Rights Abuses Against Activists are the Rule at OPD

September 28, 2000

RIGHTS ABUSES AGAINST ACTIVISTS ARE THE RULE AT OPD
Federal Civil Rights trial begins October 1, 2001 in Earth First! Bombing case

Contacts: Alicia Littletree, Mendocino Earth First! 707-462-9145

Erica Etelson, Attorney, Redwood Summer Justice Project 415-982-7714

In Oakland, California, scrutiny is once-again turning toward the police department, as Rampart-style rights abuses by four officers trigger a probe into the department's policies. According to OPD Chief Richard Word, who spoke at a press conference on September 22, 2000, the recent scandal at the OPD involved offenses such as "falsification of police reports and mishandling of evidence."

While these kinds of abuses against citizens may be rampant at the OPD, they are especially targeted at activists groups in the bay area, guilty only of exercising their First Amendment free speech rights. The most glaring example of OPD civil rights abuses against activists is the bombing of Earth First! organizers Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney in Oakland in 1990. At least eight Oakland officers played a key role in the framing of Bari and Cherney, and three of them are named defendants in a federal civil rights lawsuit against the OPD and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last year rejected a bid by the OPD to be dismissed from the case, ruling that enough evidence of false arrest, illegal searches, and conspiracy with the FBI exists to warrant a trial in this case. The trial will begin October 1, 2001.

After receiving death threats for their nonviolent Earth First! organizing, Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney were injured by a motion-triggered car bomb that exploded beneath Judi Bari's car seat as the pair drove through Oakland on May 24, 1990. All of the evidence at the scene showed the activists were the victims of a bombing, but the Oakland Police jumped to arrest Bari for possession of explosives--at the behest of the FBI--within three hours of the blast. OPD Sergeants Clyde Sims, Mike Sitterud, and Robert Chenault then went back to the police station. There they met with FBI agents and wrote a search warrant affidavit filled with glaringly false and misleading statements about the bombing, calling Bari and Cherney "terrorists." The OPD also arrested Darryl Cherney, raided several activists' houses, and held press conferences to mislead the public about the investigation. All the while, the OPD collaborated with the FBI to use the bombing to try to "neutralize" the Earth First!ers' political organizing for the ancient redwood forests. Despite the arrests, the Alameda DA declined to press charges citing lack of evidence.

One of the most chilling revelations to come out through the lawsuit is testimony by the OPD's "intelligence" officer, who said that he kept files on over 300 activists groups in the bay area, and often shared this information with the FBI.

Supporters of Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney have called on Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown and the Oakland City Council to investigate the conduct of the OPD officers in the bombing case, and shut down the illegal "intelligence division." These latest revelations of OPD misconduct provide a perfect opportunity for a full probe of police abuse in Oakland, from excessive force to anti-First Amendment spying and lying.

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