days later.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Davis |first1=Tony |title=Cougar hunt creates uproar; Following a sensational search, Arizona residents push for tougher protections for mountain lions |work=High Country News |page=5 |date=2004-05-24 |language=English |issn=01915657 |id={{ProQuest|363058233}} |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Coronado, Earth First activist Matthew Crozier, and an ''[[Esquire]]'' journalist accompanying them were charged with trespassing during an emergency order of closure and interfering with an officer.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Swedlund |first1=Eric |title=New charge for Sabino lion-hunt intruders |work=Arizona Daily Star |page=B2 |date=2004-12-10 |language=English |issn=0888546X |id={{ProQuest|389594480}} |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Powers |first1=Ashley |title=THE OUTDOORS DIGEST; Journalist snared; When reporters accompany activists, do they get the story or do they become the story? |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |page=F.3 |date=2004-05-04 |issn=04583035 |id={{ProQuest|421925773}} |df=mdy-all }}</ref> From 2006 to 2007, Coronado served eight months<ref name=outlook>{{Cite news |last1=Archibold |first1=Randal C. |title=Facing Trial Under Terror Law, Radical Claims a New Outlook |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2007-05-03 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/us/03elf.html |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> of a ten-month federal sentence.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Carter |first1=Edward C. |title=Criminal Law and Procedure for the Paralegal |date=2016 |language=en |isbn=978-1-4548-7352-5 |publisher=Wolters Kluwer |p=122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2d0uDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA122 }}</ref>


Later in 2006, before the incendiary device case went to court and while serving time for the mountain lion case, Coronado wrote an [[open letter]] from prison renouncing violence as a means for social pressure<ref name=Hawkins>{{Cite news |last1=Hawkins |first1=Derek |title=‘We wanted them to live in fear’: Animal rights activist admits to university bombing 25 years later |work=[[Washington Post]] |date=2017-02-27 |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/02/27/we-wanted-them-to-live-in-fear-animal-rights-activist-admits-to-university-bombing-25-years-later/ |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286 |id={{ProQuest|1872561529}} {{Gale|A483080985}} }}</ref> in consideration of how legal efforts and prison time had affected his life, family, and young children. This approach was a departure for Coronado, who by now was an underground celebrity among environmental and animal rights radicals. He had become known for his illegal direct actions and longstanding public advocacy for militant tactics, with prominent recent appearances on national television (''[[60 Minutes]]'' in 2005) and speaking at a [[American University]] (2003).{{r|outlook}} But parenting, he wrote, makes parents "practice the very principles [they] seek to teach [their] children".{{r|Hawkins}}
===Demonstrating an incendiary device===
<!--
{{Further|Green Scare}}
* {{Cite news |last1=Elgin |first1=Beckie |title=Hounding the Hunters |work=Earth Island Journal |volume=30 |issue=4 |pages=30–36 |date=2016 |language=English |issn=10410406 |id={{ProQuest|1748580823}} |df=mdy-all }}
In February 2006, Coronado was arrested on a felony charge of demonstrating the use of an [[incendiary device]] at a public gathering in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2006-03-22|title=Federal Bureau of Investigation - San Diego Field Division - Department of Justice Press Release - February 22, 2006|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060322020447/https://sandiego.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel06/sd022206.htm|access-date=2021-09-03|website=web.archive.org}}</ref> The indictment indirectly relates to an August 1, 2003 fire in [[San Diego, California|San Diego]] that destroyed an apartment complex causing an estimated $50 million worth of damage.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Soto|first=Oneil|date=2006-02-23|title=The San Diego Union-Tribune - San Diego, California & National News|url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060629225117/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060223-9999-1m23rod.html|archive-date=2009-06-29|access-date=2021-09-03|website=[[Wayback Machine]]|language=en-US}}</ref> A banner was found at the scene inscribed with the initials of the ELF. Coronado, a self-described "unofficial ELF spokesman,"<ref name="nzherald.co.nz">{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10370129 |title=Paul Watson: Assault on the foundations of freedom |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |access-date=November 5, 2011 |date=February 27, 2006 |archive-date=March 28, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328023732/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10370129 |url-status=live }}</ref> gave a talk on militant environmental activism in San Diego 15 hours later, where he explained how to make incendiary devices. He denies any role in the incident, and investigators do not consider him a suspect in starting the fire.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2007-09-30|title=Environmentalist charged with teaching arson in San Diego|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930015113/http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/39894.html|access-date=2021-09-03|website=web.archive.org}}</ref>
* {{Cite web |last1=Gee |first1=Marcus |title=New breed of terrorist fights for the animals: meet Rodney Coronado: articulate, vegan and violent |work=Globe & Mail |date=1998-12-05 |id={{Gale|A30021740}} |access-date=2021-11-24 |df=mdy-all }}
-->


