Bari v FBI - Tony Serra to Question FBI Terror Squad Chief Reikes Wednesday

Tony Serra to Question FBI Terror Squad Chief Reikes Wednesday

National Environmental Groups to Voice Support at Thursday’s Press
Conference

For background and photos: http://www.judibari.org. Artist renderings of courtroom
proceedings also available.

Contact: Jean Eisenhower, Kathy Glass, Steve Christianson at 510/663-6330

OAKLAND, CA – On Wednesday, May 1, noted San Francisco attorney Tony Serra
will examine Special Agent John Reikes, the head of the FBI terrorist
division in 1990, known as Squad 13. At an inter-agency meeting the night
of the bombing, Reikes lied by telling other law enforcement officers that
Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney were “known terrorists,” thereafter poisoning
the possibility of an honest investigation of who bombed the Earth First!
pair on May 24, 1990. Bari and Cherney had no record of violence of any
kind either before and after the bombing.

Plaintiff Darryl Cherney will take the stand either on Thursday or Monday
in what is likely to be the FBI’s most aggressive defense questioning thus
far. His testimony will be followed by Judi Bari’s videotaped testimony,
given five weeks before her death in March 1997.

After court on Thursday, at 2 pm, in front of the Oakland Federal
Courthouse at 1301 Clay Street, a press conference will be held featuring
members of the Judi Bari Solidarity Coalition, including Medea Benjamin of
Global Exchange, Randy Hayes of Rainforest Action Network, Gar Smith of
Earth Island Institute, and Juliette Majot of International Rivers Network.
Written statements of support will be provided from Bonnie Raitt, Holly
Near, Jello Biafra, former Congressman Jim Jontz, and many other public
figures. Scores of national environmental and social justice groups rallied
publicly in support of Bari and Cherney in 1990 when the FBI first accused
them of knowingly transporting the bomb. Notes Darryl Cherney, “Today, in a
post-9/11 world, upholding the principles of democracy and the right to
speak and organize freely has never been more important. We must blockade
the FBI from clearcutting the Constitution.” The prominent
environmentalists will also underscore Bari and Cherney’s longstanding
commitment to non-violence and the building of alliances with timber
workers.
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