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05/07/02 - Darryl Cherney Takes the Stand
Oakland, California – Plaintiff Darryl Cherney began his testimony today, provoking laughter numerous times as he talked about his early involvement with Earth First! and meeting of co-plaintiff Judi Bari.
Contact: Jean Eisenhower or Steve Christianson 510-663-6330;
http://www.judibari.org for background and photos. Artist renderings from the
courtroom available.
Darryl Cherney Takes the Stand
Judi Bari Video Testimony Coming Soon
Defendant Special Agent Walter Hemje Admits FBI Had No Evidence Against
Judi and Darryl
Oakland, California – Plaintiff Darryl Cherney began his testimony today, provoking laughter numerous times as he talked about his early involvement
with Earth First! and meeting of co-plaintiff Judi Bari. His testimony will continue on Tuesday morning.
Co-plaintiff Judi Bari’s testimony will follow, in the form of a one-and-a-half-hour video deposition given five weeks before her death in 1997—despite FBI attempts to delay it. The video is expected to begin by noon Tuesday. Judi’s testimony will wrap up the plaintiff’s witnesses. Reporters should arrive by 8:00 am, as the courtroom was packed today and many were turned away.
Today, FBI Special Agent Walter Hemje confessed at the end of his testimony that the FBI had no evidence to connect either Judi or Darryl to the bombing, even though Judi and Darryl would remain the “only suspects.” Also on the stand today, Judi’s initial attorney, Susan Jordan, testified about her difficulty encouraging the FBI to investigate the death threats
Judi and others had received.
FBI and Oakland PD witnesses are expected to be completed early next week and followed by closing arguments. The jury’s decision will likely fall near the twelfth anniversary of the bombing, May 24, 1990.
To receive these media releases by email, please contact our office at 510-663-6330 or send a message to media [at] judibari.org.
--end--
Additional note: Darryl completed his testimony on May 7th and ten minutes of Judi's deposition was shown. The rest of Judi's deposition will be shown in the morning of May 8th, 2002.
http://www.judibari.org for background and photos. Artist renderings from the
courtroom available.
Darryl Cherney Takes the Stand
Judi Bari Video Testimony Coming Soon
Defendant Special Agent Walter Hemje Admits FBI Had No Evidence Against
Judi and Darryl
Oakland, California – Plaintiff Darryl Cherney began his testimony today, provoking laughter numerous times as he talked about his early involvement
with Earth First! and meeting of co-plaintiff Judi Bari. His testimony will continue on Tuesday morning.
Co-plaintiff Judi Bari’s testimony will follow, in the form of a one-and-a-half-hour video deposition given five weeks before her death in 1997—despite FBI attempts to delay it. The video is expected to begin by noon Tuesday. Judi’s testimony will wrap up the plaintiff’s witnesses. Reporters should arrive by 8:00 am, as the courtroom was packed today and many were turned away.
Today, FBI Special Agent Walter Hemje confessed at the end of his testimony that the FBI had no evidence to connect either Judi or Darryl to the bombing, even though Judi and Darryl would remain the “only suspects.” Also on the stand today, Judi’s initial attorney, Susan Jordan, testified about her difficulty encouraging the FBI to investigate the death threats
Judi and others had received.
FBI and Oakland PD witnesses are expected to be completed early next week and followed by closing arguments. The jury’s decision will likely fall near the twelfth anniversary of the bombing, May 24, 1990.
To receive these media releases by email, please contact our office at 510-663-6330 or send a message to media [at] judibari.org.
--end--
Additional note: Darryl completed his testimony on May 7th and ten minutes of Judi's deposition was shown. The rest of Judi's deposition will be shown in the morning of May 8th, 2002.
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In the 1980's, Darryl Cherney constructed pipe bombs in Southern Humboldt for the purpose of killing fish illegally to fill his freezer for the winter, a fact commonly known around Garberville. He bragged to many about his freezer filled with fish killed by his homemade pipe bombs.
It is thought that Cherney may have forgotten about one particular pipe bomb left in his car beneath the driver's seat... a pipe bomb which later exploded on the road in Oakland, injuring Judi Bari.