⚫
In 2007, Coronado stood trial in San Diego on charges related to his speech in 2003 in Hillcrest. After two days of deliberations, the jury remained deadlocked, and on September 19, 2007, Judge Jeffrey Miller declared a mistrial.<ref name="Hoffman">{{Cite web|last=Hoffmann|first=Allison|date=2008-04-12|work=ABC News |title=Mistrial Declared for Radical Environmentalist|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080412034316/https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/wireStory?id=3627285|url-status=live|archive-date=2008-04-12|access-date=2021-09-03}}</ref> Coronado subsequently entered a guilty plea, accepting a deal for a one-year prison term, as a result of which he was sentenced on March 27, 2008 to one year and one day. He was released from [[Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno|El Reno FCI]] on December 25, 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Moran|first=Greg|date=2008-04-10|title=Animal rights activist tells of regret before sentencing|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410193549/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080328-9999-1m28bomb.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-03|website=[[Wayback Machine]]}}</ref>
His arrest was associated with the FBI's ''[[Operation Backfire (FBI)|Operation Backfire]]'', the country's largest sweep of eco-activists in its history.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bezanson |first1=Kate |last2=Webber |first2=Michelle |title=Rethinking Society in the 21st Century, Fourth Edition: Critical Readings in Sociology |date=2016 |language=en |isbn=978-1-55130-936-1 |publisher=Canadian Scholars’ Press |p=148 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oWO_DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA148 |access-date=2021-11-14 |archive-date=2021-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114045339/https://books.google.com/books?id=oWO_DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA148 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In September 2006, Coronado sent an [[open letter]] to supporters from his prison cell in [[Florence, Arizona]], before his release on March 23, 2007. In the letter, he announced his commitment to social change through non-destructive means. Citing his desire to raise his young son without teaching him that "violence is a necessary evil", Coronado expressed hope that others in the earth and animal liberation movements would consider more peaceful methods.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hawkins|first=Derek|date=2017-02-27|title=‘We wanted them to live in fear’: Animal rights activist admits to university bombing 25 years later|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/02/27/we-wanted-them-to-live-in-fear-animal-rights-activist-admits-to-university-bombing-25-years-later/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-15|website=[[The Washington Post]]|archive-date=2019-10-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191011042612/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/02/27/we-wanted-them-to-live-in-fear-animal-rights-activist-admits-to-university-bombing-25-years-later/}}</ref><!-- more to paraphrase in source -->

⚫
In 2007, Coronado stood trial in San Diego on charges related to his speech in 2003 in Hillcrest. After two days of deliberations, the jury remained deadlocked, and on September 19, 2007, Judge Jeffrey Miller declared a mistrial.<ref name="Hoffman">{{Cite web|last=Hoffmann|first=Allison|date=2008-04-12|title=ABC News: Mistrial Declared for Radical Environmentalist|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080412034316/https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/wireStory?id=3627285|url-status=live|archive-date=2008-04-12|access-date=2021-09-03|website=[[Wayback Machine]]}}</ref> Coronado subsequently entered a guilty plea, accepting a deal for a one-year prison term, as a result of which he was sentenced on March 27, 2008 to one year and one day. He was released from [[Federal Correctional Institution, El Reno|El Reno FCI]] on December 25, 2008.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Moran|first=Greg|date=2008-04-10|title=Animal rights activist tells of regret before sentencing|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410193549/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080328-9999-1m28bomb.html|url-status=live|access-date=2021-09-03|website=[[Wayback Machine]]}}</ref>


