ReWilding the West: Remembering Rod Coronado
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Rod Coronado, who is turning 47 this year, is a Yaqui Pascua Indian, a writer and poet, a father, lover of nature and animals, a felon and eco-anarchist. He's the kind of guy that could tell you all about the native flowers growing out of the cracks in the sidewalk and how to make rudimentary bombs...
In 1995 Coronado was convicted on felony charges for an arson attack on a Michigan State University animal research facility, part of a string of facilities targeted by the ALF in their campaign duly titled "Operation Bite-Back." He was sentenced with 56 months but the damages to the fur industry were substantial. Aside from the direct impacts of the action he was imprisoned for, he has been credited for research and inspiration which lead to many more actions, freeing thousands of animals -mink, fox, coyotes -who actually have a fighting chance to re-wild themselves and survive upon release. Not to mention millions of dollars lost to economic sabotage, dealing a crippling blow to the whole industry.
Much of Rod's early actions took place just before the eruption of intense FBI hunts for "domestic eco-terrorists," a fear mongering term elevated by State and corporate media following the rise of the ELF. But in a West rapidly laid bleak with concrete, undergoing an extinction crisis and climate convulsion, overcrowded with bland, consumerist culture and the boredom of timid human engagement, Coronado stands as a figure, all the more heroic, and absolutely quintessential to the promise of a re-Wilded West. Read More | earthfirstnews.wordpress.com