Though Cherney knew that it was his own sloppiness that caused the accidental explosion, he took the opportunity to profitably exploit the facts against his nemesis, the FBI.
It is thought that Cherney may have forgotten about one particular pipe bomb left in his car beneath the driver's seat... a pipe bomb which later exploded on the road in Oakland, injuring Judi Bari.
Though Cherney knew that it was his own sloppiness that caused the accidental explosion, he took the opportunity to profitably exploit the facts against his nemesis, the FBI.
What a lame smear. Never before have I come across this ridiculous allegation (except, of course, from the Frame, Bait, and Incarcerate agency) that Cherney may have accidentally left a pipe bomb in the car. With an elaborate detonation mechanism attached.
So--Juan asserts that Cherney "forgot" a nail-filled pipe bomb, attached to a live battery and a motion-activated ball-bearing detonator, from some mythological fish-bombing era.
More likely that the FBI "forgot" the name of their collaborator, who had constructed such bombs at a joint "training exercise" with the cops just before the attack on Cherney and Bari.
More likely that the FBI "forgot" the name of their collaborator, who had constructed such bombs at a joint "training exercise" with the cops just before the attack on Cherney and Bari.
Darryl Cherney's breaking into song before the judge probably has cost the plantiffs their entire case. "Spike A Tree For Jesus", please Darryl. And to be subjected to Darryl's rambling theology that those who cut down the trees to make the crucifix were responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Jesus H. Christ, Darryl - you're a Biblical scholar too. Cherney's egomaniacal complusion to play to the audience in the courtroom rather than make a cogent presentation to the jury was the stupidest move ever made in a civil trial. Why Dennis Cunningham let his client showboat with that particular song borders on malpractice. Once again Hank Sims of the Anderson Valley Advertiser is doing the best reporting of all the media at the trial. Disgusting to see Karen Pickett (of Bay Area Coalition for the Headwaters) attempt to keep Andy Caffrey out of the courtroom on Monday and Tuesday. Pickett's a long time collaborator of Cherney and a true ecofascist. Her Bay Area Coalition is nothing more than personal checking account for Ms. Pickett, just as Cherney's Environmentally Sound Promotions provides Darryl with cash and cover.
For more information:
http://www.flatlandbooks.com
Darryl was hoping to sing a song to cap his testimony because he and Judi always used songs in their presentations. They sang to the county Board of Supervisors. They sang to the state Board of Forestry. They sang to loggers in the woods and millworkers in the mills.
Do you think if Judi were still alive she wouldn't have been right there beside Darryl with her fiddle?
Darryl wanted to sing "Who Bombed Judi Bari?" which wraps the whole story into a powerful and memorable song.
The defendants objected to him singing period, citing relevance as the legal basis for objection.
A common way to beat a relevance objection is to show that the issue was raised by the other side. FBI attorney Joe Sher had brought up the issue of Darryl's music by questioning him about his albums. Sher asked if there were any songs about tree-spiking. Replying truthfully, Darryl said there were two: Spike a Tree for Jesus and the Ballad of the Lonesome Tree-Spiker. He hasn't performed the second one in many years.
The judge decided Darryl could sing one of the songs he named in answer to Sher's questions. That left him only one choice, "Spike a Tree For Jesus."
What the judge thought about it is irrelevant to the outcome of the case. What the jury thought is what counts. One juror, an African American woman, seemed offended by the song. However several other jurors were grinning, and it was obvious that they, and most people of any intelligence, got the humor of this satirical song.
The legal basis for allowing Darryl to sing was to rebut the impression the jury might have gotten that having the two songs about tree-spiking on his album meant Darryl was seriously advocating tree-spiking. If they thought that, they would have to infer that Darryl's testimony that he opposed tree-spiking was untruthful, and if they did that they would be entitled to dismiss anything else he said as untruthful. A jury instruction will specifically tell them that.
After the judge said Darryl could sing, he couldn't very well back out after realizing which song he was stuck with. Instead he did the honest thing and sang the song, even though he realized that it might hurt him with some jurors. Under the circumstances backing out would have hurt him more than singing it.
