Tag: No Compromise

Activists Claim Geoff Kerns Is Source of Grand Jury Testimony Against Watson and Lynn

Over the past several months Allison Lance Watson and Gina Lynn have spent time in and out of jail over their testimony or refusal to provide such testimony to a Seattle grand jury. One of the questions raised by the grand jury calling them to testify is who had implicated them in a number of acts of animal rights terrorism. According to a number of animal rights web sites, animal rights activist Geoff Kerns is apparently cooperating with the grand jury, probably as part of a plea bargain.

Kerns has been arrested a number of times for animal rights related activities. According to a Fur Commission USA press release, Kerns was one of three minors arrested at a Washington state fur farm in February 1999. According to the FCUSA,

On Tuesday, when the protesters left the [Seattle Fur] Exchange [following a protest sponsored by the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade that led two arrests], the hapless troupe reached the fur farm where about 15 people donned masks and jumped the fence. Five were quickly arrested by on-the-spot policemen. Three out-of-state minors — Lindsey Parme, Kyle Salisbury and Geoff Kerns — and two adults — Kim Berardi and Nicole Dawn Briggs — were charged with second degree burglary and first-degree theft.

Kerns was arrested again on August 2, 2000 at an anti-circus protest at the Los Angeles Sports Arena. According to a No Compromise report on the protest,

Meanwhile, three activists, Michelle Dyrness, Pamelyn Ferdin and Geoff Kerns, staged a lockdown in front of the front doors with lockboxes. (Lockboxes are three foot, cylinder, metal tubes weighing about 25 pounds each.) The activists inserted an arm into each lockbox and locked themselves to each other.

. . .

Three of the five activists remain incarcerated ON A HUNGER STRIKE at Southwest LA Precinct and the 77th Precinct (Jerry Vlasak, trauma surgeon/physician/MD, at Southwest — Pam F. and Michelle D. at 77th).

Two of the five civil disobediencers were minors and released a few hours after they were arrested. They were ADL-LA activists Geoff Kerns and Jeff Van-Name.

When Allison Lance Watson was charged with perjury, prosecutors were required to hand over any grand jury testimony related to the perjury charge to her lawyers as part of discovery. Part of that apparently included Kerns’ testimony, which Watson and/or her attorneys passed on to other animal rights activists.

No Compromise has an edited version of Kerns’ testimony (they have removed all of the names). The grand jury is clearly focused on that 1999 incident, and provides the grand jury not only with who the driver was (who escaped arrest), but also provides the name of a person he claims could identify the others who participated in the raid. Even with the names redacted, this makes for very interesting reading (especially the item I’ve bolded near the end),

AUSA: So it’s your testimony that you don’t recall anyone involved? You don’t recall any person involved in any animal rights or anti-fur protest or activity–

GEOFF: I recall seeing a couple of people. Just people that I recognized from L.A.

AUSA: Who did you see?

GEOFF: I saw [BLANK7]. S/he was at the protest. And I don’t remember specifically seeing them there but I would imagine [BLANK8] was there.

AUSA: Who is that?

GEOFF: [BLANK8]

AUSA: Who else did you see that you knew?

GEOFF: I believe maybe [BLANK]. I think s/he might have been there.

… AUSA: Ready to resume?

GEOFF: Actually, some of the questions that you have asked, as of now, have brought some things up that I didn’t recall at first…

GEOFF: Yeah. See, at the hotel, there’s one other activist I can remember specifically. And that
would be [BLANK9].

AUSA: What do you remember about [BLANK9]?

GEOFF: I just remember that s/he was there, actually with [BLANK10].

GEOFF: If you could go over some of those questions again.

AUSA: Let’s focus on, anyone else that you recall being involved in the fur exchange protest?

GEOFF: [BLANK11]. S/he’s also from Los Angeles.

AUSA: Anyone else?

GEOFF: [BLANK11], [BLANK7], again, [BLANK8], and [BLANK1].

AUSA: Do you remember any of them driving up to the mink release with you?

GEOFF: I believe [BLANK1] might have been in the car with me.

AUSA: You said you were in the back?

GEOFF: Yeah

AUSA: Where was [BLANK1]?

GEOFF: If it was her/him, it was next to me.

AUSA: You knew her/him from Los Angeles, right?

GEOFF: I had met her/him a few times. S/he was kind of a not friend.

AUSA: What did you talk to her/him about on the way up to the protest?

GEOFF: Everybody was kind of silent. There was music on in the car, I think.

