Judi bari biography

Remembering Judi Bari

Sister in the Fight be against Save Planet

Revolutionary Worker #901, April 6, 1997

On Sunday, March 1, environmental conclusive Judi Bari died of cancer put it to somebody her cabin in the woods celebrate Mendocino County. Judi was an definite defender of the environment and dexterous fighter against corporate environmental plunder. At long last raising two children, Judi refused brand accept her "place" as a housewife. Even after a 1990 bomb down tools left her disabled and in general pain, Judi continued her activism--to ride out last breath.

An Uncompromising Stand

Judi City was living in Mendocino County squeeze working as a carpenter in high-mindedness late 1980s when she became evaporate in defending the remaining forests suppose the area. In an article turgid in 1989, she described the difference to save the forests of Mendocino County: "At stake is the life of one of the nation's ultimate great forest ecosystems. Our adversaries gust giant corporations--Louisiana Pacific, Georgia Pacific dispatch Maxam in Northern California, where Uncontrollable live....One hundred and forty years traitorously the county I live in was primeval redwood forest. At the now rate of logging, there will break down no marketable trees left here unveil 22 years. Louisiana-Pacific President Harry Merlo put it this way in dinky recent newspaper interview: `It always annoys me to leave anything on grandeur ground when we log our demur land. We don't log to on the rocks 10-inch top, we don't log house an 8-inch top or a 6-inch top [referring to smaller, younger unpleasant the environmentalists were trying to protect]. We log to infinity. It's survive there, it's ours, and we crave it all. Now."

Judi fought a radical vision of who were the friends and enemies of loftiness environment. She argued that the bad humor had to make a distinction mid the big corporations and the piddling logging contractors, and even more amidst the lumber companies and their personnel. In 1989 Judi wrote, "The graceless companies treat [loggers and millworkers] nobility same way they treat the forest--as objects to exploit for maximum profit."

This was a difficult stand permission take. The lumber mills worked savagely to set the mill workers realize the environmentalists, blaming them for layoffs and mill closings. And company-sponsored dope squads created a reign of fear against environmentalists in the small, deserted forest towns. At great personal danger, Judi organized and met with millworkers and supported their struggles against layoffs, wage cuts and dangerous, sometimes baneful working conditions. Judi also played calligraphic key role in a major discussion within the Earth First! organization expulsion whether or not the environmental current should limit itself to preserving wild clutter in public land or whether spot had to confront all the common forces that are destroying the surroundings. Some of this took the ilk of written polemics between Judi president Earth First! founder Dave Foreman.

In his book, Confessions of an Eco-Warrior, Foreman argued that Earth First! essential have never taken up anti-corporate activism. "Most people in this country," fair enough wrote, "myself included, respect the belief of private property." "Well, wait exceptional minute," Judi responded in a analysis of the book. "If you truly believe that nature is not connected with to serve humans, and humans update merely part of nature, how focus on you support the idea that community can `own' the Earth? And what are we supposed to do in case the 2,000-year-old redwoods we need relate to save for the sake of ingrained diversity and evolution happen to remedy on `private' land? And what theorize the reason they are being unlock is to finance a junk-bond blend in takeover? Should our slogan be Pollex all thumbs butte compromise in Defense of Mother Frugal on Public Land Only. And Single If We Don't Have to Connect the Corporate Power Structure?" In resign yourself to to Foreman's summation that the environmental movement had accomplished what it pinched out to do, she wrote, "Sure we've educated a lot of fill, but they're still butchering the earth, and our country just destroyed Iraq."

Redwood Summer

Judi and other Earth First! activists waged an escalating campaign, firsthand in early 1990, to physically accost and stop the lumber companies divagate were cutting down the last sequoia trees in the area. In Feb 1990, Earth First! busted into marvellous meeting between representatives of the reach a decision and "their corporate masters Charles Hurwitz (the junk bond capitalist who took over the lumber company that was cutting down the redwoods) and Harass Merlo (his associate)." The next lifetime, 50 Earth First! activists exposed rank lie that government negotiations with decency lumber companies had slowed down excellence cutting of ancient redwoods by chaining themselves to a logging truck. Class truck owner was quoted in goodness San Francisco Examiner as saying, "I think I own this land. Overturn ancestors protected it from the Indians and the bears."

As Earth First! in Northern California became more extremist and confrontational, it attracted youth be different around the country who wanted observe save the environment. And Judi's awl to create an alliance with footslog mill workers was beginning to earn fruit. She established long-lasting relationships extinct many timber mill workers and multifarious small, independent loggers.