Nobody with an IQ above room temperature would take Spike a Tree for Jesus as urging people to run right out and hammer spikes into trees.
Why do DeeAnn Lawrence and the other Irv Sutley/Bruce Anderson cultists keep spamming this site with the URL for Flatland and that ilk? Flatland hasn't put anything new up on their site since January of this year, and nothing about the Bari case since May 24 two years ago. Nothing there anyway but a lot of stuff about UFOs, alien autopsies, theories that the Earth is ruled by an alien reptilian race disguised as humans, and other really solid stuff. Just the kind of place you turn to for the facts about the Bari case --- if you're a compleat idiot.
Do you think if Judi were still alive she wouldn't have been right there beside Darryl with her fiddle?
Darryl wanted to sing "Who Bombed Judi Bari?" which wraps the whole story into a powerful and memorable song.
The defendants objected to him singing period, citing relevance as the legal basis for objection.
A common way to beat a relevance objection is to show that the issue was raised by the other side. FBI attorney Joe Sher had brought up the issue of Darryl's music by questioning him about his albums. Sher asked if there were any songs about tree-spiking. Replying truthfully, Darryl said there were two: Spike a Tree for Jesus and the Ballad of the Lonesome Tree-Spiker. He hasn't performed the second one in many years.
The judge decided Darryl could sing one of the songs he named in answer to Sher's questions. That left him only one choice, "Spike a Tree For Jesus."
What the judge thought about it is irrelevant to the outcome of the case. What the jury thought is what counts. One juror, an African American woman, seemed offended by the song. However several other jurors were grinning, and it was obvious that they, and most people of any intelligence, got the humor of this satirical song.
The legal basis for allowing Darryl to sing was to rebut the impression the jury might have gotten that having the two songs about tree-spiking on his album meant Darryl was seriously advocating tree-spiking. If they thought that, they would have to infer that Darryl's testimony that he opposed tree-spiking was untruthful, and if they did that they would be entitled to dismiss anything else he said as untruthful. A jury instruction will specifically tell them that.
After the judge said Darryl could sing, he couldn't very well back out after realizing which song he was stuck with. Instead he did the honest thing and sang the song, even though he realized that it might hurt him with some jurors. Under the circumstances backing out would have hurt him more than singing it.
Nobody with an IQ above room temperature would take Spike a Tree for Jesus as urging people to run right out and hammer spikes into trees.
Why do DeeAnn Lawrence and the other Irv Sutley/Bruce Anderson cultists keep spamming this site with the URL for Flatland and that ilk? Flatland hasn't put anything new up on their site since January of this year, and nothing about the Bari case since May 24 two years ago. Nothing there anyway but a lot of stuff about UFOs, alien autopsies, theories that the Earth is ruled by an alien reptilian race disguised as humans, and other really solid stuff. Just the kind of place you turn to for the facts about the Bari case --- if you're a compleat idiot.
I've known Daryl personally since we met at Big Mountain in 1986. While we're not close friends, I know him well enough to know that he would NEVER use an explosive weapon, because he's strongly committed to nonviolence. Furthermore, if the bomb in the car was meant for fish, it wouldn't have had a device that triggered it by motion.
Juan Hoo Noes is either a cop/infiltrator or some anti-environmental asshole.
Juan Hoo Noes is either a cop/infiltrator or some anti-environmental asshole.
As someone who worked closely with Karen Pickett for several years and is also a friend, I can vouch for the fact that she works many long and hard hours for the Earth, with little return. To call her an ecofascist is disgusting, and shows that Lawrence is opposed to the environmental cause.
Furthermore, it is completely incorrect to say that the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH) is nothing but her personal checking account. BACH does great work and is the main force keeping BLM, which administers the new Headwaters Preserve, from destroying it.
Finally, Karen is not a collaberator with Daryl. They merely work together on issues and are friends, as most people in the movement do and are.
Furthermore, it is completely incorrect to say that the Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH) is nothing but her personal checking account. BACH does great work and is the main force keeping BLM, which administers the new Headwaters Preserve, from destroying it.
