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Retired agent John Morrison reviews an ecoterrorism case involving a member of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) who firebombed the mink research offices and destroyed laboratory facilities at Michigan State University in 1992.
ALF is an international, leaderless, decentralized resistance movement that advocates and engages in direct action to protest incidents of animal cruelty. (Wikipedia)
The subject of the investigation, Rodney Coronado, was also responsible for the arson and destruction of mink research facilities at Washington State and Oregon State Universities. Coronado pleaded guilty for the Michigan State University crimes, the first federal conviction of an admitted ALF member.
Special Agent (Retired)
John Morrison
1986 – 2014
“Their conviction is that these animals are prisoners of war. That’s how they look at them. And it’s their job to free them.”—Retired Agent John Morrison
John Morrison served in the FBI for 28 years. He began his law enforcement career in 1980 in local police departments as a dispatcher and police officer. His first Bureau assignment was to the Buffalo Division, where he worked counterintelligence and criminal matters and spent one-year undercover on a counterintelligence case. The FBI then transferred him to the Detroit Division at the Lansing Resident Agency, where he worked on the ALF investigation.
He later requested a transfer to the Chicago Division, where he created the first multi-agency health care task force.
John was hand-picked for a two-year temporary duty assignment to work on the John Connelly corruption Justice Task Force for which he was awarded the FBI Director’s Award in 2003 for Excellence in Investigations.
After he returned to Chicago, he served as the applicant coordinator before being promoted to a supervisory special agent leading various programs.
After retiring from the FBI, John worked health care and private insurance in the private sector.
The following are links to articles about the Michigan State University firebombing by Rodney Coronado, an Animal Liberation Front (ALF) member:
New York Times – 05/03/2007: Facing Trial Under Terror Law, Radical Claims a New Outlook | PDF format Facing Trial Under Terror Law, Radical Claims a New Outlook – The New York Times
RollingStone Magazine – 6/1/1995: The Tracks of the Coyote
Free Press – 02/23/2017: Ecoterrorist admits firebombing MSU 25 years ago
Learn more about how the FBI investigates ecoterrorism and the Animal Liberation Front:
Episode 028: Dana Ridenour – Undercover, Animal Rights Extremists