===Parole violation===
===Parole violation===
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''Strong Hearts'' was a [[zine]] written and published by Coronado during his prison sentence for crimes committed on behalf of the Animal Liberation Front.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Animal Rights Activist Speaks at Tucson, Ariz., Gathering. |publisher=[[Knight Ridder]] |work=Tribune Business News |date=November 30, 1999}}</ref>
''Strong Hearts'' was a [[zine]] written and published by Coronado during his prison sentence for crimes committed on behalf of the Animal Liberation Front.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Animal Rights Activist Speaks at Tucson, Ariz., Gathering. |publisher=[[Knight Ridder]] |work=Tribune Business News |date=November 30, 1999}}</ref>


== Wolf Patrol ==
=== Wolf Patrol ===


By 2021, Coronado founded Wolf Patrol, an environmental group that tracks wolf hunters, particularly those in Wisconsin who use tracking hounds.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Blakeslee |first1=Nate |title=‘An abomination’: the story of the massacre that killed 216 wolves |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=2021-07-27 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/27/wolves-winsconsin-massacre-environment-conservation |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |df=mdy-all |access-date=2021-11-14 |archive-date=2021-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114050312/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/27/wolves-winsconsin-massacre-environment-conservation |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- more to paraphrase in source -->
By 2021, Coronado founded Wolf Patrol, an environmental group that tracks wolf hunters, particularly those in Wisconsin who use tracking hounds.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Blakeslee |first1=Nate |title=‘An abomination’: the story of the massacre that killed 216 wolves |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=2021-07-27 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/27/wolves-winsconsin-massacre-environment-conservation |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077 |df=mdy-all |access-date=2021-11-14 |archive-date=2021-11-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114050312/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/27/wolves-winsconsin-massacre-environment-conservation |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- more to paraphrase in source -->

== Personal life ==

Coronado's son was born around 2002. As of 2007, he was engaged and his partner had a young daughter.{{r|outlook}}


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 02:50, 24 November 2021

Rod Coronado
Born
Rodney Adam Coronado

(1966-07-03) July 3, 1966 (age 58)
San Jose, California, US
Known forAnimal rights, environmental activism, arson

Rodney Adam Coronado (born 1966) is a Native American (Pascua Yaqui) eco-anarchist and animal rights activist. He is an advocate and former activist for the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) and a spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front. He was a crew member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and a member of the editorial collective of the Earth First! Journal.[1] Coronado was jailed in 1995 in connection with an arson attack on research facilities at Michigan State University, which caused $125,000 worth of damage and destroyed 32 years of research data.

In 2006, while imprisoned for felony conspiracy and awaiting trial on further charges, Coronado expressed a change in his personal philosophy inspired by fatherhood. In an open letter, he wrote, "Don't ask me how to burn down a building. Ask me how to grow watermelons or how to explain nature to a child," explaining that he wants to be remembered, not as a "man of destruction but [as] a human believer in peace and love for all."[2] He was released on probation in December 2008, but was imprisoned again for four months in August 2010 for accepting a "friend request" on Facebook from an environmental activist, Mike Roselle, which was deemed a violation of his probation.[3]

Early life and activism

Rod Coronado was born in 1966[4] to Pascua Yaqui indigenous ancestry and raised in California. As a child, he was teased for his love of nature. Among his formative experiences, the television video of a Canadian commercial seal hunt affected him deeply. He joined the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-whaling activist direct action group, as a teenager. Coronado later joined Earth First!, its editorial board, and the Animal Liberation Front, an underground animal rights group that released animals from fur farms and research facilities.[5]

In November 1986, Rod Coronado and David Howitt sunk two whaling ships in Reykjavik harbor and sabotaged Iceland's sole whale-processing facility in Hvalfjord. The two members of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society had spent weeks in Iceland working at a fish processing factory and plotting their action. On November 8, the pair dismantled the Hvalfjord facility's computer files, refrigeration, and laboratory equipment with cyanic acid and sledgehammers over eight hours. They drove 50 miles south to Reykjavik, where they boarded two of the whaling company's four ships and opened their sea valves. Watchmen prevented them from accessing the other ships. Coronado and Howitt fled to Luxembourg via plane.[6] About $2 million in damage had been done (equivalent to $6 million in 2023).[7]

