Rodney Adam Coronado is an American eco-anarchist and animal rights activist who has been convicted of arson, conspiracy and other crimes in connection with his activism but now advocates non-violent action. He is an advocate and former activist for the Animal Liberation Front and a spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front. He is also a former crew member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and was a member of the editorial collective of the Earth First! Journal.
A former proponent of the use of direct action to end what he sees as cruelty to animals and destruction of the environment, Coronado was jailed in 1995 in connection with an arson attack on research facilities at Michigan State University. The incident, which caused $125,000 worth of damage and destroyed 32 years of research data, was part of the Animal Liberation Front's "Operation Bite Back," a series of attacks on animal-testing and fur facilities in the United States during the 1990s. blank">"Rod Coronado sentenced to 8 months in prison", Arkangel, retrieved August 19, 2006.
In 2006, while imprisoned for felony _conspiracy and awaiting trial on further charges, Coronado expressed a change in his personal philosophy inspired by fatherhood. In an open letter, he wrote, "Don't ask me how to burn down a building. Ask me how to grow watermelons or how to explain nature to a child," explaining that he wants "not [to] be remembered as a man of destruction but a human believer in peace and love for all."
