ELF Member Charged in Demonstrating Use of a Destructive Device

United States Attorney Carol Lam reported the unsealing of a one-count indictment charging Rodney Adam Coronado, a self-proclaimed member of the Earth Liberation Front (“ELF”), with the felony charge of demonstrating the use of a destructive device. Coronado was arrested this week in Tucson, Arizona, by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

According to the indictment, on Aug. 1, 2003, at a public gathering in the Hillcrest neighborhood of San Diego, Coronado taught and demonstrated the making and use of a destructive device, with the intent that the device be used to commit arson. Hours earlier, a fire had destroyed a large apartment complex under construction in the University Towne Center (UTC) area of San Diego. Lam stated, “Teaching people how to build explosives in order to commit violent crimes is unacceptable in civilized society. There is no excuse for it.”

Coronado is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment before a United States Magistrate Judge in Tucson.