 www.araustralia.org |
Alternative Radio (Aust.) PO Box 780 Morwell Victoria 3848 Australia tel. 61-3-5134-8556 mob. 61-413-597-828 inquiries@araustralia.org |
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www.araustralia.org |
Alternative Radio (Aust.) PO Box 780 Morwell Victoria 3848 Australia tel. 61-3-5134-8556 mob. 61-413-597-828 inquiries@araustralia.org |
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On May 24, 1990, a motion triggered car bomb ripped through Earth Firster Judi Bari as she and co organiser Darryl Cherney were driving through Oakland, California. They were heading to Santa Cruz to promote a campaign of non violent actions to stop old growth forest logging in Northern California. The campaign was called Redwood Summer. It was proving incredibly successful in uniting environmentalists and timber workers against the unrestrained corporate controlled felling of ancient California redwood trees. Judi Bari received numerous death threats in the weeks before the bombing. The police ignored her. But when the threat became reality, the FBI and Oakland police showed up at the bomb scene within minutes. They, however, promptly arrested both Bari and Cherney and charged them with bombing themselves. Even though there was no evidence to warrant these charges against these dedicated nonviolent activists, no real investigation of the bombing was ever done. The true culprits of this assassination attempt still remain at large. In 1991, Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney sued the FBI and Oakland Police for false arrest, illegal search and seizure, and conspiracy to violate their first amendment right to organise. Unfortunately, Judi died of breast cancer in 1997 before their case made it to trial. Yet the charges against the FBI and Oakland police continue to move forward. A federal trial is now scheduled to start October 1st, 2001 in Oakland, California.
Alicia Littletree is an organiser for Earth First! She is active with the Redwood Summer Justice Project. Littletree is also a programmer at community radio station KZYX in Philo, California.
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