AUSA: Do you recall that s/he was the [person] next to you?

GEOFF: Not clearly. It might have been her/him. I could say with a decent amount of certainty that it was her/him, but I wouldn’t want to bank a perjury charge on it.

… GEOFF: Look, I am trying to remember these things. A lot of them are things that I intentionally try to block out. I am trying to be honest here, clear all this up, and move on with my life. I am not involved with any animal rights group right now. I am working for a medical company trying to improve my life. I am giving you guys names, telling you, I mean.

JUROR: It just seems like you are protecting these people. You are protecting certain individuals that you shouldn’t be. You are too bright for that.

GEOFF: I am telling you who was in the car with me.

..GEOFF: And, I mean, I donÂ’t do well in jail. You know, IÂ’m not the kind of person that can go in there and deal with the fights and the bigotry and all that. ItÂ’s not easy on me. IÂ’m oh, God. And, I mean, I am claustrophobic. It scares the shit out of me.

GEOFF: I have a belief about government in general. I have a lot of beliefs. Believe me, I am not talking to you guys because I want to see these people go to prison. I am not talking to you because– I am not talking to you because I like you. I am not talking to you because I trust you. I am not talking to you for any other reason than if I donÂ’t, I could go to prison.

AUSA: …Is it because youÂ’ve seen them at a lot of meetings, therefore you trust them or–

GEOFF: Can they handle going to jail, have they been to jail before, have they done a considerable amount of time, are they willing to do something like that again. Most people are going to rat people out, because they donÂ’t want to go to jail. Can they handle it.

AUSA: Is that why you want to get out? You canÂ’t handle it when things get tough?

GEOFF: I canÂ’t handle jail. I can handle being questioned. I canÂ’t handle jail.

… GEOFF: I don’t remember how other people were dressed. I don’t remember if anybody had a mask. Like I said, I remember that [BLANK1] was in the car, and that is it. I am trying to think about conversations I had with [BLANK2].

JUROR: There was a protest going on as well as the mink release?

GEOFF: Right.

JUROR: Do you know how many people were involved in the mink release part?

GEOFF: I would estimate 15 or 20.

… GEOFF: … [BLANK2] told me that s/he had driven to pick those people up that had all run into the woods and later caller her/him. So, I mean, if s/he had gotten away with the rest of them, s/he I mean, I don’t think s/he would have done that. I mean.

… GEOFF: … And it was the police or the FBI that ended up arresting me. Seriously, there were a lot of things I can’t recall about it. I do know [BLANK2] told me later on that s/he drove to pick them up. S/he knows who they are.

… JUROR: Had you ever heard [BLANK2]’s name before coming up here?

GEOFF: I think I heard her/his name. I think [BLANK3] were friends of hers/his.

…JUROR: Are you active with animal rights right now?

GEOFF: No.

JUROR: You are not associated at all?

GEOFF: I have completely disassociated myself from it. The only contact I have had with people regarding or who are involved in the animal rights movement has been through an arrest last July. It was for an old warrant. And pertaining to this. And after some of the questions, as I said, I was able to go back and clarify things.

…JUROR: And you said you disassociated yourself with the whole animal rights. WhatÂ’s the reason for that?

GEOFF: ThereÂ’s a number of reasons. I was finding myself getting in a lot of trouble. That was one thing. I didnÂ’t want to destroy my life. I didnÂ’t want to do all this stuff, even though my ideals were so strong. And, you know, I didnÂ’t want to keep going through that. A lot of the people I had met were not the kind of people I liked associating with. On top of that, I burned a few bridges. I stole things from an activist house in Utah. They trusted me to be there, and I stole things from them. I was still– I had stopped doing drugs and started drinking and falling into a crowd that glamorized theft from the rich. And I betrayed someone who was a good friend of mine. And I couldnÂ’t stand the torment of those people continually confronting me about that. And I totally fucked that up.

AUSA: How do you justify breaking into another activistÂ’s home and stealing from them for the cause?

GEOFF: I donÂ’t justify it. I donÂ’t justify it. I donÂ’t pretend to. Breaking into an activistÂ’s home, that wasnÂ’t related to the cause. That was because I was fucked up. That was because I was going through a lot of things and learning about you know, new philosophies on how wonderful it is to shoplift and steal from the rich. And I went and did it. I was an idiot. I screwed up and betrayed people. ThereÂ’s no justifying that. At the time, I justified it by thinking, these people are rich. ItÂ’s okay to take from them. I donÂ’t have money. They do.

