Earth First, People Last
Mark Robert Thorson
room for possession of the large pipe bomb which exploded in her car
yesterday, injuring her and fellow Earth First'er Darryl Cherney, who
was arrested today. Police hint that evidence seized today from a van
used by Earth First indicates bomb-making activity has been going on.
The TV media has been running interviews all day with other Earth First'ers,
who are unanimous in there rejection of the idea the bomb could have been
the product of the two accused people. One called the bombing a "hit"
directed at Earth First. Another called it an "outrage" that police
would direct suspicion to the two injured parties while they still lay in
the hospital. Another belittled the event, saying that even if they had
made the bomb, it did not injure anyone but themselves.
How blessed we are to live in such interesting times.
Daniel Mocsny
>Today (5/25), Earth First member Judi Bari was booked in her hospital
>room for possession of the large pipe bomb which exploded in her
>car
Earth First members own cars? I'm totally disillusioned.
--
Dan Mocsny Snail:
Internet: dmo...@minerva.che.uc.edu Dept. of Chemical Engng. M.L. 171
dmo...@uceng.uc.edu University of Cincinnati
513/751-6824 (home) 513/556-2007 (lab) Cincinnati, Ohio 45221-0171
charles s. geiger, esq.
> Today (5/25), Earth First member Judi Bari was booked in her hospital
> room for possession of the large pipe bomb which exploded in her car
> yesterday, injuring her and fellow Earth First'er Darryl Cherney, who
> was arrested today. Police hint that evidence seized today from a van
> used by Earth First indicates bomb-making activity has been going on.
How about a follow-up (with a few facts, for a change):
"Letter claims bomb responsibility"
By Mark A. Stein
Los Angeles Times Service
UKIAH, Calif. -- An anonymous letter-writer, quoting Scriptures,
has claimed credit for the bombing that injured two Earth First!
activists in Oakland last week.
In a letter to the _Santa_Rosa_Press-Democrat_, a person claiming
to be "the Lord's avenger" took responsibility for placing the bomb
in Judi Bari's car to punish her for allegedly opposing
anti-abortion advocates and deifying trees.
Bari and others are involved in efforts to slow development near
the giant redwoods.
Although the _Press-Democrat_ reported that the letter contained
previously unreleased details of the bomb that seriously wounded
Bari and hur fellow activist Darryl Cherney, police declined to
comment until the FBI could examine the document.
The FBI declined Thursday to say if it regarded the letter as
authentic.
"It could be serious; it could be a prank," said Barry Mawn of the
FBI office in San Francisco.
Oakland police have publicly accused Bari, 40, and Cherney, 33, of
being responsible for the bomb themselves. They have not been
charged. [Read this, Mr. Thorson?]
Mawn acknowledged that the letter included accurate details about
the components of the Oakland bomb and another placed in a
Cloverdale lumber mill May 8.
"I built with these Hands the bomb that I placed in the car of Judi
Bari," began the letter, which came in an envelope with no return
address. [no kidding]
"The woman is possessed of the Devil," the newspaper quoted the
letter.
"The Lord cleared my vision and revealed this unto me outside the
Baby-Killing Clinic when Judi Bari smote with Satan's words the
humble and Faithful servants of the Lord who had come there to make
witness against Abortion," the three-page, typed, single-spaced
letter continued.
Bari remains hospitalized in Oakland with a broken pelvis and
internal injuries. Cherney was treated for a scratched eye and
other injuries and released.
[end of article]
--
cheers, from
charles s. geiger, esq.
"Down with all kings but King Ludd" -- Byron
Gary S. Trujillo
system. Please drop me a note if you'd like more information on IGC.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article 39 of ran.ragforum:
Path: gnosys!cdp!rainforest
From: rainf...@cdp.UUCP
Newsgroups: ran.ragforum
Subject: Car Bombing in California
Message-ID: <270200036@cdp>
Date: 27 May 90 10:48:54 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:270200036:000:7769
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!rainforest May 26 13:45:00 1990
>From: Juliette Majot, International Rivers Network
San Francisco, CA
EMERGENCY IN CALIFORNIA
ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS VICTIMS OF CAR BOMB ATTACK
AMERICAN FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION (FBI) IMPLICATES
VICTIMS IN THE BOMBING
VICTIMS FORMALLY CHARGED WITH POSSESSION AND TRANSPORT OF
EXPLOSIVES
For more information, contact: Juliette Majot, International Rivers
Network, (415) 986-4694, or Colleen Murphy, Rainforest Action
Network, (415) 398-4404.
