Craig Rosebraugh
Encyclopedia
Craig Rosebraugh is a writer, filmmaker and activist advocating for political and social justice
, human rights
, and environmental and animal protection.
and Earth Liberation Front
. In 1998, he wrote the essay, Arguments Against The Use Of Nonhuman Animals In Biomedical And Scientific Experimentation, where he seeks to examine the ethical implications of the experimentation on animals and refute its supposed contribution to the medical research for human health. The following year, Rosebraugh was a co-founder of the Coalition to End Primate Experimentation (CEPE) and served as the National Organizer for the 1999 Primate Freedom Tour, a four-month long protest tour of the primary primate research facilities in the United States. In October 1999, during a protest in support of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal
, the Portland Police broke Rosebraugh's arm and arrested him for disorderly conduct and tampering with a police horse. Rosebraugh was found not guilty on all charges and sued the City of Portland, winning an out-of-court settlement.
From 1997-2001, Rosebraugh served as a spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front
receiving anonymous communiques from the ELF and forwarding them on to news media internationally. In 1999, Rosebraugh co-formed the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office
(NAELFPO) with Leslie James Pickering
, where he continued to forward communiques, conduct international press interviews, and nationwide informational lectures on the ideology of the ELF movement. Between 1997 and 2006, Rosebraugh received eight subpoenas to appear before federal grand juries
to discuss his sources, but he has said he has no knowledge of them and refused to cooperate with the proceedings. The New York Times Magazine dubbed him the "Face of Ecoterrorism" in 1998. In 2002 he appeared, under power of subpoena, in front of the U.S. Congress in a House Resources Subcommittee hearing on eco-terrorism
. During the hearing, Rosebraugh took the Fifth Amendment
to 54 of 56 questions asked by Congress, effectively stonewalling the proceeding. He did issue Congress an eleven page written testimony charging the U.S. government with being "one of the most horrific terrorist organizations in planetary history."
Rosebraugh resigned his position as spokesperson on September 5, 2001, believing that a refocusing of strategies and tactics needed to occur to fully promote justice in the United States. In the sentencing for Chelsea Dawn Gerlach
however, it was stated that Rosebraugh resigned after a disagreement between himself and members of the Earth Liberation Front
(ELF) cell responsible for the Jefferson Poplar Farm arson. The cell believed genetic engineering research was being done and wrote the communique to Rosebraugh claiming that justification. Rosebraugh's research showed that the farm had recently changed ownership and no genetic engineering was being done at the time of the arson so Rosebraugh edited the communique and removed that justification. This angered the cell and through this disagreement, Rosebraugh resigned his role.
Despite the seizure of his computer equipment; searches of his business, person, and home; grand jury investigations; FBI
and ATF
questioning; facing years in prison and hundreds of death threats; he did not reveal the identities of members of the Earth Liberation Front
and Animal Liberation Front
movements.
Rosebraugh's first book, "The Logic of Political Violence: Lessons in Reform and Revolution" was published in 2003 and is a comparison study between the use of non-violence and politically-motivated violence in historical justice struggles. His second book, "Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: Speaking for the Earth Liberation Front" was published in 2004 and is a memoir of his time speaking on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front
. In 2009, Rosebraugh was the contributing editor of the book, "This Country Must Change: Essays on the Necessity of Revolution in the U.S.A.," a compilation of essays from prominent political prisoners and activists in the United States. Rosebraugh is currently working on his next book, an exploration into humans' conflicting relationship with the natural world and the political and economic reasons why a sustainable co-existence has not been possible. This will be an accompanying book to his upcoming feature film Seventh Generation The Movie
on the same subject scheduled to be released in 2011.
In the Summer of 2009, the first issue of his magazine, Resistance: Journal of the Earth Liberation Movement
, was released. The magazine covers the actions and discusses the philosophy and tactics of earth liberation
groups, such as the ELF and ALF.
Also in 2009, Rosebraugh co-formed Responsible Education and Media (R.E.M.), a non-profit organization in Los Angeles combining art and entertainment with a factual analysis of social and political issues impacting the global community to promote global justice. The group's projects have included full-page information advertisements in Los Angeles and Phoenix, Arizona newspapers railing against the use of ammonia in the nation's meat supply and Arizona Senate Bill 1070, the controversial immigration law.
2007 Zoetrope International Screenplay Competition and also in the 2009 Phoenix Film Festival Screenplay Competition. In 2009, Rosebraugh began working on a feature-length documentary entitled, "Greedy Lying Bastards" which is an investigation into the power and dominance of the fossil fuel industry. Filmed in fourteen countries during the first half of 2010, Greedy Lying Bastards is currently in post-production and is scheduled to be released in 2012.