… GEOFF: … As I said, wanted to really start living my life and not just living unquestioning the way that everyone taught me to. We were taught to spout off statistics that we didn’t know were true. We were taught to, you know, embellish things to make things look more tragic than they already were.

JUROR: And when you are saying that you were taught things, who was teaching you? Who was giving you the statistics and telling you what to say?

GEOFF: I mean, just everybody. Mainstream animal rights groups, they don’t say where they get their statistics or anything like that. And, you know, people just say, you know, if you make things seem more extreme than they are, people aren’t going to research it. They are going to believe it. And I don’t know. It’s– the whole thing. I mean, you’ve got to understand, I have had all this stuff drilled into my head all the time about, you know, don’t snitch, don’t name names, don’t say things. And you have to understand that the vagueness and all that comes from a deep sense that I am betraying people that I loved. This is so hard for me.

JUROR: That is the believable Geoffrey. That is what we wanted to hear.

… GEOFF: … I really don’t remember her/ him driving up there. The only person I remember was [BLANK1], and s/he was sitting next to me…

AUSA: Do you want a minute before we go on? I have put a stack of pictures in front of you. And they are labeled Grand Jury exhibits GK 1 through 13. Can you take a look at each one? If you know who the person is, tell us the name.

GEOFF: This one looks familiar. I don’t know who s/he is.

AUSA: Is that GK1?

GEOFF: GK1.

GEOFF: This is the only one that looks familiar, I don’t know where I’ve seen him before. It was probably at the protest. This one looks familiar. I might have seen him in Salt Lake. GK5–

… AUSA: Do you know [BLANK3]?

GEOFF: No, I don’t, not personally.

AUSA: Okay.

GEOFF: [BLANK4], GK9.

AUSA: That’s the next one that looks familiar after GK5?

GEOFF: Yeah. GK10 is [BLANK1]. GK11, I think, is [BLANK5]. GK12 I don’t know. So these are the only ones that look familiar.

AUSA: Let me hand you three more exhibits… Can you take a look at each set of pictures and tell us if you recognize the person in that?

GEOFF: It could be [BLANK5]. I don’t know though.

AUSA: There’s four pictures. So take a look at the four.

GEOFF: Oh.

AUSA: I believe you told us earlier that you recognized her/his build.

GEOFF: Definitely her/his build. I can’t recognize the face though.

AUSA: Which exhibit is it that you are talking about?

GEOFF: It’s GK14.

AUSA: What about GK15 and 16?
GEOFF: 15, I don’t really remember. Is that [BLANK6], actually?

AUSA: Who is [BLANK6]?

GEOFF: My old friend, [full name].

… AUSA: Would you look back at GK14 for a minute. That’s the one I think you thought was [BLANK5].

GEOFF: Could have been, yeah.

AUSA: Could you take a look and tell us if you think it is?

GEOFF: I think so, based on the build, but the face is really blurry.

AUSA: You believe it’s [BLANK5] based on what you can see?

GEOFF: Yeah. I think [BLANK5] wears glasses. And based on the build, the lack of any fashion sense. That’s serious.

… AUSA: Are these people expecting to hear from you as far as what you have said here to the Grand Jury?

GEOFF: [BLANK1] told me to talk to her/him about it. I have not talked to her/him in the past couple of weeks, but–

AUSA: But s/he asked you to tell her/him what happened here. Are you planning to do that?

GEOFF: No. I was thinking about that last week.

… GEOFF: Which organization?

AUSA: The animal rights organization that you were involved in.

GEOFF: I was involved in a number of them. But in general, with activism movements such as that, if you do something like what I am doing now, this is the general rules, snitches get stitches.

AUSA: Then there are consequences for you?

GEOFF: If anybody finds out, yeah.

AUSA: For example.

GEOFF: I don’t know. Get beaten. Get hurt really bad.

AUSA: Had you heard that before, had somebody said if you do that, this is what’s going to happen?

GEOFF: I mean, not specifically, not relating to this. But in general, that like I said, snitches get
stitches. I mean, shit, I kicked this kid in the face for doing the same thing in Long Island.

AUSA: So you do have some fear for your safety because of what’s happened here at the grand jury?

GEOFF: If anybody finds out, I don’t know what happens. If they do, yeah.

AUSA: If it’s any consolation to you, you haven’t snitched on anyone.

GEOFF: I have talked about [BLANK5].

AUSA: No, you haven’t. People showed you pictures of [BLANK5]. And you said, yeah, that’s [BLANK5]. And you said you heard s/he had picked up some people after the mink release. We already had that information.