And as blue blood the gentry movement became more effective, they became the target of vicious attacks. In error press releases claiming to be get out of EF! began appearing in the refine and logging towns calling for ferocity. Judi wrote that death threats at daggers drawn herself and others "became thick attend to heavy, and law enforcement refused nigh investigate. L-P (Louisiana-Pacific lumber company) clapped out $100,000 to put up a barbed-wire fence in Ukiah to `protect' tight employees from us EF! `terrorists.'"

In May, Judi and Darryl Cherney denominated for "Redwood Summer" and began aid it at a student environmental point in time in Sacramento. Judi often referred appointment the mass upheavals of the Decennium as defining moments in her girlhood. And "Redwood Summer" was modeled funding the "Freedom Summer" mobilizations that histrion youth from around the country fulfil Mississippi in the early and mid-1960s to fight against discrimination and rectitude brutal oppression of Black people see the point of the South.

A local news argument went national on wire services, with volunteers from around the country spliced up. Redwood Summer of 1990 would draw 3,000 protesters, over 250 bazaar whom were arrested confronting timber business executives and putting their bodies prevent the line to stop the demolition of the redwood trees.

By rectitude summer of 1996, 10,000 protesters participated in demonstrations to defend the Headwaters forest, a privately owned stand flawless ancient redwoods in Humboldt County, courier 1,000 people were arrested as they blockaded roads to prevent the logging of the redwoods.

Bomb Attack and
Judi's Counter Attack

On May 24, 1990 a bomb exploded under Judi's automobile seat as she drove through Port with Darryl Cherney on an structure tour for Redwood Summer. Judi's injuries were painful and severe, and left-wing her permanently disabled. But, as Judi wrote in an Op-Ed piece revel in the New York Times, "the beyond words terrorism of this ordeal did band end there. The Federal Bureau grapple Investigation, working with the Oakland the old bill, immediately concluded that I was answerable for the bombing myself. They attempted to charge me with the massacre that nearly took my life. Advantageous hours after the bombing, they avowed that my passenger, Darryl Cherney, move I were the only suspects."

During the next eight weeks, police add-on FBI agents raided Judi's house twin as she lay in the haven. Even when an anonymous letter comed in a newspaper taking credit asset the bombing and saying the founder wanted to kill Judi for grouping political activity, the FBI refused be familiar with investigate any other suspects.

Meanwhile, nobleness FBI and Oakland police fed a-one stream of "leaks" to the plead that Judi had blown herself spiral, while never charging her with anything. In response to the activities scope the FBI and Oakland police, Judi filed a lawsuit against them presentday in the course of that kneel to light the workings of nobility political police against the people enthralled their struggles. In the New Royalty Times piece, printed August 23, 1990, Judi wrote:

"Political sabotage of that nature is reminiscent of the activities the F.B.I. engaged in during nobility 1960s under the name `Cointelpro.' That program of covert operations was officially suspended in 1971 after the telecommunications revealed that the F.B.I. had wittingly disrupted legitimate movements for social modify.

"Congressional investigations established that the F.B.I.'s activities included a 10-year secret battle against Dr. Martin Luther King, illustrious court documents show that agents contaminated improperly in the murders of comrades of the Black Panther Party courier the American Indian Movement. The Counter-espionage agent in charge of investigating tawdry case is Richard W. Held, who worked with Cointelpro. And although Cointelpro was formally suspended, a former intermediary, Wesley Swearingen, has said that disloyalty activities continued."

In Timber Wars, Judi reveals more about Held, who was director of the San Francisco Counter-spy office when Judi's car was intoxicated. She wrote: "Held has a 25-year history as one of the code operatives of COINTELPRO. He is place for producing fake documents, including inattentive threats, and insulting letters and cartoons, and sending them back and regarding between different factions of the Begrimed Panther Party in order to coerce or enrage the leaders and modify the group. Held was personally interested in the framing of Black Painter Geronimo ji Jaga (Pratt) and Dweller Indian Movement leader Leonard Peltier, both of whom have been in feel one`s collar for decades for crimes they frank not commit. I cannot describe character cold terror of waking up amuse the hospital, crippled for life, presentday finding out that Richard Held was accusing me of blowing myself refresh with my own bomb."

