from Earth First! Newswire
In January/February 2014 The Hunt Saboteurs and Resistance Ecology will be holding a speaking tour with Rod Coronado.
More info on the locations in Denver, Eugene, Portland and Seattle as they are confirmed.
Thursday January 30th Denver Co 7pm- Location TBA
Friday January 31st Seattle WA 7pm- Black Coffee Co-op
Saturday February 1st Portland OR 7pm-PSU (RM # TBA)
Sunday February 2nd Eugene OR 7pm- Location TBA
We’re asking for donations at the door to help with the cost of this tour, no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
We ask that anyone planning to video or record the presentations please make that known and get it cleared first.
This tour is to raise awareness on the Wolf Hunts, Hunt Saboteurs and other topics happening now.
Some background on Rod-
In 1986, Rod and another activist, David Howitt, sank two ships, the Hvalur 6 and Hvalur 7, accounting for half of Iceland’s whaling fleet. Before scuttling the ships, Coronado and Howitt caused $2 million worth of damage to the Icelandic whaling station.
In 1995 Rod 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.
In 2001, Coronado visited the site of the Little Bighorn battle in Montana and stole a cavalryman’s journal during his visit, a defiant act in retaliation for the theft of hundreds of indigenous histories throughout the West and as, in his own word, “a reminder of indigenous discontentment with the treatment of our heritage and culture by the u.s. [lowercase his] government.”
In 2004, he was indicted on felony charges for an Earth First! hunt-sab in Sabino Canyon just outside of Tucson where he dismantled a lion trap, spread lion urine to confuse the hunting dogs, and was found guilty of felony conspiracy to disrupt a forest officer. He got 8 months for that.
He was a crew member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and a member of the editorial collective of the Earth First! Journal and the author of Flaming Arrows.
Strong Hearts Rod’s prison writings are available to read on the Talon Conspiracy as is Memories of Freedom.
