Ellerman, Josh (1979–)

aka Douglas Joshua Ellerman

In 1998, 19-year-old Josh Ellerman, a radical animal rights activist, received a seven-year prison sentence for his participation in an alleged Animal Liberation Front (ALF) attack—one of the toughest sentences ever given to an animal rights activists in the United States. His case, along with that of his brother, Clinton Colby Ellerman, marked the beginning of a crackdown on animal rights activists.

On the morning of March 11, 1997, members of ALF detonated at least five pipe bombs at the Fur Breeders Agricultural Co-op in Sandy, Utah, a plant that provided feed, materials, and live mink to hundreds of fur farms in Utah and Idaho. The ensuing blaze caused nearly $1 million in damage; no one was injured. Such destruction of property was a hallmark of ALF, which had engaged in similar tactics during its antifur Operation Bite Back campaign ...