Coronado designed and led the Animal Liberation Front's early 1990s campaign against the fur industry and its supporting research institutions, known as Operation Bite Back. The first attack, in June 1991, was arson on Oregon State University's experimental mink farm, burning research records and leading to the facility's closure. Within a week, the another attack firebombed the Edmonds, Washington, Northwest Farm Food Cooperative, which supplied mink feed. In August, activists attacked a Washington State University mink farm. In February 1992, Coronado and two other Animal Liberation Front activists burned a Michigan State University mink research center, causing $200,000 in damages and incinerating 32 years of research. In 1995, Coronado was sentenced to 57 months of jail, three years probation, and a $2 million fine. The campaign continued after his imprisonment with a focus on freeing animals rather than economic sabotage.[8] The 1992 federal Animal Enterprise Protection Act, which was built to protect animal-based businesses, had been crafted largely in response to Coronado.[9]

Following threats of mountain lions looming in the foothills of Tucson, the Arizona Game and Fish Department announced a hunt within the Sabino Canyon area on March 10, 2004. With split scientific opinion on the merit of lion relocation and ten days of protests, the department attempted to move the lions but found few tracks. The climax of the protests was Coronado's arrest, on March 24, for spreading lion scent in the park to sabotage tracking dogs. The hunt was called off four days later.[10] Coronado, Earth First activist Matthew Crozier, and an Esquire journalist accompanying them were charged with trespassing during an emergency order of closure and interfering with an officer.[11][12] From 2006 to 2007, Coronado served eight months[13] of a ten-month federal sentence.[14]

Amidst the backdrop of the Green Scare, a period of federal crackdown on radical environmental and animal rights activism,[15] the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Coronado in February 2006[13] as part of its Operation Backfire.[16] Years prior, in August 2003, Coronado gave a speech in San Diego on activist rights that the FBI recorded. In response to an audience question about the Michigan State arson, Coronado used a nearby juice container to explain how the incendiary device worked.[14] A grand jury led to charges that Coronado demonstrated an explosive device with intent to commit a crime.[13]

Later in 2006, before the incendiary device case went to court and while serving time for the mountain lion case, Coronado wrote an open letter from prison renouncing violence as a means for social pressure[17] in consideration of how legal efforts and prison time had affected his life, family, and young children. This approach was a departure for Coronado, who by now was an underground celebrity among environmental and animal rights radicals. He had become known for his illegal direct actions and longstanding public advocacy for militant tactics, with prominent recent appearances on national television (60 Minutes in 2005) and speaking at a American University (2003).[13] But parenting, he wrote, makes parents "practice the very principles [they] seek to teach [their] children".[17]

In 2007, Coronado stood trial in San Diego on charges related to his speech in 2003 in Hillcrest. After two days of deliberations, the jury remained deadlocked, and on September 19, 2007, Judge Jeffrey Miller declared a mistrial.[18] Coronado subsequently entered a guilty plea, accepting a deal for a one-year prison term, as a result of which he was sentenced on March 27, 2008 to one year and one day. He was released from El Reno FCI on December 25, 2008.[19]

Parole violation

In August 2010, Coronado was sentenced to four months in federal prison in Michigan for violating the terms of his probation. Coronado, who had been on parole since his release from prison, joined the social networking site Facebook. He was sentenced for the use of an unauthorized computer, and for "friending" former Earth First! co-founder Mike Roselle.[20] Coronado entered the Federal Correctional Institution in Milan, Michigan on September 16 with BOP#03895-000.[21] He was released January 14, 2011.[22]

Strong Hearts

Strong Hearts was a zine written and published by Coronado during his prison sentence for crimes committed on behalf of the Animal Liberation Front.[23]

Wolf Patrol

By 2021, Coronado founded Wolf Patrol, an environmental group that tracks wolf hunters, particularly those in Wisconsin who use tracking hounds.[24]