GEOFF: It’s still snitching. The thing you got to understand, you don’t help them put people in jail. And if they didn’t have a use for it, for me coming up here and doing that, then they wouldn’t be bringing me up here.

… GEOFF: Right, but I picked her/him from that. I am not trying to protect her/him. If s/he was driving the car, why would I say s/he was not driving the car but pick her/him out there?”

Source:

Geoff Kerns snitches to grand jury. San Diego IndyMedia, August 28, 2004.

Geoffrey Kerns talks. No Compromise, September 18, 2004.

6 Arrested, 2 Hurt at LA Sports Arena Circus Protest. No Compromise, August 2, 2000.

Quick Arrest for bungling terrorists. Press Release, Fur Commission USA, February 23, 1999.

Animal Activist Jailed for Defying Grand Jury

Animal rights activist Kim Berardi was jailed briefly in July after refusing to answer questions before a federal grand jury investing animal rights crimes in Seattle. She was released temporarily on July 6 to deal with some undisclosed personal matter and the current disposition of her case is unclear.

Berardi is associated with Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty. When SHAC activists were arrested in Little Rock, Arkansas, for example, activist asked that people wanting to donate money to bail out jailed activists should wire their money to Berardi.

She is also acted as a contact for animal rights extremist magazine No Compromise!

Previously she has worked with chapters of the Animal Defense League. A 1999 Fur Commission USA press release noted a protest at a farm (featuring those masked protestors we’ve all become so familiar with of late),

About 15 protesters showed up, many wearing black hooded sweatshirts, half a dozen wore masks over their faces. Local law enforcement responded and ensured that there were no violations of the rights or property of the farming family or the rights of the protesters to express their opinion.

Involved with the Chicago ADL is veteran conflict gypsy Kim Berardi who has organized ADL “Civil Disobedience Training” sessions focusing on “physical, psychological and emotional preparation” and “how to handle the police”, among other items. Previously associated with the extreme New York and New Jersey ADLs, groups which openly support the criminal activities of the terrorist Animal Liberation Front (ALF), Berardi was promoted in 1999 to managing the Chicago Animal Defense League.

. . .

Berardi currently faces charges in Washington State arising from a masked invasion of a farm on Feb. 23, 1999. About 15 people donned black masks and jumped the fence of a fur farm in Snohomish County where they began breaking into pens, traumatizing the domesticated mink. Five people were quickly arrested, including three out-of-state minors transported across state lines to perform criminal acts on a school day during school hours. Like Berardi, the other adult involved, Nicole Dawn Briggs, has arrest records in multiple states. They were charged with second-degree burglary and first-degree theft for the incident. Trial is set for January of 2000.

Yeah, can’t imagine at all why a grand jury would want to talk to her.

Sources:

Farming Family Endures Sunday Attack by Veteran Conflict-Generation Group. Press Release, Fur Commission USA, November 8, 1999.

Animal Activist Kim Berardi Released… Temporarily.

Little Rock SHAC Protesters May Need Money for Bail Bond.

Seattle Grand Jury Imprisons Kim Berardi! Press Release, No Compromise!, July 2, 2004.

Robin Webb on Animal Rights Terrorism

No Compromise recently ran a telling interview with Animal Liberation Front press officer Robin web about the roll of terrorism in the animal rights movement. Webb told the magazine (emphasis added),

The Animal Liberation Front, together with more radical groups such as the Animal Rights Militia and Justice Department, is the hard cutting edge of the war against abuse and exploitation of the weak and innocent, irrespective of gender, race or species.

. . .

The third policy is to take every reasonable precaution not to harm or endanger life, either human or non-human.

Anyone, so long as they follow at least a vegetarian—but preferably vegan—lifestyle, can go out and undertake an action that falls within those policies and claim it as the Animal Liberation Front. There is no hierarchy; there are no leaders. There is just a compulsion to follow your heart in pursuit of justice. That is why the A.L.F. cannot be smashed, it cannot be effectively infiltrated, it cannot be stopped. You, each and every one of you: you are the A.L.F.

And if someone wishes to act as the Animal Rights Militia or the Justice Department? Simply put, the third policy of the A.L.F. no longer applies.

As this web site has repeatedly said, it is incorrect to think of the ALF, ARM and Justice Department as groups. Instead they are little more than brand names for specific actions that are likely taken by overlapping group of activists.