Two Earth First! activists who have been lead organizers in the
upcoming summer of demonstrations to save the Redwoods have been
victims of sabotage. Both have received numerous death threats
over the past few months. Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney are now
under arrest and formally charged with transporting the bomb which
blew-up their car on Thursday, May 24. Each is being held at
$100,000 bond.
Cherney has been released from hospital and is being held at the
Oakland Main Police Department, where a vigil is being held by
supporters. Bari is recovering from lower abdominal surgery, and is
being held at the Highland Hospital in Oakland.
Within hours of the attack, officials of the FBI, and the Oakland
California police force were publicly stating their belief that the
activists were transporting the explosives for use elsewhere. The
head of homicide of the Oakland police department stated to
journalists on Friday, May 25, that they were so convinced that the
bomb belonged to the activists that further investigation was
categorically excluded. They refuse to release their evidence.
Colleagues and friends of the two victims are outraged at the
suggestion that either would be carrying explosives. Both Bari and
Cherney have been active in non-violence training in preparing
protestors for the Redwood summer demonstrations. Other Bay area
environmental groups, including the Rainforest Action Network, the
International Rivers Network, and Greenpeace have made formal
statements of support for Earth First! and have called for an open
and thorough investigation into the bombing. (RAN and IRN
statements follows this text)
The FBI has questioned numerous environmental activists, and has,
to our knowledge, centered its entire investigation on activist
community. They have made public statements to the effect that
there are no other suspects in the bombing.
Bari and Cherney were allowed only limited access to attorneys for
the first 30 hours following the attack.
TAKE ACTION NOW!
CONTACT your congressman, and senator to complain officially about the
way in which the case has been handled to date. Request that the
appropriate investigative agencies carry out a thorough investigation
into the connection between death threats, and the May 24 bombing.
Send letters of support, and financial contributions to the
Bari/Cherney Emergency Action Fund, 106 W. Standly, Ukiah, CA
95428.
Hold a press conference, or issue and statement from your
organization in support of Redwood summer, and non-violent protest.
Denounce the premature and unfounded announcements by the FBI and
the Oakland police department. Call for release of the evidence on
which Bari and Cherney have been charged.
Interest your local press, speak to any press contacts you have, and
encourage them to put resources into investigative pieces about this
attack.
WATCH AND LISTEN TO THE PRESS COVERAGE GIVEN TO THIS ATTACK,
AND RESPOND DIRECTLY TO NEWS DIRECTORS AND PRODUCERS IF YOU
KNOW THE INFORMATION IS ERRONEOUS OR INFLAMMATORY.
If you wish to take part in Redwood summer demonstrations, call
Betty, at (707)468-1660
For Immediate Release
25 May 1990
CONTACT: Colleen Murphy: (415)398-4404 FAX: (415)398-2732
RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK STATEMENT REGARDING THE)BOMB ATTACK ON TWO
EARTH FIRST! ACTIVISTS IN OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA
Yesterday, May 24, two activists from the environmental organization
Earth First! were the victims of a bomb attack. Both victims have been
active in organizing a non-violent protest against clear-cut logging in
the ancient forests of Northern California. Both have received death
threats over the past few months.
The Rainforest Action Network at this time would like to express our
shock at this violent action, and to reiterate our policy of non-
violence. We also wish to express our dismay at the way in which the
case has to this point been handled by the law enforcement agencies, and
some members of the media.
Both bombing victims have been held for questioning and have had only
limited access to their attorneys. Friends and colleagues of the
victims have been unable to see them and have received conflicting
information about their whereabouts and condition.
The Rainforest Action Network considers that the charge that Judi Bari
and Darryl Cherney were in any way responsible for the bomb in their car
to be unfounded and inflammatory. We believe that the attack was
intended to discourage environmentalists from exercising their rights to
demonstrate, and to take part in non-violent protest.
To categorically exclude the probability that the bomb was placed by
others who wished to harm Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney is
unconscionable. The Rainforest Action Network calls for an open and
thorough investigation so that people responsible for this violent
attack can be located and held accountable for their actions. The FBI
and other investigative agencies should carry the investigation beyond
merely asking questions of the victims and of activists associated with
other environmenta6horganizations.
