Who Bombed Judi Bari?!?!? Great Movie About Horrible FBI Terrorism

[Peter Lemkin]

This action-packed journey unfolds in the order Judi testified, questioned by civil rights attorney Dennis Cunningham. The archival footage brings the story to life, driven by music from the Earth First! movement. Judi Bari, an eloquent, brash orator with a union background, grows into a powerful environmental leader. Story threads and character arcs intertwine: the lawsuit against the FBI, the complex history of Earth First!, the loggers, the controversy of tree spiking, the political/romantic partnership of Judi and Darryl, and the fate of the ancient redwoods.

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Early 1980's Earth First! footage conveys the thinking of the founders, such as Dave Foreman and writer Edward Abbey. Deep ecology and civil disobedience are depicted in action. As Judi scores victories, tensions grow into violence. As Judi and Darryl successfully organize for the Cahto Wilderness, Headwaters Forest, and Redwood Summer which bring thousands to the area, they experience the chilling fear of death threats and ultimately the government's convoluted reasoning to accuse them of the crimes committed against them.




When a letter describing the bomb components takes credit for the attack, the FBI accuses Judi's relatives of typing the letter, searching her house, pulling nails from the window trim to see if they matched nails strapped to the bomb. Judi describes this invasion emotionally and how it affected her children. The evidence clearly proved that the bomb was hidden beneath her seat, while the FBI claimed that it should have been visible.




Judi's testimony that she had to give up her forest activism due to cancer segues into her greatest speech before 5,000 people, including Bonnie Raitt (who sings). It culminates with the largest civil disobedience in U.S. history --1033 people arrested in support of Headwaters Forest.




The deposition ends with the stunning revelation that neither the FBI nor the Oakland attorney has a single question. Her touching reaction is that she "gets to go home," rather than face more days of questioning.

The film transitions to the news on the day that Judi's deposition was given to the jury in 2002. Lawyers at the courthouse, a radio interview with a jury member, and the exuberance of the day the $4.4 million verdict comes in builds to a powerful conclusion

[Peter Lemkin]

"This film is a powerful tribute to Judi Bari and will lead the American public to recognize her as an iconic American environmental hero. Who Bombed Judi Bari? transcends politics and will be appreciated as a well-told story and parable, a must see for film-goers and frankly, all citizens of this country. For those who think this government is waging a war on terror, this well-documented film will make them think again about whose side the government is on."
-- Ed Asner

Trailer here for the film [URL="http://whobombedjudibari.com/index.htm"]http://whobombedjudibari.com/index.htm

[/URL]

[Peter Lemkin]

http://judibari.org/

FBI Seeks to Destroy Bomb Evidence
Motion to Preserve Bomb Evidence, August-September 2010

In a brazen move, the FBI, which never honestly investigated the evidence in the Judi Bari bombing, has given notice that they intend to destroy the remaining evidence in the still unsolved attempted murder. Surviving plaintiff Darryl Cherney files an objection to the destruction of evidence and moves the court to order the FBI to preserve the evidence and either turn the it over to him for DNA testing and other forensic analysis, or to deliver it to a certified 3rd party for testing. The FBI objects, saying it wants to destroy the evidence and claiming that the remains of two bombs are "contraband" which can not be released to a private individual.

The motion is set for hearing Sept. 8, 2010, in Federal Court in San Francisco before Magistrate Judge James Larson. A press conference follows the hearing and will be held in the plaza adjoining the San Francisco federal building at 450 Golden Gate Ave.

You can read the motion and supporting documents from the Legal Documents page.



Press Release

For Immediate Release, Sept. 7, 2010
Motion and supporting documents available online at
http://www.judibari.org/%60legal_index.html
Motion to Stop FBI from Destroying Bomb Case Evidence

Hearing Wed., Sept. 8, 9:30AM in San Francisco

Press conference to follow hearing at 450 Golden Gate

Contact: Darryl Cherney; Ben Rosenfeld or Dennis Cunningham, Attorneys

Following the 20th anniversary of the 1990 car bombing and attempted frame up of Earth First! organizers Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney, civil rights attorneys Dennis Cunningham and Ben Rosenfeld will argue a motion in San Francisco Federal Court, 450 Golden Gate at 9:30 am this Wednesday, Sept. 8 in Courtroom F, 15th Floor before Judge James Larson, to prevent the FBI from destroying two sets of bomb remnants. The motion asks that those remnants and other evidence to be turned over to Cherney or an agreed upon laboratory for DNA and other forensic testing to determine the identity of the bomber. A press conference on the plaza outside the Federal Building will follow the hearing.

