Underground 10-13 (1998 Ontario, Canada)
Our Underground collection continues its way into 1998, a somewhat bittersweet year for the movement. After a period of steady growth in both illegal direct action and militant grassroots activity, No Compromise editor and well known activist Freeman Wicklund denounced the ALF (and most forms of protest) at a large demonstration in southern California. His “new” perspective was merely a recycled, pro-animal form of pacifist strategy taken from Gene Sharpe, and he demanded that people take sides. Freeman was charismatic and many young people had first began their involvement after hearing him speak. They were now torn by his change of heart. Many people dropped out, and above ground pressure campaigns largely ground to a halt.
’98 also saw a continuation of the previous years snitching epidemic, but, as always, some positive developments buoyed our spirits and resolve. In Oregon, protestors jumped the fences at a farm which bred rabbits for vivisection, and soon the United States had it’s first daylight raid underway. Katie Fedor, an organizer with Minnesota’s Student Organization for Animal Rights, became the United States’ first ALF Press Officer in more than a decade, and soon she was speaking out in favor of sabotage and liberations in major media outlets on a regular basis. The conviction of the “GandALF 3” was suddenly overturned on grounds that they had not, in fact, conspired with person unknown to carry out unknown actions at unknown locations! Finally, good people with dedication and resolve rained hell down on animal abusers all year long, resulting in thousands of lives lived outside of cages. It’s hard to keep a good movement down.
Also see Underground 1-3 and Underground 4-6 and Underground 7-9 and Underground 14-15 and the final rare issue, Underground 16.
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Underground #7-9 (1997, Ontario, Canada.)
The third year of publication saw Underground expanding its international coverage as illegal direct action for animals took off all over the world. In another interesting development, the Earth Liberation Front began to increase activity in the US, and many early communiques, as well as interviews with British ELF activists, are included in these three issues.
1997 also marked the beginning of a sad trend in the movement that plagues us still: Snitching. Although there had been occasional instances of animal liberationists informing on each other in the past, arrests (and subsequent grassing) began to multiply as mink farm raids skyrocketed. Many of those arrested became witnesses for the state, thus turning their backs on their fellow ALF volunteers and the animals they had set out to save. Some informants even went so far as to give information about their own family members.
While some of our friends proved themselves cowards, others showed their dignity and resolve to the end. Steve Simmons, a former ALF spokesperson, died of AIDS on January 12th. Before his death he had been an outspoken opponent of using non-humans in AIDS and HIV experiments, famously standing up against counter protestors in Washington DC and declaring that his suffering would not be alleviated by enslaving and torturing others. 1997 also saw the passing of Earth First! activist Judi Bari, who died at age 47 of cancer. Bari had been the victim of an FBI frame-up attempt after her car was bombed. Absurdly, she was arrested for possession of the bomb which was planted in an attempt to kill her and fellow environmentalist Daryl Cherney. After her death her family won it’s lawsuit against the FBI and local police. The people who attempted to murder her have still not been found. Finally, this same year saw the end of Barry Horne’s first hungerstrike, an important event in our history that received some coverage in Underground and sparked many liberations in England and elsewhere.
Also see Underground 1-3 and Underground 4-6 and Underground 10-13 and Underground 14-15 and the final rare issue, Underground 16.
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Frequently Asked Questions about the Earth Liberation Front (2001, Portland, OR. USA)
This was a widely circulated pamphlet produced by the North American ELF Press Office that served more as an FAQ about the politics of the two press officers, Craig Rosebraugh and Leslie James Pickering. Because the saboteurs of the ELF were underground, they relied heavily upon their above ground counterparts to challenge false media reports, publicize their actions, and explain their ideas. A brief look at the ideologies of those later convicted for ELF actions shows that many of them were in the anti-civilization and anarchist camps, whereas the press officers representing them were more traditionally radical-left anti-capitalists influenced by animal rights and environmentalism.
While there may have been small divides in the politics of those carrying out the actions and those speaking to the media, no one can doubt that the NAELFPO fought hard, and suffered greatly, to show their support for the Earth Liberation Front. The two press officers experienced multiple grand jury subpoenas, police brutality, raids on their homes where all of their possessions were destroyed, and even attempts on their lives. Craig Rosebraugh, for example, once found the brakes of his car cut. Instead of taking him out of the fight, the repression and violence seemed to steel his resolve, and him and Leslie James both have continued to be vocal activists. This FAQ is still one of their most read publications, and we are happy to host it here at Conflict Gypsy.
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Resistance Volume 1 #1-4, Volume 2 #1 (1999-2001. Portland, OR. USA)
Before Portland became famous for its eccentricities and vegan mini-malls, it used to be known as one of the west coast’s most active centers for direct action oriented environmental, animal, and human rights activism. Famously referred to as “little Beirut,” by the George H.W. Bush administration, Portland was the home of peace-punk bands, eco-saboteurs, and anti-government riots. Then, strangely enough, it became a hotbed of pacifism in the mid-90s thanks to the efforts of… wait for it… Craig Rosebraugh.
Craig eventually became known internationally for his support of political violence and ecotage, but for a few years he was an advocate of Gandhian nonviolence. After participating in several voluntary arrest actions, he co-founded the group Liberation Collective in 1996 as a blanket organization meant to tackle a wide variety of social ills. The group was a springboard for many well known activists, and planned a number of media spectacles across the United States, from Buy Nothing Day car smash-em-ups in busy downtown streets to the cross country Primate Freedom Tour. (The PFT was credited in large part to a group called Coalition to End Primate Experiments, but the greater part of the organizing was done by LibCo members.)
After the failure of attempts such as One Struggle to document a broad movement for ecological sanity and justice for all life, Liberation Collective took up the torch and released the first issue of Resistance. The inaugural issue was unlike any other in the series though. The main forces behind the publication, Craig and Leslie James Pickering, had politics that were no longer meshing well with the rest of the group. Liberation Collective was falling apart due to a number of factors, and ultimately LJ and Craig struck out on their own, founding the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office and continuing the Resistance project as a newsletter of their new organization.
The third issue of Resistance launched what was to become the best source of information for a rapidly expanding underground movement. The Earth Liberation Front was becoming active across the United States, but supportive coverage could be difficult to find. Even the Earth First! Journal wasn’t always willing to support the large scale arson attacks of the ELF, and when they did they lost membership. (Famously, Julia Butterfly left Earth First! after the Journal gave positive coverage to the Vail arson.) Resistance, however, published nearly every ELF communique unedited, and covered the multiple federal investigations into the groups actions. Activists seeking a better knowledge of the events leading to the green scare and “Operation Backfire” arrests would do well to start by reading the early volumes of Resistance.
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