Burn down a laboratory and nobody is injured? Claim it in the name of the ALF. Want to send razor blades to the homes of medical researchers? Fine, just make sure you label it as a Justice Department action.

Instead of thinking of these groups out there organizing to carry out activities, animal rights terrorism and extremism is better conceived as, in general, small groups of extremists who pick and choose a la carte from these brands depending on the outcome of their activities. There is no ALF dedicated to not harming people as opposed to an ARM that has no problem composing assassination lists. Instead there is simply a hardcore of animal rights extremism that picks and chooses these names for their own purposes.

In fact Webb and activist David Hammond were arrested in 1994 and charged with possession of a sawed-off shotgun. Later Hammond and Webb had a falling out, and The Observer reported in 1998 that,

Earlier, ALF defector David Hammond claimed Webb was the secret force behind the pro-killing group, the Justice Department. He said the outwardly respectable ALF spokesman had even offered him a sawn-off shotgun in a Sussex lay-by and asked if he knew Colin Blakemore – an Oxford professor who is at the top of the Justice Department’s hit-list.

Source:

Staying on target and going the distance: an interview with UK ALF Press Officer Robin Webb. No Compromise, Issue 22, Fall 2003.

Memo to Jeff Luers: Don't Do the Crime If You Can't Do the Time

In June 2000, Jeff Luers and Craig Marshall went to a Chevrolet dealership in Oregon and set three pickups on fire, causing an estimated $40,000 in damage. Almost a year later, on June 11, 2001, the 22-year old activist was sentenced to 22 years in jail for those acts of arson and related crimes. A large portion of that sentence does not carry any parole option, so Luers will likely spend close to 15 years in jail. Good for him.

The facts behind Luers’ case show that whatever else he is, he is not very bright. Luers had been just released from jail on a disorderly conduct charge. Plainclothes police were tailing him but lost him near the car dealership. He was arrested 10 minutes after the fire by another office on a traffic violation!

Luers received a 22-year sentence for two reasons. First, unlike Marshall, he refused to plea bargain. Marshall plead to lesser charges and received 5 1/2 years. As one newspaper account put it, Luers chose to roll the dice on a trial and lost big time. Second, Luers was also convicted of trying to ignite a gasoline tanker at Eugene’s Tyree Oil Co. in May 2000. The judge apparently decided that based on those two incidents, Luers was a serial arsonist and gave him a stiff sentence in response.

Of course animal rights and environmental extremists see Luers as a victim due to his long sentence. They seem to think that Luers and the right to commit arson because his conscience told him it was the right thing to do, but society does not have the right to protect itself against arsonists such as Luers.

Luers himself recently wrote a letter to Rep. Scott McInnis, who is conducting hearings into ecoterrorism, which is reproduced in its entirety below,

Dear Mr Scott McInnis,

I am writing in response to your recent statements and questions about me. I do not appreciate your deliberate and malicious misrepresentations of my words to further your political goals. Not only have you taken my words and formed new sentences with them attributing them to me, you have quoted me as saying things that I have never said. As an elected Representative of the people, I believe it is your legal and moral duty to be truthful when carrying out the political and legal activities of your office.

However I do appreciate your concern about me ” [wasting] away in prison for the next two plus decades.” You will be pleased to know that is not the case. I have stayed quite active in my college studies working towards my BA. Also, I have had a unique opportunity to discuss my situation with media from around the globe who have shown a surprising interest in my sentence.

You must realize Scott, that two years ago I was just a young man frustrated by the increasingly severe destruction of the environment. I burned some tires on some trucks as a result of that frustration. Perhaps my actions were misguided. Perhaps they can be rationalized as the lesser of two evils. It is all perspective.

Had I been given a reasonable sentence I would have been forgotten by the public. I would have been one news story.I would have served my sentence and finished my BA. I would have been released, reunited with my family and enjoyed the rest of my life. Yes, I would have continued to be active in efforts to protect the environment, but I would have avoided activities that would lead me back to prison.

By giving me a sentence of 22 years, viewed by a majority of people as overly harsh and extreme, the system has put me in the spot light, giving me international attention. I have been made to be an example. However, that has only served to make me a political prisoner and for some perhaps even a martyr. This is not a role I chose to fill. It was forced upon me. It is oppression that creates revolutionaries Scott, and it is injustice that ignites revolutions.

In defense of Mother Earth

Sincerely,

Jeff Luers

If Luers thinks he has much of a spotlight, he is deluding himself — in a couple years no one but the small cadre of true believers will remember him (his case was barely reported nationally as it was). But he has received a lot of attention from other extremists.

