Feature Archives

June 10-12th is an international Weekend of Resistance with Jeff "Free" Luers. Luers is currently serving his 5th year of a 22 year and 8 month sentence for an action that, supporters say, "...did not hurt or threaten anyone. He burned 3 SUVs to make a statement about increased environmental destruction caused by fuel inefficient vehicles. It is believed and obvious that it is Jeff’s political beliefs that landed him this unjust sentence."

A Political Prisoner Speaking Event will be held on Friday, June 10th at 6:30pm at the New College Cultural Center in San Francisco. This speaking event will focus on the importance of prisoner support and what it means to be a political prisoner in the US. Local former prisoners and prisoner support activists including Luis “Bato” Talamantez, Rita ‘Bo’ Brown, Claude Marks, and Rahula Janowski will speak. A short speech written by Jeff ‘Free’ Luers will be read. On Saturday June 11th a Critical Mass Bike Ride for Luers will gather at 1 PM at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco. There will be a film screening on June 10th at 7pm in Modesto. On June 11th there will be a video screening in Sacramento at 3pm at Juliana's Kitchen. Also on June 11th there will be a video screening in Santa Rosa.

June 2005 marks the five-year anniversary of the imprisonment of Luers. Before his action at the car dealership, he was already well-known to law enforcement because of his involvement with national forest protection (starting an occupation of a controversial old-growth timber sale in 1998), anti-police brutality activism, free food programs in a local park, and teaching self-defense to women. He has continued to be active in prison and fight oppression with his words and inspiration.

Last June, social and environmental activists in the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia participated in an "International Day of Action" by organizing non-violent protests and community events to show their support for Luers and their disgust for his cruel sentence. The FBI responded by creating a real 'Green Scare', sending a memo to businesses, corporate media, and government agencies warning of planned "terrorist attacks" by the "Earth Liberation Front" on June 12. Of course, no such "attacks" ever occurred. All of the events were peaceful and public, ranging from concerts and demonstrations, to video showings and dinner parties. Read more

Indynewswire Radio Show about Free | Free Free website | The Jericho Movement

From June 1st to June 5th, San Francisco is hosting the U.N. World Environment Week. People who are slated to attend the conference include UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Klaus Toepfer, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and mayors from London, Shanghai, Kabul, Buenos Aires, Sydney, Phnom Penh, Jakarta, Rome, and Istanbul. Indigenous peoples such as the Muwekma Ohlone are critical of non-governmental organizations' participation in World Environment Day. Local racial justice organizations are organizing their own events during the week. Audio interviews | Photos from this week's events: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

SF Mayor Gavin Newsom has said, "I look forward to working closely with leaders of the world's major cities to establish guidelines for environmentally sensible urban life...This conference is a remarkable opportunity for all of us." Newsom will preside over opening ceremonies at Civic Center Plaza at 9 a.m. on Thursday, June 2nd, at a "free public celebration to kick off both the conference and the California Tomorrow Festival, the public’s chance to experience first-hand cutting edge environmental solutions."

The Coalition to Evict PG&E says, "This is truly a remarkable opportunity for all of us...because poor communities of color are NEVER invited to the eco-elite table! Please join us as we demand environmental justice NOW!" Events during the week will include a theatrical performance called "Body Burden Show" about environmental health and breast cancer on Monday, May 30th at Balazo Gallery's new location; a Wednesday, June 1st Decorate the Cities and Welcome the Mayors event that is intended to show the mayors how green San Francisco is; a Thursday, June 2nd display of the baby clothes project to say, For Our Children's Sake; Shut down the PG&E Hunters Point Power Plant!; a Friday, June 3rd Bayview Hunters Point Toxic Tour for Mayors; a Saturday, June 4th Rally for Environmental Justice at San Francisco City Hall (Flyer); an Environmental Health & Justice Block Party in West Oakland; and a Night of Culture & Celebration of Environmental Justice in San Francisco. Event Details

The Ella Baker Center will be launching a new think tank project called Reclaim the Future, and has organized a Social Equity Track Calendar of Events for WED week. 5/28 Update with corrections to times for several social justice track events.

World Environment Day 2005 | Greenaction

San Francisco, CA. - The jury has just returned a unanimous verdict for the activists/plaintiffs, finding the County of Humboldt and City of Eureka liable for excessive force used by Humboldt County Sheriff's Deputies and Eureka Police Officers when they applied pepper spray directly to the eyes of the eight nonviolent forest defense protesters in three incidents in 1997. Former sheriff Dennis Lewis and present sheriff Gary Philp also were found liable for causing the use of excessive force by ordering the unprecedented use of pepper spray on the passive, locked together sit-in demonstrators.

