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evan johnson Left: Bari's car in OPD storage. Right: Bari and Cherney at a 1990 demonstration. At Long Last Redwood Summer has finally run out of stays By John Paul Sekulich A nail-filled pipe bomb exploded on the streets of Oakland as Earth First activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney were driving through the city on a tour to promote anti-logging campaigns. It was May 24, 1990 in what was known as Redwood Summer. After firefighters removed the carseat springs from Bari's buttocks, Oakland police officers arrested her and Cherney, believing the pair to be domestic terrorists transporting and accidentally detonating the bomb. Charges were never filed. FBI lab work failed to support bombing charges and the Oakland district attorney refrained from prosecuting. Further investigation of legitimate suspects ceased and the bombing still remains unsolved. A conspiracy suit brought by Earth First against the FBI and the Oakland Police Department kicked off last Monday, April 8, in Oakland's Federal Courthouse. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken will preside over the Ninth Circuit hearings. Activist Cherney and the estate of late Earth First leader Bari (who died of breast cancer in 1997) are suing three FBI agents and three Oakland police officers for conspiracy and false arrest after the bomb exploded beneath their car's front seat that May afternoon. Additionally, plaintiffs argue that defendants violated First Amendment rights of plain-tiffs by falsely associating the activists with terrorism. Defense attorneys attempting to gain immunity on behalf of the law enforcement agencies have delayed the trial for more than a decade with various motions and appeals. However, Judge Stephen Reinhardt of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an earlier denial of immunity for the Oakland police by Judge Wilken and stated, "the plaintiffs have raised genuine issues of mat-erial fact as to whether the appellants participated in an illegal conspiracy and violated plaintiffs First Amendment rights." The case was on calendar for October 1, 2001, but Judge Wilken postponed the trial for six months in light of pro-FBI senti-ments following the events of September 11. The lead defendant in the case is FBI Special Agent Frank Doyle who is accused of misleading Oakland police about the in-tentions of Earth First. Dennis Cunningham and Robert Bloom, attorneys for Earth First, are hoping to "make examples" of the FBI agents and police officers named as defendants and hold them accountable for falsely arresting Bari and Cherney. Senior trial counsel from the Department of Justice Headquarters in Washington, D.C., F. Joseph Sher, will represent the three FBI agents. Sher and Maria Bee (on behalf of the police officers) contend that the FBI and OPD acted reasonably under the circumstances known at the time in considering the protesters terrorist suspects. The anti-logging leaders claim the FBI and the OPD failed to inves-tigate the bombing in an effort to chill the movement. Cunningham feels circum-stance set the tone for the trial at the time of the bombing. He insists the Oakland police were lead to believe the activists were transporting the device and accidentally detonated it after the FBI constructed a frame-up around the pair. Agents insisted the bomb was located in plain sight on the rear floorboards of the car. Cunningham will base his argument on emergency services experts who will testify that the bomb was located dir-ectly beneath the drivers seat. Cunningham also said that the FBI falsely explained to the media that the nails taped to the bomb matched nails found in the car. Cunningham says the public image of Earth First shifted dramatically as head-lines of Bari and Cherney's arrest for domestic terrorism appeared across the country. During jury selection, plain-tiff's counsel scored an important victory in persuading Judge Wilken to reverse her decision to exclude questions about abor-tion to potential jurors. Attorneys for Earth First argue that they must know jurors' stance on abortion because of an anonymous anti-abortion letter mailed to a Ukiah newspaper reporter five days after the bombing. The letter was signed by the "Lord's Avenger," who takes credit for the bombing and condemns Bari for pro-choice beliefs and en-vironmental activism. The "Lord's Avenger" claims to have been present "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 letter also describes the bomb in a manner that suggests authenticity to Cunningham and Bloom. Plaintiff's counsel further contend that the FBI never pursued suspects from anti-abortion movements, instead attempting to defame Earth First members as domestic terrorists. Notably, not a hand rose when Judge Wilken asked a panel of 100 jurors if they would be biased by the fact that Bari and Cherney participated in a demon-stration at an abortion clinic. The proceedings are open to the public at the Federal Courthouse at 1301 Clay Street in downtown Oakland. The case will continue, Monday through Thursday from 8:30am-1:30pm, for six weeks. During which, not coincidentally, the Prison Activist Resource Center and the San Francisco Media Center will be hosting screenings of Viva Judi Bari!, a 26-minute documentary film by K. Rudin of the Headwaters Action Video Coalition. After a brief exchange with the corporate world, John Paul Sekulich has decided to drop out and write about it all. He spends his days shooting pool at the Warehouse. [ East Bay | Metroactive | Archives ]