According to an article by Josh Harper in a recent issue of No Compromise, for example,

The fire Free was convicted of setting was an act of compassion. The gas guzzling monstrosities known as SUV’s slaughter more animals each year than the fur industry, emit fumes that harm the well being of plants and animals alike, and take us further down the path of a world without green spaces. As forests, grasslands, and other wild areas fall to make more room for parking lots and freeways, is it any wonder that people are beginning to attack the auto industry?

Animal rights, extremist environmental sites, and anarchist sites are filled with similar screeds condemning the injustices supposedly done to Luers.

Luers is appealing his sentence, but faces an uphill battle. Meanwhile the car dealership recently filed a civil suit against Luers and Marshall to cover the cost of the destroyed property.

With any luck, the dealers will have to wait 20 years before seeing any money from Luers.

Sources:

Man Called ‘Free’ Sits In Prison. Bryan Denson, The Oregonian, September 25, 2001.

Chevy dealer sues anarchists convicted in arson fire. Associated Press, February 27, 200.

In Honor of Jeff Luers. Josh Harper, No Compromise, Issue 18, Summer 2001.

Buddy, Can You Spare A Dime for No Compromise?

No Compromise! recently posted a page on its web site that had me laughing out loud in front of my computer. Titled, “Help No Compromise!” the page was basically a laundry list of ways people could help No Compromise generate the revenue it needs to stay afloat. “…Please help ensure our survival so we can continue to serve the people who are fighting in the trenches,” the plea read. So how does one go about helping No Compromise? Lets see.

You could subscribe to the zine using a credit card (with helpful PayPal links and buttons if you’re so inclined). But why not do a little more? No Compromise joined two affiliate programs, LD.Net and IGive.Com. According to No Compromise, “We receive commission if you use the following links to buy services. We don’t endorse them, but if you are going to shop anyway, please use these links so we receive the commission fee!” Sure, and I don’t endorse meat eating, but I figure if they’re going to kill cows anyway, who am I to deny myself a double cheeseburger?

Ld.Net is reselling telecommunications products (primarily cellular phone and long distance service), while IGive.Com is set up specifically to aid groups advocating one cause or another to purchase items and have a percentage of the purchase price go to that cause. Their business model seems to be trying to drive ideologically-mind shoppers their way, which doesn’t seem like a very promising business in the long run.

Hmmm. Credit cards to pay for subscriptions? A cut of online sales for everything from cut flowers to books made out of dead trees? Is it just me or did No Compromise just become capitalists? I wonder how long before Rodney Coranado denounces this as just the sort of business practice that is destroying the world? (In fact Coranado has denounced these sort of business practices as literally terrorism within the pages of No Compromise — maybe its editors missed that issue).

And of course what would any self-respecting hardcore animal rights group be without a mission statement?

No Compromise is dedicated to unifying the grassroots animal liberationists by providing a forum where activists can exchange information, share strategy, discuss important issues within the movement, network with each other in an open and respectful environment and strengthen the grassroots.

Here I thought the group’s mission was to provide a platform for terrorists and help animal rights extremists harass and commit acts of violence. I suppose the links they provide to terrorist manuals is part of their goal of creating a “respectful environment.”

I’m sure glad they cleared that up.

Help No Compromise!.

Court Reigns in Rodney Coronado

In a recent newsletter, Americans for Medical Progress reported that the parole conditions for Rodney Coronado have apparently been altered to prevent Coronado from continuing his very public writing and speaking campaign in favor of animal rights. Coronado fire bombed a laboratory at Michigan State University and served almost five years in jail for his crimes before being paroled.

Before being sentenced in 1995 Coronado read a statement saying that, “I have gone from the most vocal proponent to now an open opponent of the ALF. My actions were illegal, radical and extreme and caused great pain to others. It took me years to realize the impact of my actions.”

Coronado quickly repudiated those remarks while in jail and after his release on parole began writing articles for activists publications such as No Compromise extolling the virtues of the Animal Liberation Front and similar groups.

Apparently his activities didn’t go unnoticed by the courts. According to AMP, a communique was recently circulated by activists to the effect that new parole conditions forbid Coronado to “write articles or otherwise work for activists publications, nor can speak out, publicize or support illegal actions or associate with ALF or ELF members for the next 16 months–the remainder of his parole term.”

Source:

ALF’s Rodney Coronado Under Tighter Parole Restrictions. Americans for Medical Progress, April 12, 2001.