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An Activist's Obituary

Judi Bari Remembered Friends this week remembered enviromentalist Judi Bari, who died on Sunday of cancer at age 47 in her Willits home, as "a tireless force" in campaign to preserve North Coast redwood forests. She was 47. The Earth First! activist died at 6:45 Sunday morning after suffering from breast cancer, which later spread to her liver. A celebration of the Humboldt County activist's life will be held this weekend in Willits. Judi Bari Online: An interview with Bari in December 1996 from the San Francisco Examiner. Information about the Bari bombing case from the Albion Monitor. The story of the car bombing, as written by Bari in the Earth First! Journal. HighTimes magazine on Judi Bari's lawsuit against the FBI. Earth First!'s home page supporting the Headwaters Forest direct action campaign. Bari's death follows a hearing last week in a lawsuit she and her colleague Darryl Cherney filed against the FBI and Oakland police in connection with a 1990 car bombing that seriously injured Bari. They were arrested for possession and transportation of an explosive device, but were never charged. Bari and Cherney say the authorities failed to investigate their allegation that the bomb was planted by timber industry officials, with possible assistance of the FBI. They are suing the FBI and Oakland police for false arrest, illegal search and seizure, and denial of equal protection of the law. The case is still bogged down in pretrial maneuvering and isn't expected to go to trial for months. At last Friday's hearing, Cherney said, "We won't close this case in [Bari's] lifetime, but she can pass on peacefully now." Last week, attorneys for the two activists had asked for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate alleged wrongdoing by the FBI. Following a pretrial hearing in U.S. District Court in Oakland on Friday, attorney William Simpich said, "We're asking for a special prosecutor because we've just scratched the surface of misdeeds" by law enforcement officials. Bari and Cherney, key figures in protests against the timber industry in Northern California, were injured on May 24, 1990, when a bomb exploded in a car they were driving on Park Boulevard. At a brief hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Claudia Wilken said she probably will reject defense motions to dismiss the case against the 10 FBI officers and five Oakland police officers named in the lawsuit. Bari's death will be marked by a potluck party, sponsored by the Mendocino Environmental Information Center, on Sunday, March 9, from 1 to 9:30 p.m., at the Willits Grange, 291 School St. (one block west of Main Street) in Willits. [ Sonoma County Independent | MetroActive Central | Archives ]