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
, human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
, and environmental and animal protection.
Activism
A political activist since the early 1990s when he opposed the first Gulf War, Rosebraugh has been involved in a variety of human rights, environmental and animal protection campaigns. In 1996, he co-formed the Liberation Collective organization, a nonprofit group based in Portland, Oregon that worked to bring together commonalities in various justice struggles. The same year he took part in a protest against the Seattle Fur Exchange, and was one of five people arrested for non-violent civil disobedience after blocking the entrance. In May the same year Rosebraugh was one of four people who blockaded the entrance to the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center in protest of primate experimentation. In 1997, Rosebraugh co-organized the 1997 Primate Tour, a series of vigils at the then seven regional primate research facilities in the United States. The same year, he took part in a national protest against the California Regional Primate Research Center at the University of California Davis and was one of thirty-two people arrested for non-violent civil disobedience. In 1997, Rosebraugh also began acting as a spokesperson for the Animal Liberation FrontAnimal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
and Earth Liberation Front
Earth Liberation Front
The Earth Liberation Front , also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the environment".The ELF was founded...
. In 1998, he wrote the essay, Arguments Against The Use Of Nonhuman Animals In Biomedical And Scientific Experimentation, where he seeks to examine the ethical implications of the experimentation on animals and refute its supposed contribution to the medical research for human health. The following year, Rosebraugh was a co-founder of the Coalition to End Primate Experimentation (CEPE) and served as the National Organizer for the 1999 Primate Freedom Tour, a four-month long protest tour of the primary primate research facilities in the United States. In October 1999, during a protest in support of political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal
Mumia Abu-Jamal was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner and sentenced to death. He has been described as "perhaps the world's best known death-row inmate", and his sentence is one of the most debated today...
, the Portland Police broke Rosebraugh's arm and arrested him for disorderly conduct and tampering with a police horse. Rosebraugh was found not guilty on all charges and sued the City of Portland, winning an out-of-court settlement.
From 1997-2001, Rosebraugh served as a spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front
Earth Liberation Front
The Earth Liberation Front , also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the environment".The ELF was founded...
receiving anonymous communiques from the ELF and forwarding them on to news media internationally. In 1999, Rosebraugh co-formed the North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office
Earth Liberation Front Press Office
The North American Earth Liberation Front Press Office is a legal, above-ground news service dedicated to publicizing the direct action of the Earth Liberation Front ....
(NAELFPO) with Leslie James Pickering
Leslie James Pickering
Leslie James Pickering is an American Activist and former spokesperson for the Earth Liberation Front Press Office advocating for political and social justice, human rights, and environmental protection.- Biography :...
, where he continued to forward communiques, conduct international press interviews, and nationwide informational lectures on the ideology of the ELF movement. Between 1997 and 2006, Rosebraugh received eight subpoenas to appear before federal grand juries
Grand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
to discuss his sources, but he has said he has no knowledge of them and refused to cooperate with the proceedings. The New York Times Magazine dubbed him the "Face of Ecoterrorism" in 1998. In 2002 he appeared, under power of subpoena, in front of the U.S. Congress in a House Resources Subcommittee hearing on eco-terrorism
Eco-terrorism
Eco-terrorism usually refers to acts of violence or sabotage committed in support of ecological, environmental, or animal rights causes against persons or their property....
. During the hearing, Rosebraugh took the Fifth Amendment
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
to 54 of 56 questions asked by Congress, effectively stonewalling the proceeding. He did issue Congress an eleven page written testimony charging the U.S. government with being "one of the most horrific terrorist organizations in planetary history."
Rosebraugh resigned his position as spokesperson on September 5, 2001, believing that a refocusing of strategies and tactics needed to occur to fully promote justice in the United States. In the sentencing for Chelsea Dawn Gerlach
Chelsea Dawn Gerlach
Chelsea Dawn Gerlach is an American radical environmentalist associated with the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front.-Biography:...
however, it was stated that Rosebraugh resigned after a disagreement between himself and members of the Earth Liberation Front
Earth Liberation Front
The Earth Liberation Front , also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the environment".The ELF was founded...
(ELF) cell responsible for the Jefferson Poplar Farm arson. The cell believed genetic engineering research was being done and wrote the communique to Rosebraugh claiming that justification. Rosebraugh's research showed that the farm had recently changed ownership and no genetic engineering was being done at the time of the arson so Rosebraugh edited the communique and removed that justification. This angered the cell and through this disagreement, Rosebraugh resigned his role.