The case stems from the FBI and Oakland Police attempts to pin a political bombing on the victims rather than look for the terrorist who tried to kill Judi Bari by hiding a motion-triggered pipe bomb under the driver's seat of her Subaru station wagon. The explosion interrupted Bari and Cherney's musical roadshow in which they traveled to colleges to encourage people to participate in for the Redwood Summer campaign to stop the logging of ancient redwoods. They had pulled out of Oakland just before noon, heading to UC Santa Cruz to perform on that fateful May 24, 1990 when Bari's car exploded on Park Blvd. near MacArthur. Oakland police and FBI agents instantly declared Bari and Cherney the only suspects despite the fact that all of the physical evidence pointed at an assassination attempt and that they provided the FBI on the day of the bombing with a folder full of death threats targeting them.

Bari (posthumously) and Cherney won a successful civil rights trial in 2002, in which the jury agreed that their First and Fourth Amendment rights had been violated when the FBI and OPD falsely arrested them and illegally searched their homes--all in order to discredit and silence them. The events took place in a highly charged year. A ballot initiative--Forests Forever (Proposition 130) on the November ballot-- would have banned clearcutting and preserved ancient forests among other proposed reforms. It was defeated by just over one percentage point in a major setback.

The FBI, intent on framing Bari and Cherney, has never conducted a sincere investigation. It has failed even to analyze lifted fingerprints or to do DNA forensics. Cherney, however, has conducted his own investigation, collecting and analyzing evidence in pursuit of the bomber the FBI appears intent on hiding. "There is a logging truck's load of forensic evidence in this case," said Cherney.

A letter taking credit for two bombings, including the bomb in Bari's car, signed "The Lord's Avenger," provided details on the design of another bomb that barely went off at the Louisiana Pacific sawmill in Cloverdale, CA two weeks before the car bombing, as well as details of the car bomb. The bomb in Cloverdale is nearly intact and could provide DNA and other forensic evidence that could identify the bomber.

A jury awarded the two $4.4 million - in Bari's case, to her estate. Later, the parties settled for a total of $4 million, inclusive of attorney's fees. The parties also agreed that: (1) the FBI would return evidence to Oakland; (2) Oakland would turn over evidence to Cherney; (3) the parties would certify any disputes to the Court; and 4) that May 24, 1990 be proclaimed Judi Bari Day by the city of Oakland, which did, in fact, occur.

Jury's message to feds in $4.4 million verdict for Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney
(revised 6/19/02)

On June 11, 2002, a federal jury returned a stunning verdict in favor of Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney in their landmark civil rights lawsuit against four FBI agents and three Oakland Police officers.

The jury unanimously found that six of the seven FBI and OPD defendants tried to frame Judi and Darryl in an effort to crush Earth First! and chill participation in Redwood Summer. That was evident in the fact that 80% of the $4.4 million total damage award was for violation of their First Amendment rights to speak out and organize politically in defense of the forests.

"The jury exonerated us," said Darryl Cherney. "They found the FBI to be the ones in violation of the law. The American public needs to understand that the FBI can't be trusted. Ten jurors got a good, hard look at the FBI and they didn't like what they saw."

"It's really beyond our wildest dreams," said Darlene Comingore, Judi Bari's friend and executor of her estate who stood in for her as co-plaintiff in this suit. "We hope the FBI and Oakland and all the police forces out there that think they can violate people's rights and get away with it are listening because the people of the state of California and Oakland today said, 'No, you can't. You can't get away with it.' "

Lead attorney Dennis Cunningham said the message he hopes the verdict sends is that: "Ashcroft is doing precisely the wrong thing to abandon the (Levi) guidelines and let the FBI go after dissent with a free hand. It's clear that their intention is not about fighting terrorism, it's about suppressing dissent. That's what the FBI has always been about. Hopefully it will make Congress think twice about giving them a free hand."

Please click here to continue reading this article, with more interpretation of the meaning and importance of the verdict by the media as well as by individual participants and observers, including one of the jurors.