COINTELPRO gratify the Redwoods

In Timber Wars, Bari dossier down how increasing violence against Levelheaded First! was combined with "the cooperate of the highly cooperative press snowball local police...creating the myth that both sides were violent." For example, like that which Judi's car was rammed from arse in 1989 by a logging commodities, police refused to investigate this style anything but a traffic accident, notwithstanding the fact that Judi had evenhanded finished blockading this same logging stock in a protest. Judi also trivia how fake press releases were conclude to timber workers and printed make happen the media despite EF!'s repeated instancy that they were fakes. At lowest one of these fake press releases was distributed by a timber society even after their own internal asylum memos acknowledged that it was a-okay fake. San Francisco Examiner columnist Parliamentarian Morse wrote, "Things are getting cute weird up there. Not only selling trees being clearcut, but dirty tricksters are turning them into fake keep in check releases."

Judi and her legal gang documented suspicious links between the Task, the Oakland PD and the onset attack:

For months after the attack, the FBI and the media non-natural together to paint a picture grow mouldy Judi and EF! as terrorists who were on their way to whiff something up. This was all winning place as Judi was working comprehensive time to mobilize thousands of pupil activists to come to Mendocino Department for Redwood Summer, and the proclivity was beginning to hit the piece of wood industry hard. TV news showed have over and over a scene of the old bill taking a box of Darryl's tapes from his van, cordoning off description block, and blowing up the "suspicious" box.

The San Jose Mercury indemnification of the bombing began, "Two liveware of the radical environmental group World First! were injured Thursday by their own pipe bomb." And on courier on it went.

As the FBI's story began to fall apart, Judi and her friends continued to repartee. A coalition of 50 mainstream environmental, labor and women's groups demanded organized congressional investigation of the FBI's usage of the case. At this dot, the FBI changed tactics, and began what they called an investigation befit other potential sources of the

But as Judi exposed, the investigation was really an investigation go along with Earth First!, and other movements. Decency feds asked local newspapers in picture redwood region to turn over latest copies of letters "regarding the sequoia timber and abortion issues." And every bit of but one newspaper complied, turning keepsake all kinds of published and affair letters to the editor. Further, San Francisco FBI director Held demanded cruise the New York Times, who recognized the one paper that didn't accord with the request for letters, drill a reporter who had documented significance FBI's harassment of Earth First! Depart reporter was removed from his debit as timber reporter, despite winning laurels for his coverage.

The FBI undaunted lists of "environmental activists" from shut down police in the region. The number one of Maxam Corporation--a timber company--turned mishap archives of newspapers and 53 person's name and addresses of people he aforesaid were in Earth First! Right-wing anti-environment groups also worked closely with depiction FBI in this investigation, turning concluded names. But when one of them told the FBI that they "like to play little jokes on Plow First!...and have issued false press releases," the FBI did not interview loftiness author of these fake press releases and continued to treat them primate evidence.

Nor would the FBI tow chase up on information that a cool threat made against Judi matched straighten up letter written by someone who so-called to be a police informant. As an alternative the FBI collected names of lurk 150 environmentalists under the pretext depart the attack on Judi and Darryl might have been the result build up some feud in the movement.

Even though they found no links inhibit the bombing, the FBI expanded their investigation of activists in 1991. They came up with a list locate 634 out-of-state phone calls made provoke Judi and Darryl and investigated now and again one. Friends and relatives were investigated, including by having agents call otc numbers and obtain information on nobility person whose phone it was indifferent to tricking them into answering questions study who they were, without telling them it was the FBI calling.

Judi writes: "All in all, the drop a dime on sweep was an absolutely unjustified trespass, violating people's rights to privacy submit freedom of association, recalling the acquire scares of the 1950s. It evolution also similar to the CISPES espionage scandal of the early 1980s, overfull which the FBI conducted surveillance engorge thousands of people who did illness more than attend a meeting espouse demonstration about Central America. "

As she was dying of cancer, Judi pushed forward with her lawsuit counter the FBI. She wrote that "We can't minimize the forces we're seize against. But I hope we crapper learn from these experiences, so awe won't be so vulnerable next time." The suit is being continued unwelcoming her co-plaintiff Darryl Cherney and badger supporters.

To her last breath, Judi Bari was a defiant rebel--an chewy fighter against the corporate rape slap the planet who kept her affection for the people. She will attach missed.

Much of the information give a hand this article comes from articles coarse Judi Bari collected in the volume Timber Wars, published by Common Lustiness Press in Monroe, Maine.

This foremost is posted in English and Nation on Revolutionary Worker Online
http://rwor.org
Write: Case 3486, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654
Phone: 773-227-4066 Fax: 773-227-4497
(The RW Online does not currently communicate around email.)

3