Finally, Karen is not a collaberator with Daryl. They merely work together on issues and are friends, as most people in the movement do and are.
>One juror, an African American woman, seemed offended by the song. However several other jurors were grinning, and it was obvious that they, and most people of any intelligence, got the humor of this satirical song.
Nice to know that the African-American people are still regarded as those who don't have the "intelligence" to get "the humor of this satirical song." And then some wonder why the black community don't support in droves organizations like Earth First!.
Nice to know that the African-American people are still regarded as those who don't have the "intelligence" to get "the humor of this satirical song." And then some wonder why the black community don't support in droves organizations like Earth First!.
Perhaps it would have been wiser of Flatland Sucks to have left out the phrase "an African American woman", and simply said "One juror seemed offended by the song" since the race and gender of the individual really had no bearing on the story.
To Bruce Anderson
Bruce,
I was accosted on two days by Karen Pickett. Monday May 6 during the last break of the hearing, and Tuesday May 7 while I was standing in line outside the Federal Building, awaiting entry to the trial. I had arrived at ~ 8 pm, and the following events lasted the duration until Pickett was in the building on her way to the court room.
This had also happened once before in Arizona this last February at the Earth First! Organizers Conference.
Pickett sent a dressed up security man named Catfish over to tell me to leave
Catfish claimed to be security and to have been directed by Pickett to come over and make me leave; they claimed authority of the plaintiff’s’ legal team; They claimed this gave them authority to kick me out of line.
They ordered me to do so over and over in a harangue which lasted for over 1/2 hour.
Pickett circulated a writing of mine which had been critical of her and others, including Darryl Cherney and Judi Bari, and attempted to use solely what I had written elsewhere to generate hatred and aggression against me as she built tension in people on both sides of me in line.
She got them to encircle me to attempt to physically intimidate me into fleeing.
She was running around showing the writing of mine while this was happening, and more and more people started yelling for me to go, and closing in around me. Some people were now insanely mad at me and I became afraid. My moth dried up and I was afraid over every word I spoke to defend myself. I was only keeping these people away because I was arguing my case successfully enough to reach some others in line who stayed calm.
Pickett informed me that everyone in line was already full of hatred toward me, which she had obviously generated long before I arrived that day.
She had planned this since seeing me the day before when I was in court, This is obvious because she had to have printed out this web site writing of mine, with the intent to use it this way, before she left the house that morning.
I have witnesses:
Patty <pattypink [at] sfo.com>
Charles Gary <charles [at] well.com>
Michael (?) Tai [Charles or Patti may have e-mail for him]
Tracy Katelman
Catfish
Ramon
Pickett has known at least since 1993 that I’m a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) trauma victim... and fully disabled by it. I'm on SSI because of it.
Now I’m shaking uncontrollably as I’m writing this.
So when she hadn’t succeeded in intimidating me to flee, then she had 20 people cut in front of us and we were kept from entering. About 12 people in front of me and 8 behind. I stayed until 11:45 a.m. and only 2 more people had gotten in by that point.
So she succeeded in keeping me out of Judge Wilken's court house.
My whole upper body has gone weak and my mouth has become instantly dehydrated--I think I’m going into shock. This is almos 2 1/2 days later.
I want a restraining order on her, keeping her away from any events where it is likely she could gang people up against me.
And I want to be reimbursed for the $80 I spent, uselessly because of her, to go to witness Cherney's testimony in a public court room.
Sorry I can only sketch this out now. It's all I can do at the moment.
Andy
P.S. This is the writing of mine which Pickett was circulating:
From: Andy Caffrey <hayduke [at] efmedia.org>
Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 12:35:05 -0700
Subject: Who killed Beth O'Brien?
It's hippie come-and-have-a-blast recruitment efforts started in Northern California that have gotten the cult of base camps off the ground. They have created an ambience of bliss uber alles at these camps which draw alienated and well-meaning young folks up into the trees where they are left at the mercy of, frequently, utter morons. Darryl Cherney, Judi Bari and Karen Pickett decided they could concentrate campaign power in 1995 by banning all other Headwaters Forest efforts except for the ones they directed. And the only way they could do that was to get people to come to their base camps. Then when Bari et al. had gotten the glory for the base camp direct action protests, they simply abandoned the camps to the inexperienced.