Personal life

Coronado's son was born around 2002. As of 2007, he was engaged and his partner had a young daughter.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Satya Interview: Freedom from the Cages". Archived from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2006.
  2. ^ "Convicted eco-terrorist pursues legal protection of Great Lakes wolves | Great Lakes Echo". greatlakesecho.org. July 9, 2015. Archived from the original on September 15, 2021. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  3. ^ "Facebook "Friending" Leads to Jail : Discovery News". web.archive.org. August 29, 2010. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  4. ^ Watkins, Mary; Bradshaw, G. A. (June 25, 2019). Mutual Accompaniment and the Creation of the Commons. Yale University Press. p. 258. ISBN 978-0-300-23614-9.
  5. ^ Norrell, Brenda (December 8, 1999). "Sierra Club honors Yaqui animal rights activists". Indian Country Today. p. B2. ISSN 1066-5501. ProQuest 362610777.
  6. ^ Derr & McNamara 2003, p. 28.
  7. ^ "Saboteurs Wreck Whale-Oil Plant in Iceland". The New York Times. Associated Press. November 11, 1986. ISSN 0362-4331.
  8. ^ Posluszna, Elzbieta (January 29, 2015). Environmental and Animal Rights Extremism, Terrorism, and National Security. Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-12-801704-3.
  9. ^ Zellhoefer, Aaron (2013). "Animal Enterprise Acts and the Prosecution of the 'SHAC 7': An Insider's Perspective". In Socha, Kim; Blum, Sarahjane (eds.). Confronting Animal Exploitation: Grassroots Essays on Liberation and Veganism. McFarland. p. 249. ISBN 978-0-7864-6575-0. In fact, this law was primarily developed to stop one individual—Rodney Coronado.
  10. ^ Davis, Tony (May 24, 2004). "Cougar hunt creates uproar; Following a sensational search, Arizona residents push for tougher protections for mountain lions". High Country News. p. 5. ISSN 0191-5657. ProQuest 363058233.
  11. ^ Swedlund, Eric (December 10, 2004). "New charge for Sabino lion-hunt intruders". Arizona Daily Star. p. B2. ISSN 0888-546X. ProQuest 389594480.
  12. ^ Powers, Ashley (May 4, 2004). "THE OUTDOORS DIGEST; Journalist snared; When reporters accompany activists, do they get the story or do they become the story?". Los Angeles Times. p. F.3. ISSN 0458-3035. ProQuest 421925773.
  13. ^ a b c d e Archibold, Randal C. (May 3, 2007). "Facing Trial Under Terror Law, Radical Claims a New Outlook". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
  14. ^ a b Carter, Edward C. (2016). Criminal Law and Procedure for the Paralegal. Wolters Kluwer. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-4548-7352-5.
  15. ^ "Rev. of Operation Bite Back: Rod Coronado's War to Save American Wilderness". Kirkus Reviews. May 1, 2009. ISSN 1948-7428. ProQuest 917359296.
  16. ^ Bezanson, Kate; Webber, Michelle (2016). Rethinking Society in the 21st Century, Fourth Edition: Critical Readings in Sociology. Canadian Scholars’ Press. p. 148. ISBN 978-1-55130-936-1. Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
  17. ^ a b Hawkins, Derek (February 27, 2017). "'We wanted them to live in fear': Animal rights activist admits to university bombing 25 years later". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. ProQuest 1872561529 Gale A483080985.
  18. ^ Hoffmann, Allison (April 12, 2008). "Mistrial Declared for Radical Environmentalist". ABC News. Retrieved September 3, 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. ^ Moran, Greg (April 10, 2008). "Animal rights activist tells of regret before sentencing". Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 3, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  20. ^ Frank, Matthew (August 24, 2010). "Facebook "friending" lands activist Rod Coronado in prison". Missoula Independent. Archived from the original on August 29, 2010. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  21. ^ Wright, Shana. "Rod's Sentence Begins Today". Support Rod Coronado. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  22. ^ "Federal Bureau of Prisons". Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  23. ^ "Animal Rights Activist Speaks at Tucson, Ariz., Gathering". Tribune Business News. Knight Ridder. November 30, 1999.
  24. ^ Blakeslee, Nate (July 27, 2021). "'An abomination': the story of the massacre that killed 216 wolves". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on November 14, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2021.

Bibliography

Further reading

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