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The Animal Liberation Front and its supporters are fuming that convicted animal rights terrorists Josh Ellerman, 19, and his brother |Clinton Ellerman|, 21, are apparently cooperating with prosecutors and providing them with detailed information about ALF activities. A press release from the North American A.L.F. Supporters group claimed,
... evidence is growing that shows that Clinton Colby Ellerman, convicted A.L.F. activist, and one of the five facing new charges, has been willingly giving evidence on other activists to federal authorities, possibly for a number of months.
The five indicted individuals referred to in the release are Josh and Clinton Ellerman, Andrew Bishop, Alexander David Slack and Adam Troy Peace. All have been indicted by federal prosecutors in Utah for their role in the 1997 firebombing of a mink farm. Josh Ellerman recently plead guilty to the charges against him and received a 7-year sentence for his role in the arson. Ellerman could have received 35 years, and his relatively light sentence is believed to stem from his ongoing cooperation with prosecutors.
The North American ALF Supporters release claims that "no activist has the right to endanger the lives of and liberty of others in a strategy to save their own hides." Got that? ALF members have the right to commit arson, burglary and a whole host of violent crimes, but reporting said crimes endangers the safety and liberty of ALF activists.
In response to these allegations, the North American ALF Supporters group announced it is removing the Ellermans from its list of animal rights prisoners for whom it offers support.
Sources:
New arrests and b possibility of grassing surround Utah A.L.F. Actions... North American A.L.F. Supporters Group, Sept. 17, 1998
Animal-rights bomber gets 7-year prison sentence. The Salt Lake Tribune, September 11, 1998.