The next wave was when Julia Butterfly made tree-sitting "cool" especially for women. What she did was especially moving for young women. And Julia further encourages her "power of one" crap to this day, even merchandising t-shirts with that motto.
When Beth O'Brien died, these CFA cowards blamed the Forest Service (who obviously have some remote culpability), instead of blaming themselves for not having their shit together. If someone wants to Scuba dive 20 feet below sea level, they have to have a buddy who checks their gear and is personally responsible for their buddy's well being and even their survival. But is this happening 150 feet up in the air? Who was Beth's Buddy, and why didn't he or she make sure she was latched in before she walked across the rope ladder? If there was no buddy system, then why-the-hell-not? It was only below freezing, 2 and 1/2 hours from help, and 150-feet up in a tree!!!
And then there are Duff (James Ficklin) and Penny Andrews: get a fucking life before you kill any more! Duff and Penny make their livings videotaping these sitters. They jumped on the make-a-living-from-Butterfly money train by making a video, and never stopped. And so they recklessly recruit more and more of these Gypsies and O'Briens (and five others who have fallen in the last three years so far!) so they have something to make a movie out of and, therefore, make their own livings out of these sitters' hides. They now want you to go see their latest video Treesit, and for you to show it around, not worrying if they are feeding a cult that eats its own.
Oh, and then there is Dirt (Deanne Rimmerman), a dim-wit with the Eagle Creek campaign and several others, who goes around attacking activists for not being up in the trees doing "the real work."
Beth O'Brien was from Sonoma County in Northern California. I hold all of these people culpable in her death. Did Butterfly & Duff lure her to death? Was it Butterfly's message of the Power-of-One, or some of Duff's videos, or Beth's Oregon comrade Dirt's castigation of the not-so-hard-core that gave her the boost up into the tree and then turned their backs?
I wrote this in response to the following press statement which made me aghast because no responsibility was claimed by her affinity group or those running the sit for the accident:
Beth O'Brien has been a mainstay of youth activism in Sonoma County since
the early 90's, she's participated in countless demo's, organized a zine
fair, booked dozens of shows, founded the latest Santa Rosa Food Not Bombs
and been an active part of the solution for as long as I've known her. She
died Friday defending the forest at Eagle Creek. What follows is a press release from Cascadia
Forest Alliance.
CASCADIA FOREST ALLIANCE
contact: Kim Marks, Sarah Wald,
Tim Ream, Rolf Skar: (503) 235-8270
3 pm Press Conference at 1817 SE 12th Portland OR (3 blocks south of
Hawthorne on 12th, upper doorbell - Pink & Blue 2 story house).
Last night 22 year old Beth O'Brien died in a fall from a tree sit at Eagle
Creek. We are a community shocked and saddened by Beth's tragic death.
Years of community efforts, heralded by direct action, have protected the
Eagle Creek area thus far. Beth's death came as we were preparing to take
down the tree sits upon receipt of a signed legally binding contract
canceling the sales. This document is expected to be signed by the Bush
Administration early next week.
Tree-sitting is a risk taken to protect our remaining native forest from
destruction. It is a tragedy that such risks must be taken. While we
recognize the dangers inherent in tree-sitting, we take safety seriously.
Tree-sitters and tree-climbing trainers are taught the best safety available
and constantly stress the importance of conveying safety protocols to
others. This tragic accident results because communities must risk their
lives to protect their land.
The timeline of events leading to the accident are as follows. For two hours
Beth and two companions snow shoed into the area with supplies. At 7pm,
after climbing to a height of 150 feet Beth fell from a rope ladder between
platforms. She did not use a safety connection that was available. She
survived the impact. Emergency services were called by cell phone
immediately. First responders did not arrive on the scene until two
and-one-half hours later. She was pronounced dead upon examination.
We view Beth's death in a tradition of courageous action to defend life that
extends through decades of non-violent protest in the US and abroad.
