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Rod Coronado

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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 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.[4]

Hvalur sinkings

Main article: 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 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.[5] About $2 million in damage had been done (equivalent to $6 million in 2023).[6]

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.[7] The 1992 federal Animal Enterprise Protection Act, which was built to protect animal-based businesses, had been crafted largely in response to Coronado.[8]

Demonstrating an incendiary device

Further information: Green Scare

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.[9] The indictment indirectly relates to an August 1, 2003 fire in San Diego that destroyed an apartment complex causing an estimated $50 million worth of damage.[10] A banner was found at the scene inscribed with the initials of the ELF. Coronado, a self-described "unofficial ELF spokesman,"[11] 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.[12]

His arrest was associated with the FBI's Operation Backfire, the country's largest sweep of eco-activists in its history.[13]

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.[14]

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.[15] 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.[16]

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.[17] Coronado entered the Federal Correctional Institution in Milan, Michigan on September 16 with BOP#03895-000.[18] He was released January 14, 2011.[19]

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.[20]

Wolf Patrol

By 2021, Coronado founded Wolf Patrol, an environmental group that tracks wolf hunters, particularly those in Wisconsin who use tracking hounds.[21]

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. ^ Norrell, Brenda (December 8, 1999). "Sierra Club honors Yaqui animal rights activists". Indian Country Today. p. B2. ISSN 1066-5501. ProQuest 362610777.
  5. ^ Derr & McNamara 2003, p. 28.
  6. ^ "Saboteurs Wreck Whale-Oil Plant in Iceland". The New York Times. Associated Press. November 11, 1986. ISSN 0362-4331.
  7. ^ Posluszna, Elzbieta (January 29, 2015). Environmental and Animal Rights Extremism, Terrorism, and National Security. Butterworth-Heinemann. p. 83. ISBN 978-0-12-801704-3.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ "Federal Bureau of Investigation - San Diego Field Division - Department of Justice Press Release - February 22, 2006". web.archive.org. March 22, 2006. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  10. ^ Soto, Oneil (February 23, 2006). "The San Diego Union-Tribune - San Diego, California & National News". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on June 29, 2009. Retrieved September 3, 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; June 29, 2006 suggested (help)
  11. ^ "Paul Watson: Assault on the foundations of freedom". The New Zealand Herald. February 27, 2006. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  12. ^ "Environmentalist charged with teaching arson in San Diego". web.archive.org. September 30, 2007. Retrieved September 3, 2021.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Hawkins, Derek (February 27, 2017). "'We wanted them to live in fear': Animal rights activist admits to university bombing 25 years later". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 11, 2019. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
  15. ^ Hoffmann, Allison (April 12, 2008). "ABC News: Mistrial Declared for Radical Environmentalist". Wayback Machine. Retrieved September 3, 2021. {{cite web}}: |archive-date= requires |archive-url= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ 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)
  17. ^ 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.
  18. ^ Wright, Shana. "Rod's Sentence Begins Today". Support Rod Coronado. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2010.
  19. ^ "Federal Bureau of Prisons". Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  20. ^ "Animal Rights Activist Speaks at Tucson, Ariz., Gathering". Tribune Business News. Knight Ridder. November 30, 1999.
  21. ^ 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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