Without a thorough and fair investigation into this attack, the
Rainforest Action Network believes that the lives of other non-violent
activists are at risk, and that speculative accounts and
sensationalistic reports will continue to appear in the media.
For Immediate Release
24 May 1990
CONTACT: OWEN LAMMERS, PROGRAM DIRECTOR
JULIETTE MAJOT, CAMPAIGNER
STATEMENT FROM THE INTERNATIONAL RIVERS NETWORK REGARDING THE
BOMB ATTACK ON EARTH FIRST! ACTIVISTS IN OAKLAND CALIFORNIA
In response to the violent attack on Earth First! activists which
occurred on 24 May, International Rivers Network would like to express
our shock and sorrow. IRN calls for a thorough investigation into the
connection between the bombing and earlier death threats made to Judi
Bari and other activists.
At a minimum, we would expect that rather than being detained, the
victims would be given free access to legal council and an opportunity
to make statements to the public and the media. IRN would also like to
express its outrage with statements made on 25 May by officials of the
Oakland police department that Rfurther investigation into the bombing
has been categorically excludedS. Without further investigation into
this attack, we feel that all environmental activists are at personal
risk.
We believe that this attack was intended to discourage non-violent
protest by all environmental activists, and that it has been carefully
orchestrated as a political event to damage the reputations and future
effectiveness of Earth First! We view accusations against Judi Beri and
Darryl Cherney as unfounded, and we question the intentions of the
investigative agencies in their interrogation of environmental activists
associated with other organizations.
*Notes:
Both Judi Bari and Derryl Cherney have been lead organizers in a
non-violent protest against clear-cut logging in the ancient forests of
Northern California. Both have received death threats over the past few
months.
International Rivers Network is a San Francisco-based environmental
organization, and is an affiliate of Friends of the Earth
International.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article 40 of ran.ragforum:
Path: gnosys!cdp!cbarrs
>From: cba...@cdp.UUCP
Newsgroups: ran.ragforum
Subject: Re: Car Bombing in California
Message-ID: <270200037@cdp>
Date: 28 May 90 10:47:07 GMT
References: <270200036@cdp>
Lines: 75
Nf-ID: #R:cdp:270200036:cdp:270200037:000:4144
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!cbarrs May 27 21:24:00 1990
Damn to hell whoever planted the car bomb!
As a dedicated environmental activist, I sympathize with
anyone who is injured in defense of the earth, but also I am very
much frustrated by Earth First!'s less than pragmatic tactics.
I must wonder exactly what makes EF!'s organizers think even
for a moment that they're really doing anything worthwhile by
spiking trees, pouring sugar into machinery gas tanks, etc...
Back in the sixties, I swallowed more than my fair share of
teargas. I was walked upon, beaten, and jailed for my
participation in anti-war demonstrations. I was a county away
from Kent State when the horror there happened.
I like to think that I learned some valuable lessons from
those days:
1. Don't destroy your credibility by breaking the law.
2. Use whatever means that the 'establishment' uses to get your
point across. Write to congress, the senate, the president.
3. Boycott businesses (economic embargo).
4. Do your homework! Present viable alternatives whenever
possible, and present clear, intelligent, literate arguments
for whatever stance you might choose.
I'm sure that Earth Firster's are sincere and mean well, but
I'm not so sure that there isn't already some fairly high level
'infiltration' going on within the group. The oldest government
trick in the book back in the sixties was exactly this type of
infiltration. We'd plan a peaceful protest against the war, and
before we knew it, there were "strangers" in our midst, carrying
bricks to lob at the police during marches. These strangers were
usually government personnel.
Where environmental issues are concerned, there is no time
left for this kind of nonsense. No one knows for certain exactly
when or where the bottom will drop out and the ecological
integrity of planet Earth will suffer the final blow, leading to
the ultimate extinction of the majority of life forms alive today.
As a an old, grizzled activist, I must offer the following
advice to Earth First!ers. Put down the hammers and the spikes
and pick up a paper and pen. Stop the sensationalist attempts to
grab news headlines and begin an intelligent, coordinated, and
concerted attempt to monkey-wrench MINDS, not machines.
Dress up like trees and dance in the streets if you want to,
but forget about winning anyone over with destructive tactics.
