NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #30/NN_1992_30.iso/spool/misc/activism/progress/9262

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Subject: E-Link: Judi Bari: Community Under Siege
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[From the June 21, 1991 issue of _Earth_First!_Journal_]
[Also from the May 8, 1991 issue of _Anderson_Valley_Advertiser_]

      Community Under Siege
      by Judi Bari [Footnotes added by Jym Dyer]

      (Speech given at the Cinco de Mayo/May 5th gathering
      in Booneville, California.)

      I came of age during the Vietnam era, and I've known for a long
      time that the system is enforced by violence.  Some of my
      earliest political experiences were of 20-year-old national
      guardsmen beating my 18-year-old non-violent friends senseless
      and bloody.  I didn't think I had any delusions about how thin
      the veneer of civility is in this country.  But I have to admit
      that I was totally unprepared for the sheer horror of being
      bombed and maimed while organizing for Redwood Summer last year.

      The bombing represented the end of innocence for our movement.
      Sure, we had seen violence before, but this was different.  The
      logger who broke Mem Hill's nose, the log truck driver who ran
      me off the road -- themselves victims of the timber industry --
      in the heat of the moment, took their anger out on us.  But
      whoever put that bomb in my car was a cold and premeditated
      killer.  And the FBI's attempt to frame me and Darryl [Cherney]
      for the bombing made us realize what we are up against.  Not
      only are they willing to use lethal force to protect their
      "right" to level whole ecosystems for private profit, they are
      also backed by the full power of the government's secret police.

      The man in charge of my and Darryl's case at the FBI is Richard
      W. Held, chief of the San Francisco office.  He went on TV last
      summer to say that Darryl and I were the only suspects in the
      bomb attack that nearly took my life.  Richard Held became
      notorious in the 1970's for his active role in COINTELPRO, an
      outrageous and illegal FBI program to disrupt and destroy any
      group that challenged the powers-that-be.

      COINTELPRO's method was to foment internal discord in activist
      groups, isolate and discredit them, terrorize them, and
      assassinate their leaders.  The best known example of this was
      Black Panther Fred Hampton, who was murdered by the FBI as he
      slept in his bed in a Chicago apartment in 1969.  And there
      were many, many others.

      But back to Richard Held, the man in charge of my bombing case.
      His personal role in COINTELPRO began in the early 70's in Los
      Angeles, where he ordered insulting cartoons to be drawn and
      sent, supposedly from one faction to another, among the L.A.
      Black Panthers.  This heated up antagonisms between the factions
      so much that, with a little help from FBI infiltrators, they
      erupted into shooting wars that left two Panthers dead.

      Held was also on hand in Pine Ridge, South Dakota in 1975 to
      help direct the FBI's reign of terror against the American
      Indian Movement (AIM).  In this case the FBI took advantage of
      existing divisions in the native community to hook up with
      a vigilante groups called GOONS, or Guardians of the Oglala
      Nation.  These local thugs were armed by the FBI and guaranteed
      that they would not be prosecuted for crimes against AIM
      members.  They attacked over 300 AIM people and killed 70 of
      them.  Not one of these crimes was solved because, said the FBI,
      they "didn't have enough manpower."  The Pine Ridge campaign
      ended with a military sweep of the reservation by 200 SWAT
      trained agents, and with the framing and jailing of Leonard
      Peltier.

      Another of Richard Held's accomplishments was in San Diego,
      where he was instrumental in organizing an FBI-funded right wing
      paramilitary group called the Secret Army Organization (SAO).
      The SAO bombed the Guild Theater, a black community project, and
      tried to assassinate Peter Bohmer, a radical professor at San
      Diego State.  They missed and severely wounded his associate,
      Paula Thorpe.  By the way, the assassination symbol of the SAO
      was the rifle scope and crosshairs.

      In 1978 Richard Held was transferred to Puerto Rico where he
      oversaw the FBI execution of two Independentista leaders who
      were made to kneel, then were shot in the head.  Held stayed on
      until 1985, when he stage-managed an island-wide SWAT assault
      by 300 agents who busted in doors and rounded up activists.