A candlelight vigil in Beth's memory is scheduled for Mt. Tabor City Park
tomorrow, Sunday at sunset
http://www.tree-sit.org
Someone else later posted:
Beth once wrote to me: "So what if I can't fucking climb."
Bruce,
I was accosted on two days by Karen Pickett. Monday May 6 during the last break of the hearing, and Tuesday May 7 while I was standing in line outside the Federal Building, awaiting entry to the trial. I had arrived at ~ 8 pm, and the following events lasted the duration until Pickett was in the building on her way to the court room.
This had also happened once before in Arizona this last February at the Earth First! Organizers Conference.
Pickett sent a dressed up security man named Catfish over to tell me to leave
Catfish claimed to be security and to have been directed by Pickett to come over and make me leave; they claimed authority of the plaintiff’s’ legal team; They claimed this gave them authority to kick me out of line.
They ordered me to do so over and over in a harangue which lasted for over 1/2 hour.
Pickett circulated a writing of mine which had been critical of her and others, including Darryl Cherney and Judi Bari, and attempted to use solely what I had written elsewhere to generate hatred and aggression against me as she built tension in people on both sides of me in line.
She got them to encircle me to attempt to physically intimidate me into fleeing.
She was running around showing the writing of mine while this was happening, and more and more people started yelling for me to go, and closing in around me. Some people were now insanely mad at me and I became afraid. My moth dried up and I was afraid over every word I spoke to defend myself. I was only keeping these people away because I was arguing my case successfully enough to reach some others in line who stayed calm.
Pickett informed me that everyone in line was already full of hatred toward me, which she had obviously generated long before I arrived that day.
She had planned this since seeing me the day before when I was in court, This is obvious because she had to have printed out this web site writing of mine, with the intent to use it this way, before she left the house that morning.
I have witnesses:
Patty <pattypink [at] sfo.com>
Charles Gary <charles [at] well.com>
Michael (?) Tai [Charles or Patti may have e-mail for him]
Tracy Katelman
Catfish
Ramon
Pickett has known at least since 1993 that I’m a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) trauma victim... and fully disabled by it. I'm on SSI because of it.
Now I’m shaking uncontrollably as I’m writing this.
So when she hadn’t succeeded in intimidating me to flee, then she had 20 people cut in front of us and we were kept from entering. About 12 people in front of me and 8 behind. I stayed until 11:45 a.m. and only 2 more people had gotten in by that point.
So she succeeded in keeping me out of Judge Wilken's court house.
My whole upper body has gone weak and my mouth has become instantly dehydrated--I think I’m going into shock. This is almos 2 1/2 days later.
I want a restraining order on her, keeping her away from any events where it is likely she could gang people up against me.
And I want to be reimbursed for the $80 I spent, uselessly because of her, to go to witness Cherney's testimony in a public court room.
Sorry I can only sketch this out now. It's all I can do at the moment.
Andy
P.S. This is the writing of mine which Pickett was circulating:
From: Andy Caffrey <hayduke [at] efmedia.org>
Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2002 12:35:05 -0700
Subject: Who killed Beth O'Brien?
It's hippie come-and-have-a-blast recruitment efforts started in Northern California that have gotten the cult of base camps off the ground. They have created an ambience of bliss uber alles at these camps which draw alienated and well-meaning young folks up into the trees where they are left at the mercy of, frequently, utter morons. Darryl Cherney, Judi Bari and Karen Pickett decided they could concentrate campaign power in 1995 by banning all other Headwaters Forest efforts except for the ones they directed. And the only way they could do that was to get people to come to their base camps. Then when Bari et al. had gotten the glory for the base camp direct action protests, they simply abandoned the camps to the inexperienced.
The next wave was when Julia Butterfly made tree-sitting "cool" especially for women. What she did was especially moving for young women. And Julia further encourages her "power of one" crap to this day, even merchandising t-shirts with that motto.