You can't fight this fire with fire. You must learn to maintain
a sense of 'right over might'. Environmental activists worldwide
oppose the tactics you are using right now because they tend only
to polarize the public at the expense of dealing with the real
issues.
I truly admire your energy and dedication, but I also resent
the fact that you are making MY goals more difficult to
accomplish. Each time you drive another spike into a tree,
remember that you are also negating someone else's letter to a
representative. Each time you pour sugar into a gas tank,
remember that you are also endangering the life of another
environmental activist somewhere else in the world. I received
death threats simply because I was working on a major fundraising
effort to start a land trust to buy threatened rainforest land in
Central and South America, so I know that you EF!ers must be
going through a major ration of BS. I feel for you. We all want
the same thing - to save the Earth from humanity's short-sighted
greed. But also I must beg you, as a sister in spirit, PLEASE -
stop diluting and compromising the progress that the rest of
us have already made in defense of the Earth. Join us. It might
not be as much fun - nobody will take pictures of you and print
them in Newsweek, but you might begin to make a real difference,
quietly, without egocentric sensationalism, but with a pure, true
love for the Earth guiding your pathway.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article 41 of ran.ragforum:
Path: gnosys!cdp!web!kaulbars
>From: kaul...@web.UUCP
Newsgroups: ran.ragforum
Subject: Re: Car Bombing in California
Message-ID: <270200008@web>
Date: 1 Jun 90 10:48:52 GMT
References: <270200036@cdp>
Lines: 96
Nf-ID: #R:cdp:270200036:web:270200008:000:5052
Nf-From: web.UUCP!kaulbars May 31 18:12:00 1990
"4. Do your homework!". cbarrs. Amen to that, and I wish
you had! It is apparent that you have swallowed the media BS
about what EF! is and what it does rather than check it out for
yourself. If you had ever perused a few issues of the Earth
First! Journal you would have discovered that only about 3-4% of
it is devoted to monkey wrenching. The rest is taken up with "
clear, intelligent, literate arguments", a variety of proposed
"viable alternatives", and some of the best scientific and
professional writing found in any of the popular press.
"Put down the hammers and the spikes and pick up a paper and
pen." cbarrs. Had you read the EF! Journal you would have
discovered that each issue has many calls for people to write to
a variety of politicians, bureaucrats, and corporations; in fact
this is one of the main tools that EF! uses.
"Environmental activists worldwide oppose the tactics you
are using right now because they tend only to polarize the public
at the expense of dealing with the real issues." cbarrs. "Every
great movement must experience three stages: ridicule,
discussion, adoption." John Stuart Mill
In fact many of those "activists" are EF!ers who are active
in numerous organizations and play a variety of roles. My
experience is that many people are impressed and supportive of
the radical militant actions that we do. To stay alive I
currently work in a food store, I make no secret of my militant
activism, arrests etc; most of the customers are supportive, and
many have contributed (unsolicited) money to finance illegal
actions and to pay my fines. You assume that those who profess
to be alienated would otherwise have been sympathetic; I suggest
that many have simply found another excuse or rationalization for
their own apathy and non-involvement.
"1. Don't destroy your credibility by breaking the law."
cbarrs. Go tell it to Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, those who
illegaly transported black slaves and jews to safety, etc.
"Those who profess to love freedom and yet deprecate agitation
are men who want crops without plowing. This struggle may be a
moral one. or it may be physical, but it must be a struggle.
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did. And it
never will." Frederick Douglas 1847 (runaway slave).
The prescribed methods for effecting social change are
designed to prevent social change. "Use whatever means that the
'establishment' uses to get your point across." cbarrs. We do
use their means, ie. breaking the law; not as often, maliciously,
destructively, or selfishly as the 'establishment', but we do
break the law.
"As a an old, grizzled activist, I must offer the following
advice to Earth First!ers." Go teach your grandmother to suck
eggs. I mean no disrespect to your experience, and indeed
commend you for your activism and involvement, both in the past
and today, but why do you presume EF!ers are niave? Many have
logged years as mainstream activists, lobbyists, etc, (eg
Foreman) and know precisely what they are doing. I have had
extensive experience as a student and community activist, union
organizer, and worked as a 'professional environmentalist'. We
can argue about whether EF!ers are misguided or not, but there is
plenty of experience as activists within the organization.