      For all his good work, Richard Held was then promoted to be
      in charge of the San Francisco FBI, where he still works
      today.  And I don't know if the FBI had anything to do with
      putting that bomb in my car, but I know for certain that they
      tried to frame me for it and made sure the real bomber wasn't
      found.  They removed my whole floorboard with a blowtorch and
      sent it to their crime lab in Washington DC, thereby destroying
      the evidence that would prove they were lying about the location
      of the bomb. [1]  They lied about finding nails in the car that
      matched the nails in the bomb.  And when someone calling himself
      "The Lord's Avenger" wrote a letter describing the bomb in exact
      detail and taking credit for it, their "investigation" consisted
      of raiding my house once again to try to find a typewriter that
      matched the letter, which of course they didn't.  This whole
      time they kept putting out selected press releases so the highly
      cooperative press could make me look like a bomber when they
      knew perfectly well that I was the victim of an assassination
      attempt.

      With this knowledge of how the FBI operates, when I look at
      what's going on in our movement I can only conclude that we are
      under attack by a COINTELPRO-type operation.  Earth First! is
      definitely a target.  We know that the FBI has spent at least
      $3 million to infiltrate and disrupt Earth First! in Arizona
      and Montana, not even including what they've done in Northern
      California.  In Arizona, admitted FBI agent provocateur Michael
      Fain infiltrated their group for two years, winning the
      activists' trust and friendship.  Then he led them to try to
      sabotage a power line, and got them busted for it by the FBI.
      This is the supposed "Earth First! plot to destroy nuclear
      power plants" that the mainstream press keeps talking about.
      There was no plot.  Just some naive people who were misled by
      the FBI.  And Dave Foreman wasn't even there.  They arrested him
      in his bed at 5 a.m. and led him out in his underwear. [2]

      In Montana the FBI targeted an environmental studies professor
      named Ron Erikson, saying he and his Earth First! students were
      responsible for a tree spiking incident.  They raided people's
      houses and forced them to give fingerprints, handwriting and
      hair samples.  Yet even after a Grand Jury investigation, they
      found no evidence at all to link Erickson or his students with
      any tree-spiking.  But they discredited him professionally and
      terrorized the Earth First!ers.

      So I would be crazy not to assume that the FBI has had its hand
      in the events up here, both before and after the bombing.  But
      whether it's the FBI or just the timber industry, I know for
      sure that the _techniques_ of COINTELPRO have been used here
      in an attempt to disrupt us, discredit us, create a climate of
      fear, and derail our attempts to save the redwoods.  Here are
      some examples of standard COINTELPRO practices that have shown
      up in our community:

      Black Propaganda -- This term refers to information that appears
      to come from one source (EF!) but actually comes from another
      source (FBI or timber).  The fake press releases that were
      distributed before the bombing fit this category.  They claimed
      to be from Earth First! and called for violence against timber
      workers, but one had no contact name or number at all, and the
      other spelled Darryl's name wrong. [3]  An even more frightening
      example of black propaganda came from the right wing anti-
      environmental group the Sahara Club.  In April 1990 they printed
      a diagram of how to make a bomb, claiming it was from an Earth
      First! terrorism manual.  Of course there is no such manual
      printed, distributed by, or legitimately associated with us.
      But by distributing it as an EF! manual the Sahara Club could
      simultaneously get out info on how to make bombs while inciting
      hatred against EF!

      Grey Propaganda -- This term refers to damaging information
      whose source is not clear.  Under this category I would place
      the recent front-page article in the _San_Francisco_Examiner_
      in which an "ex-CIA agent" claims, with no evidence or details
      whatsoever, that Earth First! has "clandestine cells of highly
      educated scientists" working to develop a virus to wipe out
      the human race.