When Beth O'Brien died, these CFA cowards blamed the Forest Service (who obviously have some remote culpability), instead of blaming themselves for not having their shit together. If someone wants to Scuba dive 20 feet below sea level, they have to have a buddy who checks their gear and is personally responsible for their buddy's well being and even their survival. But is this happening 150 feet up in the air? Who was Beth's Buddy, and why didn't he or she make sure she was latched in before she walked across the rope ladder? If there was no buddy system, then why-the-hell-not? It was only below freezing, 2 and 1/2 hours from help, and 150-feet up in a tree!!!
And then there are Duff (James Ficklin) and Penny Andrews: get a fucking life before you kill any more! Duff and Penny make their livings videotaping these sitters. They jumped on the make-a-living-from-Butterfly money train by making a video, and never stopped. And so they recklessly recruit more and more of these Gypsies and O'Briens (and five others who have fallen in the last three years so far!) so they have something to make a movie out of and, therefore, make their own livings out of these sitters' hides. They now want you to go see their latest video Treesit, and for you to show it around, not worrying if they are feeding a cult that eats its own.
Oh, and then there is Dirt (Deanne Rimmerman), a dim-wit with the Eagle Creek campaign and several others, who goes around attacking activists for not being up in the trees doing "the real work."
Beth O'Brien was from Sonoma County in Northern California. I hold all of these people culpable in her death. Did Butterfly & Duff lure her to death? Was it Butterfly's message of the Power-of-One, or some of Duff's videos, or Beth's Oregon comrade Dirt's castigation of the not-so-hard-core that gave her the boost up into the tree and then turned their backs?
I wrote this in response to the following press statement which made me aghast because no responsibility was claimed by her affinity group or those running the sit for the accident:
Beth O'Brien has been a mainstay of youth activism in Sonoma County since
the early 90's, she's participated in countless demo's, organized a zine
fair, booked dozens of shows, founded the latest Santa Rosa Food Not Bombs
and been an active part of the solution for as long as I've known her. She
died Friday defending the forest at Eagle Creek. What follows is a press release from Cascadia
Forest Alliance.
CASCADIA FOREST ALLIANCE
contact: Kim Marks, Sarah Wald,
Tim Ream, Rolf Skar: (503) 235-8270
3 pm Press Conference at 1817 SE 12th Portland OR (3 blocks south of
Hawthorne on 12th, upper doorbell - Pink & Blue 2 story house).
Last night 22 year old Beth O'Brien died in a fall from a tree sit at Eagle
Creek. We are a community shocked and saddened by Beth's tragic death.
Years of community efforts, heralded by direct action, have protected the
Eagle Creek area thus far. Beth's death came as we were preparing to take
down the tree sits upon receipt of a signed legally binding contract
canceling the sales. This document is expected to be signed by the Bush
Administration early next week.
Tree-sitting is a risk taken to protect our remaining native forest from
destruction. It is a tragedy that such risks must be taken. While we
recognize the dangers inherent in tree-sitting, we take safety seriously.
Tree-sitters and tree-climbing trainers are taught the best safety available
and constantly stress the importance of conveying safety protocols to
others. This tragic accident results because communities must risk their
lives to protect their land.
The timeline of events leading to the accident are as follows. For two hours
Beth and two companions snow shoed into the area with supplies. At 7pm,
after climbing to a height of 150 feet Beth fell from a rope ladder between
platforms. She did not use a safety connection that was available. She
survived the impact. Emergency services were called by cell phone
immediately. First responders did not arrive on the scene until two
and-one-half hours later. She was pronounced dead upon examination.
We view Beth's death in a tradition of courageous action to defend life that
extends through decades of non-violent protest in the US and abroad.
A candlelight vigil in Beth's memory is scheduled for Mt. Tabor City Park
tomorrow, Sunday at sunset
http://www.tree-sit.org
Someone else later posted:
Beth once wrote to me: "So what if I can't fucking climb."
Can anybody doubt that Caffrey needs professional help? If Karen P. or somebody else kept him out of the courtroom so that he couldn't vent his well-known hatred for Cherney during Cherney's testimony, then that person did everybody, including Caffrey, a favor.