I would like to pose the following question to you: If EF!
is not effective, and in fact is counter-productive in that it is
"diluting and compromising the progress that the rest of us have
already made in defense of the Earth.", why are the powers that
be putting so much effort into discrediting and harrassing EF!?
"Stop the sensationalist attempts to grab news headlines ...
nobody will take pictures of you and print them in Newsweek ..."
This one really pisses me off. In a few weeks I, and 50 others
are off to jail. I don't care what reactionary facists like to
say, jail sucks. I can think of a hundred less painful,
expensive, or inconvenient ways to get media attention. I do
what I do because of a "pure, true love for the Earth." The
condecension and arrogance implicit in your statement is
insulting and uncalled for.
Learn from Mother Nature, and nature teaches us that
diversity is stable and resilient. No one has a monopoly on
truth or the 'right' way to go about effecting social change.
There is no 'right' way, but there are a lot of good ways.
Environmental 'battles' are all different, and while letter
writing or lobbying may be most effective in one case, protests
and civil disobedience will be more effective in another.
Tactics are merely tools, and you have to pick the right one to
do the job.
So praise for you and your letter writing, praise for those
who lobby our politicians, praise for the fundraisers and land
buyers, praise for those who battle in the courts, praise for the
community activists, praise for the educators, and praise for
those who put their liberty, health, and very lives on the line
for what they believe in ...
Earth First!
Mike Kaulbars
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Article 44 of ran.ragforum:
Path: gnosys!cdp!rainforest
>From: rainf...@cdp.UUCP
Newsgroups: ran.ragforum
Subject: thoughts on the bombing
Message-ID: <270200039@cdp>
Date: 1 Jun 90 10:50:54 GMT
Lines: 60
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:270200039:000:2872
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!rainforest Jun 1 02:45:00 1990
May 28, 1990
Editorial grief relief by Annie Szvetecz
My thoughts on the this past weekend.........(emotional but not
too woo woo)
There is no logic to the outrage, the helplessness, the constant
frustration, and the relentless struggle that we as activists feel
on an ongoing basis and for this particular event in our lives.
What makes this movement so powerful is our gut instinct, not our
cerebral analysis of the Earth's critical situation. Although
Judi and Darryl are not my closest friends, they are family. We
are a tribe, a coalition, a united front, a whatever.........It
hurts bad to have this happen........
But! This pain is just the reaction that the rapacious slime who
did this want us to wallow in. Aside from the cheap media stunt
of pinning this on the victims, the profit-first perpetrators want
us to feel scared, vulnerable, paranoid, and torn-up. There must
be ways to fend off attempts to break our momentum. The first
step is to stand together. Groups with more public acceptance
must stand together with groups like Earth First! in times of
crisis. We are all important and should recognize this especially
now. There is no time to lay low in order to stay out of the
firing range of the FBI or any other threatening collective. That
is what will really hurt the environmental movement. Not the
scumbags with violence and lies on their side.
It is also critical not to deny the pain for Darryl and Judi.
Understand that this is the same pain we feel when we see and hear
a 1000 year old redwood being cut down to pay off some corrupt
junk bond sale. It is hard to have this hit right in front of
your face, especially here in the city where the concrete and
noise keep the real world so far away. It hurts so bad that some
us are tempted to deny that such atrocities could happen to our
friends and our Earth in the name of business as usual. This
denial manifests itself in our potential doubt that this was a
murder attempt. We would sure like to believe that those stupid
activists were just carrying the bomb for some destructive use or
even a cheap media trick. That way we don't have to recognize the
state of things, the real emergency, and the tough fight ahead.
We could wash our hands of it and go along believing that
legislation, recycling, and the "greening" of polluting
corporations is going to stop the annihilation of nature. But WE
CANNOT ACCEPT
THIS.
Outlets for our pain, frustration, and absolute outrage can be in
the form of protests, vigils, letter-writing, phone-calling, press
conferences, tree-hugging, bulldozer blockades, singing and
dancing, and especially non-violent training. I am determined
more than ever to make sure that we proceed (as a movement) in the
spirit of Gandhi and Dr. King.
Onward..........come to Redwood Summer armed with hope,
enthusiasm, peace, and determination.
--
Gary S. Trujillo g...@gnosys.svle.ma.us
Somerville, Massachusetts {wjh12,spdcc,ima,cdp}!gnosys!gst