      Intimidation -- This certainly describes the many death threats
      we activists have gotten, including the SAO style rifle scope
      and cross hairs threat that I received a month before I was
      bombed.  Or the man who walked up to Darryl Cherney in Arcata
      and said "get a good look at my face, because I'm the one who's
      gonna kill you."  Death threats have continued as recently as
      last night at 3 a.m., when an anonymous caller told Anna Marie
      [Stenberg] "this bomb's for you."  Even a 15-year old Willits
      high school anti-war organizer got a call saying "We know you
      had Judi Bari speak at your rally.  We're not afraid to kill
      someone, you know."

      Harassment -- This includes harassment of community people who
      support us, and is designed to drive those people away.  Not
      only was my house red-tagged by the building deptartment,
      following an anonymous complaint after the bombing, but so was
      my landlord's.  A non-activist friend who let me stay at her
      house had the FBI visit her place of employment and talk to her
      boss.  My entire neighborhood was threatened with having their
      houses burned down when I moved back here last August.

      Surveillance -- The purpose of surveillance is as much to create
      paranoia as to gain information.  And in case I had any doubts
      that I was still being watched, a few weeks ago an Oakland cop
      (the FBI's front men) told a reporter that he knew I had just
      returned from U.C. Santa Barbara, and that he presumed a series
      of pipe bombs that mysteriously appeared on campus a few days
      before I got there were connected to me.

      Vigilantes -- Although certainly on a smaller and less lethal
      scale, the FBI and local law enforcement have used similar
      tactics to those used against AIM in Pine Ridge South Dakota.
      They have encouraged vigilantes by sending a clear message that
      crimes against Earth First!ers will not be prosecuted, including
      the bombing of me.  At least a dozen Redwood Summer people were
      assaulted (not counting incidents at the demonstrations), and
      two were beaten into unconsciousness and left in remote areas.
      Only one person was arrested for doing anything against us, and
      that was the man who planted a fake bomb in the Arcata Action
      Center, who was arrested only because the EF!ers pursued him
      into a bar to catch him.  Several gyppo logging companies paid
      hourly wages for armed men to lie in wait in the woods for
      EF!ers last summer hoping to catch us sabbing equipment.  They
      had instructions to shoot, with a bonus to be paid if they got
      one of us.  Retired logger Ed Knight described it on KQED as
      "vigilantism at its worst."

      Local Police Complicity -- This includes Mendocino County D.A.
      Susan Massini, who wouldn't prosecute for Mem Hill's broken nose
      or for me being rammed by the log truck.  And Sheriff Shea, who
      tried to whip up fear and hatred of Earth First! by calling for
      an emergency ordinance to restrict the size of our picket signs,
      using a video of a Palestinian student demonstration in Beverly
      Hills 10 years ago to "prove" how we would use our signs as
      weapons.  And Sgt. Satterswhite who, like the FBI in Pine Ridge,
      told me he "didn't have the manpower to investigate" the death
      threats against me.  And the Ukiah police who, just one month
      ago, refused to apprehend a man who came to the Mendocino
      Environmental Center and threatened Gary Ball with physical
      violence, said he was going to burn down the MEC, and raged
      in biblical terms saying I deserved to be bombed and should
      be bombed again.

      Local Government Complicity -- This includes Mendocino County
      Supervisor Marilyn Butcher, who promoted the lynch-mob mentality
      last year when she publicly responded to the death threats
      against me by saying "You brought it on yourself, Judi."  And
      it includes Humboldt Co. Supervisor Harry Pritchard who, just
      a few weeks ago, called us terrorists and said one of us would
      get killed if we didn't stop "taking food out of people's
      mouths."  And it includes the city governments of both Ukiah
      and Willits, which recently bypassed all public channels to
      allow the apparently permanent installation of yellow ribbons
      on our public streets, a not-so-subtle message of intimidation
      to anyone who would oppose the timber industry or the New World
      Order.