[Keith Millea]

Thanks Peter,

I'll throw in my thread on Judi Bari below:

https://deeppoliticsforum.com/forums/sho...-years-ago

[Peter Lemkin]

Good stuff on your thread Keith.....I never noticed it [must have been on vacation or asleep] when it was active. As an environmental scientist and environmentalist I've long known the story of that [and other bombings and set-ups] against environmental activists. DHS, FBI et al. consider environmental activism a form of domestic terrorism and they act they way they always seem to [as the real terrorists]. So sad to see in my lifetime those who fight for the Planet and its ecosystem, for sustainability and living within the means of the ecosystem, those who promote Peace over War, those who want Freedom and Justice for all are constantly being harassed, spied upon, assassinated and often even blamed for their own assassinations [suicided, or as with Judi Bari accused of having built the bomb the FBI really built], etc. For me, the saddest part is to see that at this time, despite the noble work of a dedicated few who refuse to give in to the tyranny all around, things are IMHO getting worse, not better. Judi eventually succumbed to cancer and I can only wonder if they didn't give that to her too, after the bomb failed and the FBI and even one of its bomb making and testing locations exposed in the subsequent legal battles. Amerika is so sick at this time - and has been all my life. Those who fight to save her are the ones most at risk, sadly. Carry on the fight!

[Peter Lemkin]

Judi Bari was a union organizer and an Earth First organizer, she was the mother of two children, a professional carpenter, here in the Redwood region of California.
That in a way is what made her so dangerous to the status quo because that what we know so well, a world divided and conquered by those that would rather us fight each other than those at the top.
Judi Bari was a unifier, she was somebody who brought loggers, timber workers, mill workers, truck drivers together with environmentalists to find our common goals, and to focus attention on the corporate elites who are manipulating all of us.
The issues are the same today as they've been for the last 6000 years of recorded history.
Human beings have been logging the forests since the cedars of Lebanon. Judi was taking on the issue of mowing down ancient Redwood trees that stand 350 feet tall, 15 feet wide, 2000 years in age.
A single Redwood can hold 4000 gallons of water. They're worth 50 thousand dollars a piece.
Redwood Summer did emulate Freedom Summers sometimes called Mississippi Summers in the deep South.
The point was the same as long as things happened in the deep South without anybody looking, they could continue, Jim Crow would continue.
The mowing down of our eco-system which we believe is a civil rights movement as much as a environmental movement because our ability to live on this planet depends on our ecosystem staying intact.
We invited college kids as well as anyone who wanted to participate and that's what Redwood Summer was.
We received about 3 dozen death threats mostly by letter, by phone and some in person over a short period of time, about a month and a half, right after we announced Redwood Summer.
We decided to get out of rural areas, so we were touring universities, as we were leaving Oakland, where Judi had spent the night heading toward Santa Cruz. Judi ordered me into her car, we drove for a couple of minutes a bomb exploded under her seat.
Fracturing her pelvis, causing intestinal damage, pulverizing her lower vertebrae.
Instantly within 5 minutes the FBI and Oakland Police showed up.
They knew the bomb was a booby trap, designed to only go off in a moving car.
They looked at the death threats and immediately dismissed them as irrelevant.
Violence is a dominant gene. You can have a thousand peaceful people but one violent person can ruin for everybody else.
The FBI and the Oakland Police were eventually found liable for violating the First Amendment of the US Constitution. It wasn't that they were mistaken, they knew we were innocent.
They found the motion trigger that said the bomb could only go off in a moving vehicle.
Right to her death, the FBI and the Oakland never asked Judi one question.
Judi Bari was a full-time working carpenter. She supervised a construction crew.
WhoBombedJudiBari.com

Guest - Darryl Cherney, born in New York City where he was a child actor. For 20 years he has been an activist, topical singer -songwriter and organizer in Humboldt County California. He helped spearhead the successful campaign to protect the redwoods, including Headwaters Forests, now a national preserve. As creator and president of Environmentally Sound Promotions, the non-profit organization, he has produced five albums of his original songs dedicated to environmental protection. He also produced Judi Bari?s spoken word CD, Who Bombed Judi Bari?, and the benefit compilation, If a Tree Falls. Great and LONG interview [mp3] in the middle of this show HERE. [Law and Disorder Dec. 3, 2012]