Editing Rod Coronado (section)

== Early life and activism ==

[[File:Rod Coronado of Great Lakes Wolf Patrol explains wolf traps.webm|thumb|Coronado explaining wolf traps in 2014]]

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 |page=258 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4-aaDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA253}}</ref> of [[Pascua Yaqui]] Indigenous ancestry and raised in California.{{r|norrell}} (He was not registered with the tribe as of 2006 for political reasons.<ref>{{cite news |last=Beal |first=Tom |title=Feathers bring more charges for activist |work=[[Arizona Daily Star]] |pages=B1–B2 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/91075203/arizona-daily-star/ |date=2006-07-26}}</ref>) 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 the radical environmentalist group [[Earth First!]], and the [[Animal Liberation Front]], an underground [[animal rights]] group that released animals from [[fur farm]]s and [[animal research|research]] facilities.<ref name=norrell>{{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=1066-5501 |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 [[Reykjavík]] 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 Reykjavík, 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 |access-date=November 23, 2021 |archive-date=November 23, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211123124617/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/11/11/world/saboteurs-wreck-whale-oil-plant-in-iceland.html |url-status=live}}</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, 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.{{r|Posluszna}} Coronado had said that he was not involved in the attack apart from serving as a spokesperson for the Animal Liberation Front, and took the lesser charge of aiding in the attack to avoid a trial and drop charges from other attacks. Only 25 years later did Coronado admit to being the attack's sole perpetrator.{{r|Hawkins}} The campaign continued during his imprisonment with a focus on freeing animals rather than economic sabotage.<ref name=Posluszna>{{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 |page=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 |page=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> While in prison, Coronado created and wrote the magazine ''Strong Hearts''.{{r|norrell}}

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=0191-5657 |id={{ProQuest|363058233}} |df=mdy-all }}</ref> Coronado, Earth First activist Matthew Crozier, and an ''[[Esquire (magazine)|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=0888-546X |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=0458-3035 |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 |access-date=November 23, 2021 |archive-date=November 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211114201413/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/03/us/03elf.html |url-status=live}}</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 |page=122 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2d0uDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA122}}</ref>

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=1948-7428 |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 |page=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}}

Fatherhood and years of imprisonment changed Coronado's priorities.{{r|Hawkins}} 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 |newspaper=[[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}} |access-date=September 15, 2021 |archive-date=October 11, 2019 |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/ |url-status=live }}</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 an [[American University]] (2003).{{r|outlook}} But parenting, he wrote, makes parents "practice the very principles [they] seek to teach [their] children".{{r|Hawkins}}
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* {{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 }}
* {{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 }}
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The incendiary device case ended as a [[mistrial]] with a [[hung jury]].<ref>{{Cite news |agency=[[The Associated Press]] |title=California: Mistrial in Ecoterror Case |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2007-09-21 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/us/21brfs-MISTRIALINEC_BRF.html |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |df=mdy-all |access-date=November 24, 2021 |archive-date=June 5, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605060221/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/us/21brfs-MISTRIALINEC_BRF.html |url-status=live}}</ref> He pled guilty and in March 2008 was sentenced to a year of prison in exchange for other dropped cases and to "move on with [his] life", having already committed to a changed outlook on violence.<ref name=moran>{{Cite web |last=Moran |first=Greg |date=2008-04-10 |title=Animal rights activist tells of regret before sentencing |url=http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080328-9999-1m28bomb.html |url-status=live |access-date=2021-09-03 |website=[[The San Diego Union-Tribune]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410193549/http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080328-9999-1m28bomb.html |archive-date=April 10, 2008}}</ref> Coronado was released in 2009. The next year, a judge sent him back to prison for four months after Coronado was found to have [[friended]] activist [[Mike Roselle]] on [[Facebook]] in violation of his probation.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Kouddous |first1=Sharif Abdel |last2=Goodman |first2=Amy |title=Jailed for Facebook Friending: Animal Rights Activist Rod Coronado Ordered Back to Prison After Accepting Friend Request from Fellow Activist |work=[[Democracy Now!]] |date=2010-09-08 |url=http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/8/jailed_for_facebook_friending_animal_rights |language=en |access-date=2021-11-24 |df=mdy-all |archive-date=October 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010162707/http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/8/jailed_for_facebook_friending_animal_rights |url-status=live}}</ref>

Coronado has been involved with [[grey wolf]] conservation in the contiguous United States since 2013. He founded [[Wolf Patrol]], a non-profit environmental group that monitors treatment of wolves and reports illegal wolf hunting.{{r|Hawkins}}<!--<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 -->