Despite the seizure of his computer equipment; searches of his business, person, and home; grand jury investigations; FBI
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
and ATF
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice...
questioning; facing years in prison and hundreds of death threats; he did not reveal the identities of members of the Earth Liberation Front
Earth Liberation Front
The Earth Liberation Front , also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the environment".The ELF was founded...
and Animal Liberation Front
Animal Liberation Front
The Animal Liberation Front is an international, underground leaderless resistance that engages in illegal direct action in pursuit of animal liberation...
movements.
Rosebraugh's first book, "The Logic of Political Violence: Lessons in Reform and Revolution" was published in 2003 and is a comparison study between the use of non-violence and politically-motivated violence in historical justice struggles. His second book, "Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: Speaking for the Earth Liberation Front" was published in 2004 and is a memoir of his time speaking on behalf of the Earth Liberation Front
Earth Liberation Front
The Earth Liberation Front , also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of the environment".The ELF was founded...
. In 2009, Rosebraugh was the contributing editor of the book, "This Country Must Change: Essays on the Necessity of Revolution in the U.S.A.," a compilation of essays from prominent political prisoners and activists in the United States. Rosebraugh is currently working on his next book, an exploration into humans' conflicting relationship with the natural world and the political and economic reasons why a sustainable co-existence has not been possible. This will be an accompanying book to his upcoming feature film Seventh Generation The Movie
Seventh Generation
Seventh Generation can refer to:*Seven generation sustainability, the idea that decisions should be considered for their impact on the seventh generation to come, inspired by the laws of the Iroquois...
on the same subject scheduled to be released in 2011.
In the Summer of 2009, the first issue of his magazine, Resistance: Journal of the Earth Liberation Movement
Resistance: Journal of the Earth Liberation Movement
Resistance: Journal of the Earth Liberation Movement was an environmentalist magazine that was created with the stated aim to "inform, inspire, and energize the earth liberation movement"...
, was released. The magazine covers the actions and discusses the philosophy and tactics of earth liberation
Earth liberation
Earth liberation has no universal understanding as a concept, as it is much considered to be a part of radical environmentalism, or as a militant off-shoot, favouring instead radical and revolutionary environmentalism.-History:...
groups, such as the ELF and ALF.
Also in 2009, Rosebraugh co-formed Responsible Education and Media (R.E.M.), a non-profit organization in Los Angeles combining art and entertainment with a factual analysis of social and political issues impacting the global community to promote global justice. The group's projects have included full-page information advertisements in Los Angeles and Phoenix, Arizona newspapers railing against the use of ammonia in the nation's meat supply and Arizona Senate Bill 1070, the controversial immigration law.
Restaurant owner
In January 2004, with the financial backing of his parents, Rosebraugh opened Calendula, then Portland's only all-vegan and organic restaurant. The restaurant was named one of the best vegetarian restaurants in North America in 2004 by Veg News Magazine. He was criticized in the local press for his treatment of his employees and for failing to adhere to principles he had espoused. Employees that he fired joined the Wobblies union which organized a boycott of the restaurant. Rosebraugh spent $3,000 to defend himself in ads in the local alternative press. Other employees came to Rosebraugh's defense, accusing the IWW union as misguided and "barking up the wrong tree." He closed the restaurant in September 2004, and reopened it for a short time in December of that year. The restaurant closed its doors for good late in 2005.Filmography
Rosebraugh's screenplay, "Burning Rage" was a quarterfinalist in the prestigious Francis Ford CoppolaFrancis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
2007 Zoetrope International Screenplay Competition and also in the 2009 Phoenix Film Festival Screenplay Competition. In 2009, Rosebraugh began working on a feature-length documentary entitled, "Greedy Lying Bastards" which is an investigation into the power and dominance of the fossil fuel industry. Filmed in fourteen countries during the first half of 2010, Greedy Lying Bastards is currently in post-production and is scheduled to be released in 2012.
Books
- This Country Must Change: Essays on the Necessity of Revolution in the USA (Arissa Media Group, 2009). ISBN 9780974288475
- Burning Rage of a Dying Planet: Speaking for the Earth Liberation Front (Lantern BooksLantern BooksLantern Books is an American book publisher since 1998, first located in Union Square , and now with offices in Brooklyn. It "publishes books for all wanting to live with greater spiritual depth and commitment to the preservation of the natural world." The subject areas that Lantern Books covers...
, 2004). ISBN 1-59056-064-7 - The Logic of Political Violence: Lessons in Reform and Revolution (Arissa Media Group, 2003). ISBN 0974288411
Education
- B.A. Political Science - Marylhurst University, Portland, Oregon (1999)
- M.A. Political Theory/History - Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont (2003)
- J.D. Arizona State University School of Law, Tempe, Arizona (2011)