JUSTICE FOR JUDI - A CALL FOR AN INVESTIGATION!!
Comments from the Community - 10/99

In May of 1990, while driving in Oakland, Calif. a bomb exploded in the car of Judi Bari. Her passenger, Darryl Cherney was slightly injured and Judi was almost killed. Judi never fully recovered from these injuries. She died of breast cancer in 1997. The initial reaction of the Oakland police--taking their cue from the United States F.B.I. was that Judi and Darryl were knowingly carrying the bomb. This theory was later disproved and they were never charged however the case was NEVER investigated by any local, state or national law enforcement agency nor has there been any explanation as to the reasons for this lack of duty. Dialogue about the case has been actively suppressed by the very people involved with her lawsuit against the FBI.

The following people call for a full and honest investigation pursuing ALL the theories that have developed over the past nine years about this case.

BETH BOSK--EDITOR-NEW SETTLER INTERVIEW, Mendocino -"I would like a serious investigation to begin in Mendocino County. I want it to begin with what is always presumed to be the first suspect in situations of a recently estranged marriage-which is the ex-husband. It's not widely known that Judi and her daughters had left the property she shared with Mike Sweeney the same week that her car was bombed. However I feel strongly that an equally likely scenario would be specific personel working for the timber industry directly or indirectly in collusion with the F.B.I. I did an interview with Judi three weeks before the attempt was made on her life and during that interview was made privy to some of the horrors in that marriage. I did another several years after the bombing where for the first time Judi sat down and laid out the entire scenario in an attempt to get this case investigated."

CORA LEE SIMMONS--ROUND VALLEY INDIANS FOR JUSTICE, Covelo - "With all the theories going on around this bombing they are all believable to me. But without a thorough investigation we will never come up with the real answer."

DON FOSTER--ATTRIBUTIONAL SCHOLAR, Vassar College - "The unanswered question of who bombed Judi Bari is no less important than questions about the competence and good faith of the FBI in its investigation of that crime. In my opinion, the textual and linguistic evidence of the LORDS AVENGER letter, coupled with evidence uncovered by Ed Gehrman and others demands that the Bari bombing be systematically and aggresively investigated--not by the FBI or the Redwood Summer Justice Fund (parties to an ongoing high stakes dispute) but by local authorities. Nor can there be justice in the case without the full and voluntary cooperation of thoughtful environmentalists."

BILL MYERS--INDUSTRIAL WORKERS OF THE WORLD (IWW), Pt. Arena - "Someone made and planted a bomb that almost killed Judi Bari; Someone was working with the F.B.I.; Someone wrote the Lord Avengers Letter. I demand a complete investigation to bring the truth to light and the criminals to justice."

ALEXANDER COCKBURN - THE NATION - Petrolia: "I fully support reopening the investigation of the bombing of Judi Bari!"

PAT THURSTON--RADIO TALK SHOW HOST, K.S.R.O. Santa Rosa - "I came into this community as someone who knew only what the mainstream media reported. What had stuck with me was the original accusation that Darryl and Judi were carrying the bomb that blew up in Oakland. No one I've talked to believes that yet no investigation was ever done by any agency. I soon realized how divided Sonoma County was over this case and a real investigation is needed not only to solve the bombing but to heal the community. Whenever there is a violent crime committed we need answers--not just to seek vengence for the injured but to seek justice for society."

PETRA BOARDMAN, Sebastopol - "The bomb not only shattered Judi Bari's body but the resulting suspicians splintered the local activist community and virtually destroyed the political lives of good people. Only when the truth is uncovered can the healing get underway."

ANNA MARIE STENBERG - CALIFORNIA S.L.A.P.P. PROJECT, Ft. Bragg - "Judi and I were close women friends. I knew her best as a loving and concerned mother who was trying to extricate herself from an abusive relationship with the father of her children whom she later suspected of being involved somehow in this tragic bombing. Please, for Gods sake, why hasn't there been an official investigation??!!"

MARY MOORE - SONOMA COUNTY FREE PRESS, Occidental - "I've known both Mike and Judi since 1979. These things I know for sure: Judi was physically abused in her marriage both in Sonoma and Mendocino counties. She left Mike in the same time period that the bombing occurred. Mike has a history of violence which is not widely known. NO ONE has ever asked any of us who were close to Judi about what we know. Out of many blind samples a well known and respected attributional scholar picked Mike Sweeney as the author of the LORD AVENGERS letter (containing intimate knowledge about the construction of the bomb). The fact that people who claim to be friends of Judis are closed to discussion is shameful. There are always reasons to be open to the other theories that have surfaced in the past decade. The point is that an investigation is needed by the agencies that have the resources and the obligation. Cooperation and respect are needed by all of her friends."

BRUCE ANDERSON--EDITOR- ANDERSON VALLEY ADVERTISER., Boonville - "Progressive people everywhere should be angry that discussion of this case is being actively resisted by a small group of people who stand to gain financially when they should be trying to find out who bombed Judi Bari. We need an investigation!!! "

JIM MARTIN--PUBLISHER, FLATLAND MAGAZINE, Ft. Bragg - "The person or persons who bombed Judi Bari are still on the loose. Who will be the next victim? it's time to open a bona fide investigation into that crime."

ED GEHRMAN--WRITER, ACTIVIST, Quincy - "Judi's bombing needs to be investigated and all the evidence examined by disinterested, qualified professionals. If she had been a high priced lobbyist for the pesticide industry or a stock broker, agents still would be assigned to finding the bomber and the case would remain open, no matter how long it took. Selective justice adds up to no justice at all."

SISTER YASMIN-ACTIVIST, Gualala - "I believe the cause of justice will be served by investigating this case."

KEVIN SULLIVAN--SONOMA COUNTY FREE PRESS, Sonoma - "I like the myth but would prefer the truth."

JEFFREY ST. CLAIR--COUNTERPUNCH, Oregon City, Oregon - "Nobody who has looked hard at this case believes either side. I especially resent the attempts of the Redwood Summer Justice Fund to stop public discussion of the case."

DARRYL CHERNEY--EARTH FIRST!, Humbold County - "My life is dedicated to finding the scum who bombed us, no matter who it is" (ed. note: this is a public past unsolicited quote by Darryl. We invite him to join others who feel the same way)

Mary Moore
P.O. Bx. 298
Occidental, Ca. 95465
707 874 2248