The jury awarded nominal damages of $1 to each of the plaintiffs, who made it clear all along that they weren't suing for the money, but to bring about a change of policy, to stop the use of pepper spray in Humboldt in the way it was used on them. A 2003 settlement offer by the activists, who felt vindicated after their trip to the Court of Appeals, contained similar terms to the outcome of this lawsuit; law enforcement will be deterred from applying pepper spray directly to the eyes of peaceful people, and Humboldt County and City of Eureka will owe for attorneys fees that may reach over a million dollars following two additional jury trials.

Attorneys for the pepper spray Plaintiffs, Dennis Cunningham, J. Tony Serra, Bob Bloom, Ben Rosenfeld and Bill Simpich, made up part of the award winning legal team that beat the FBI in 2002 on behalf of Earth First! Organizer Judi Bari, who was the victim of a car bomb assassination attempt in 1990, which was covered up by the FBI and Oakland Police.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 No Pepper Spray Website

Eureka, CA - Felony charges will not be pressed against treesitter Ramsey Noah Gifford, who has faced bogus charges of assault with a deadly weapon for nearly two years following an April 2003 tree-top altercation with Maxxam/Pacific Lumber climbers hired to eject protestors in order to clear-cut old-growth redwood forest.

Gifford was one of about 15 treesitters who were forcibly removed from old-growth redwoods in the Freshwater Creek area in March and April 2003. Most of the trees were cut following the extractions, and nearly fifty people were arrested in protest of Maxxam/PL’s liquidation logging. Freshwater Creek has been listed as sediment impaired under the Clean Water Act since 1997.

PL treesit extractor Eric Schatz of Schatz Tree Service, who is the alleged victim of the assault, gave three days of testimony, mostly in answer to heavy questioning by defense attorney Michael Acosta. Attorneys for Gifford played footage of the incident taken with the extractor’s helmet cameras, and asked Schatz to stop the tape at the time Gifford allegedly tried to unhook Schatz from his safety gear. Schatz was unable to pinpoint an assault.
Read more: 1 I 2 I 3

On April 1, 2005, the Peninsula Raging Grannies, Rainforest Action Network, the Stanford Radical Cheerleaders and others protested at Peninsula Ford against the environmental impact of the low gas mileage of Ford cars and trucks. According to the EPA, Ford has the worst average fuel economy among the top six automakers and has been in sixth place for the past five years.

Photos: 1 | 2 | Video

On April 5th, Oakland's City Council voted unanimously to do an Environmental Impact Report to determine the safety of the proposed herbicide use in the Oakland Hills for fire prevention. This was decided in spite of the city attorney's urging to oppose it, as this ordinance could leave the city liable for its toxic effects on the health of application workers and the public. It is uncertain whether or not the council will vote again before implementing the ordinance if the EIR comes back in favor of it. Read more Jean Quan and her staff, who have been pushing for this ordinance, have been downplaying environmental concerns throughout this discussion. Read more in an April 4th Update

More information, including toxicological profiles, can be found on the East Bay Pesticide Alert Website | Indybay's Coverage of the leadup to the 3/22 City Council Meeting | Indybay's 1/26 Story about Oakland and Herbicides

Despite being the target of protests since the 1960s, recent worldwide protests prior to the hunt, and the presence at the hunt itself of numerous protestors from organizations such as the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and Sea Shepherd, this year's Canadian seal hunt, which started March 29th, continues unabated with 20-30,000 pups being killed per day. Many countries, including the United States, ban imports of seal products. The hunt, though, still earned about $16.5 million last year, mostly from pelt sales to Norway, Denmark and China. Clubs, rifles and spears are used to kill the animals en masse for their fur. Regulations require that hunters ensure their prey is dead before moving on but animal activists say they have witnessed otherwise and that the pups are are often skinned alive. Up to 300,000 seal pups may be legally slaughtered per year, as the Canadian government has recently increased the totals allowed. Confrontations between hunters and observers have become heated at times. Hunters have physically attacked some observers. Gunfire has also been used seemingly to scare off those who are lawfully observing the hunts. There are laws which govern how close to a hunt observers may come (10 meters) and several animal activists have been beaten and arrested by authorities for breaching this distance although the activists deny they were in violation of the perimeter of an active hunt. This year, HSUS has called for a boycott of Canadian seafood by American distributors, restaurants, and consumers to exert economic pressure on the Canadian government to stop future seal hunts.

Photos · Audio from KPFA · Reports: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5