By Karen Pickett – Earth First! Journal, Litha / June 21, 1990
People ask how Judi’s doing after I visit her in the hospital and I want to say she’s doing great, but somehow that sounds strange to say about someone who has been in a great deal of pain and is immobilized in traction with a severely broken pelvis and damaged leg. But the concept of “doing great” is relative, and I am so impressed with how this woman—this strong, vital and courageous woman—is coping with her injuries and with the horror of the attack on her: Judi would rather be working on a press release at base camp, out on the campaign trail, playing her fiddle at a rally, instead of lying in a hospital bed while her body’s forces mend her bones, nerves, tissues. But I think she is doing great because from her prone position she has been strategizing, philosophizing, laughing, singing and even playing music. Judi still has several weeks of traction ahead of her (8 weeks in all) and then additional recovery time, but she is getting stronger and better every day. Since being released from police custody pending the district attorney’s decision on the filing of charges, she has had private 24 hour a day security, and close friends have been able to visit her.
Darryl’s injuries were much less severe (allowing him to be released from the emergency room the day of the bombing into the clutches of the Oakland Police and FBI for an all night interrogation session), but his recovery is still ongoing. He suffered a scratched cornea, which is still being treated, and hearing loss from perforated ear drums which will take several months to heal. Darryl is back on the organizing and media circuits and will be so throughout Redwood Summer…
Several elements of the assassination attempt are being overlooked by most mainstream press and need to be investigated thoroughly. Here is a brief synopsis:
The Labor Connection
Both Judi and Darryl are Wobblies, organizers in IWW Local #1 in Mendocino County. Judi had been (and will continue) successfully recruiting sawmill workers at the Georgia Pacific plant in Fort Bragg. Well versed in labor law from 7 years of union organizing with the Bulk Mail workers in Washington, DC, and the Retail Clerks Union, Judi was working as both a paralegal and union rep on behalf of 5 millworkers who were suing G-P over a PCB spill where one mechanic actually drank the stuff while making repairs. G-P ordered the hospital not to pump Frank Murray’s stomach (great folks, G-P) and the lumber giant is now facing civil suits, OSHA investigations, and possible criminal charges for willfully injuring 17 of their workers.
The lumber industry paradigm cannot tolerate an Earth First!er and Wobbly organizing their workers. it is doubtful that anyone hated Judi Bari more than Georgia Pacific…
The Fundamentalist Connection
Someone or something has actually taken credit for the act of terrorism, sending a letter to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. The letter proclaims that Judi is possessed by the devil, that she encourages people to worship trees which are evil, and that he had pipe bombed a Cloverdale Mill (which had just laid off a shift be-cause Louisiana Pacific has opened a new mill in Mexico) in order to frame Judi. We don’t believe the letter is authentic, but it does represent one spirit of the timber industry: Armageddenist Fundamentalism. Back in June of 1988, top brass of the timber industry’s Sacramento lobby issued a right-wing, fundamentalist strategy (authored by H.L. Richard-son and released by Bill Dennison of the Timber Association of CA) which declared a holy war on the heathen left, including cannibals and witch doctors as well as communists. “We Christians sit comfort-ably in our pews taking dominion over nothing when there is much to take dominion over,” it said.
Though newspaper accounts erroneously said this letter veered attention away from the timber industry, it may well be pointing right back at them. Half the executives and loggers we’ve talked to believe they’re just helping along the end of the world to make way for the second coming of Jesus. in response to this, along with the general demeanor of evil brooding in the Bay Area, we’re issuing a special call to all Wiccans to loin us this summer and shimmer white light in abundance down upon these ragged forests and the ragged souls defending them.
The Oakland Police Connection
When Judi and others met with the Mendocino sheriffs in early April, the badged wonders told her that if they were short on manpower they’d call in the Oakland Police Department (OPD). When 13 EF!ers were busted in connection with the Golden Gate Bridge action on April 24, Darryl Cherney was busted making press calls at a pay phone and Tracy Kattleman was similarly busted far from the action. Both had their cars searched by the OPD, which might seem strange, because the Golden Gate Bridge district has nothing to do with the Oakland Police, nor has EF! done much in Oakland (that may change).
Now, the Oakland Police are spearheading a vicious smear campaign against Judi and Darryl, lying about incriminating aspects of the evidence they claim to have (basically duct tape, nails, and Wire). The OPD even listed as the first item confiscated at Darryl’s home: a monkeywrench. (It was a pipe wrench, boys). They’ve actually had to retract some of their vicious rumors but the press never prints the retractions. Against the advice of their attorneys, Darryl and Judi are speaking out in the press, where it seems this case is really being tried.
The Music Connection
Judi and Darryl, both musicians, along with banjoist George Shook (not in the car), were on their way to a gig. Photos showing them playing music have been released, but the fact that it was performing artists who were bombed by terrorists is not being adequately illuminated by the press.
The Press
Speaking of the press, this case actually topped Gorbachev for the top fold of the San Francisco Chronicle. Every EF! phone in the Northlands is ringing nonstop day and night. Seems that certain papers are refusing to print Darryl’s words when he does comment, which leads us to believe that his opinions do not fit the image the press is trying to create. Not all press is bad, though, and sympathetic reporters who know Judi and Darryl are being vigilant over their editors. However, many of the reporters who’ve been following this issue for years have been yanked from the story because they are not “impartial” enough.