Just by his writing above, anyone can tell Andy is off his meds again. He woulda flipped out in the courtroom and caused a big flap. Then he'd have been 'in custody' for probably a long while. He's lucky he just has a dry mouth on account of it.
Just by his writing above, anyone can tell Andy is off his meds again. He woulda flipped out in the courtroom and caused a big flap. Then he'd have been 'in custody' for probably a long while. He's lucky he just has a dry mouth on account of it.
This site excludes comments of the opposing view to what its writers purport to be the "truth." It eliminates opinions that might reveal the real truth about Bari and Cherney.
I have written three letters that have described facts I know to be the absolute truth:
1. Bari posed for a photograph (widely distributed in newspapers) in full fatigues holding a semi-automatic gun, hostile in stance and facial expression, and intended to frighten those who oppose her views.
2. Bari and Cherney distributed pamphlets they authored, printed, and distributed, and in fact held classes in spiking redwood trees and filling gas tanks with substances that could disable a truck on the freeway, endangering innocent people.
3. Darryl Cherney was famous in Southern Humboldt for pipe-bombing schools of fish in pristine waters to fill his freezer with fish for the winter months.
No one wants you to know this on this site, and the site master edits out any such truthful statements.
I have written three letters that have described facts I know to be the absolute truth:
1. Bari posed for a photograph (widely distributed in newspapers) in full fatigues holding a semi-automatic gun, hostile in stance and facial expression, and intended to frighten those who oppose her views.
2. Bari and Cherney distributed pamphlets they authored, printed, and distributed, and in fact held classes in spiking redwood trees and filling gas tanks with substances that could disable a truck on the freeway, endangering innocent people.
3. Darryl Cherney was famous in Southern Humboldt for pipe-bombing schools of fish in pristine waters to fill his freezer with fish for the winter months.
No one wants you to know this on this site, and the site master edits out any such truthful statements.
This site excludes comments of the opposing view to what its writers purport to be the "truth." It eliminates opinions that might reveal the real truth about Bari and Cherney.
I have written three letters that have described facts I know to be the absolute truth:
1. Bari posed for a photograph (widely distributed in newspapers) in full fatigues holding a semi-automatic gun, hostile in stance and facial expression, and intended to frighten those who oppose her views.
2. Bari and Cherney distributed pamphlets they authored, printed, and distributed, and in fact held classes in spiking redwood trees and filling gas tanks with substances that could disable a truck on the freeway, endangering innocent people.
3. Darryl Cherney was famous in Southern Humboldt for pipe-bombing schools of fish in pristine waters to fill his freezer with fish for the winter months.
No one wants you to know this on this site, and the site master edits out any such truthful statements.
I have written three letters that have described facts I know to be the absolute truth:
1. Bari posed for a photograph (widely distributed in newspapers) in full fatigues holding a semi-automatic gun, hostile in stance and facial expression, and intended to frighten those who oppose her views.
2. Bari and Cherney distributed pamphlets they authored, printed, and distributed, and in fact held classes in spiking redwood trees and filling gas tanks with substances that could disable a truck on the freeway, endangering innocent people.
3. Darryl Cherney was famous in Southern Humboldt for pipe-bombing schools of fish in pristine waters to fill his freezer with fish for the winter months.
No one wants you to know this on this site, and the site master edits out any such truthful statements.
Biff, Annie, Revel and Becky all posted the identical COINTELPRO-style lies here. Actually they were all posted by the same person under four different aliases. Not too bright, this spammer, since the message appeared twice on each of two different pages, which gives the litte game away.
#1 refers to the Uzi photo which agent-provocateur Irv Sutley persuaded Judi and others to pose for as a gag shot, then sent to the cops with false information and offering to snitch off Judi.
#2 and #3 are total fabrications, just plain lies. Darryl has never even lit a firecracker in his life.
#1 refers to the Uzi photo which agent-provocateur Irv Sutley persuaded Judi and others to pose for as a gag shot, then sent to the cops with false information and offering to snitch off Judi.
#2 and #3 are total fabrications, just plain lies. Darryl has never even lit a firecracker in his life.
C. Light : "DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING THAT YOU THINK"
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