      There are many more examples, but the pattern is clear.  John
      Muir once said, "Tug on anything in nature and you will find it
      connected to everything else."  I would say that the same is
      true of the corporate state.  Because all we ever tried to do
      here is save a few trees and protect our communities from the
      ravages of a few out-of-town corporations.  And we have found
      this incredible array of forces lined up against us with the
      timber industry.  So as the new logging season gets underway,
      with tensions rising again, we had better figure out how to deal
      with this COINTELPRO style assault we face.  Of course one of
      the first things we should do is to educate ourselves, and
      that's why I'm saying all this.  But we also have to counter
      their attempts to marginalize, isolate and intimidate us.

      It's important to remember why Earth First! is targeted, and
      that is because we are effective.  In spite of our shock and
      horror at the bombing last May, we didn't back down.  3000
      people from all over the country came to Redwood Summer and
      chained themselves to logging equipment, hugged trees, blocked
      logging roads and marched through timber towns.  Sure we made
      mistakes.  But in spite of incredible provocation we maintained
      our presence and non-violence throughout the summer.  The
      Forests Forever voter initiative made a state-wide issue of
      redwood slaughter, but Redwood Summer made it national and
      international.  Together we are the cause of the current
      political push to save Headwaters Forest and reform logging
      practices.

      People in the environmental movement who are not Earth First!ers
      should remember that we are all affected.  If you allow us to be
      isolated, if it's not okay to be an Earth First!er this year,
      then next year it won't be okay to be in the Sierra Club.  Don't
      believe the incendiary stuff you read and here about us in the
      corporate press.  You know us.  We are your neighbors, and we
      are ready to work with you and talk to you any time.  You can
      reach us at the MEC at 707/486-1660.

      Our entire community is under siege, and that includes the
      forest itself, not just the people who defend it.  If we back
      down to timber and police terror, they will continue to destroy
      the redwood forest and its life support system.  We are already
      seeing the climate changes that go with deforestation, including
      the 5-year drought and killing frosts.  How much longer can they
      cut like this before the ecosystem collapses?

      If we stand together, I think we can make the difference.  In
      Humboldt County, MAXXAM is on the verge of financial collapse
      from its own junk bonds.  And LP and GP are almost done in
      Mendocino County.  They've cut the good stuff, and now they're
      fighting to take 20-year-old baby third-growth trees in a last
      mop-up operation before they leave.  How much is this chip-cut
      worth to them?  Economically those trees barely pay their way
      out of the woods.  But biologically they mean the difference
      between whether the forest can ever recover, or whether it will
      end up converted to vineyards, subdivisions, or desert.

      That's why we're not backing down.  We're tired and we're
      scared, but the timber industry is tired too.  And the darkest
      hour is just before the dawn.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
      [1] Shortly after the bombing, the FBI was telling reporters
      that the bomb was located on the back seat of Bari's car.  This
      would support the claim that Bari and Cherney were knowingly
      transporting a bomb.  However, Bari's injuries leave no doubt
      that the bomb was in fact located under the driver's seat.

      [2] Foreman's actual complicity is probably best expressed by
      Fain himself, who was musing into his tape recorder:  "I don't
      really look for them to be doing a lot of hurting people.
      [Foreman] isn't really the guy we need to pop -- I mean in
      terms of an actual perpetrator.  This is the guy we need to
      pop to send a message.  And that's all we're really doing.
      . . . Uh-oh.  We don't need that on tape.  Hoo boy."  Of
      the other defendants, two had never been involved with Earth
      First!, one had attended one EF! meeting, and one actually did
      attend EF! events -- as a folksinger.

      [3] One timber firm, PALCO, distributed copies of this phony
      press release to its employees, even though it is indicated in
      one of their memos that they themselves were unsure that it was
      produced by EF!, given the misspelling of Cherney's name.
================================================================
This article is also contained in the book _Timber_Wars_and_
_Other_Writings_, which is available via mail for $12 from
Judi Bari, 106 West Standley, Ukiah, CA  95482.

Copyright (c) 1992 by Judi Bari.  All rights reserved.  Non-
commercial use of any of this material is permiited without
prior approval, providing that all copies or reprints show
this book title and author as the source.  Commercial copying
or reprinting is strictly prohibited without prior written
approval of the author.


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