Environmental and social justice activist, ELF warrior and political prisoner William C. Rodgers (known to friends as “Avalon”) died on December 21, 2005. A casualty of the Green Scare, he committed suicide in jail, citing the following reason:
“To my friends and supporters to help them make sense of all these events that have happened so quickly: Certain human cultures have been waging war against the Earth for millennia. I chose to fight on the side of bears, mountain lions, skunks, bats, saguaros, cliff rose and all things wild. I am just the most recent casualty in that war. But tonight I have made a jail break—I am returning home, to the Earth, to the place of my origins. Bill, 12/21/05 (the winter solstice.)”
According to his bio on Wikipedia: “The FBI has claimed that Rodgers was a criminal “mastermind” and the anonymous author of Setting Fire with Electrical Timers, an Earth Liberation Front Guide, which explained in detail how to create an incendiary device known as a “cat’s cradle.” Authorities said that once the guide was published they no longer were able to tell with certainty when the ELF cell connected to Rodgers was responsible for an arson….
Rodgers has had a continuing impact on various anarchist and radical environmentalist movements. A number of acts of civil disobedience have been dedicated to his memory. Among these have been the removal of 28 beagle puppies from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the Independent University of Madrid and the burning of a partially constructed development in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.”
In remembrance of William, to celebrate the release of political prisoner Daniel McGowan and to educate the community on issues of Earth liberation, an informal group has come together to coordinate events, asking that collectives, organizations, groups, bookstores, and student clubs organize something around or on Dec. 21, 2012.EVENTS TWIN CITIES, MN
Sponsored by Institute for Critical Animal Studies
Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012
*If a Tree Falls* film viewing and discussion – 7 PM to 9 PM
Minnehaha Free Space: 3747 Minnehaha Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55406
BUFFALO, NY
Breaking the Spell Video Showing – 7:30 PM to 9PM
Burning Books
420 Connecticut St., Buffalo, NY
HOUSTON, TX – details TBA
Sponsored by Houston Animal Rights Team
