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CLOUDY Temp: 45 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Wednesday, February 19, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend January 23, 2003 Forest speaker says he’s no terrorist Earth First! activist is a keynoter at Ashland conference this weekend By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Darryl Cherney freely acknowledges terrorism is a legitimate concern in today’s world. "There are very real terrorists out there who are threatening this country and the world," he said. "They kill. They kidnap. They car-bomb people." But Cherney, one of the keynote speakers at the 12th annual, three-day Forest Conference which begins Friday at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, is also quick to observe that he and like-minded people are not terrorists. Never mind that Cherney is an organizer for Earth First!, the self-described radical environmental group whose motto is "No compromise in defense of Mother Earth." Many in the timber industry and others have referred to those in the Earth First! movement as terrorists, charging them with such illegal activities as spiking timber sales. The group has denied accusations. "We’re not a terrorist group," Cherney said in a telephone interview from his home in Garberville, Calif. "The leaders of the timber industry do the public a great disservice when they point to tree sitters and call them terrorists." Noting that Earth First!, which he said has never injured anyone in its 23-year history, is not listed as a terrorist group by the Justice Department, Cherney said the group is working to raise global consciousness about environmental health. "What Earth First! has always been about is reconnecting human beings with the home planet," he said. "If one understands the ground under your feet is your life source, you are going to be unlikely to foul your nest." Cherney, 46, has been himself the target of terrorism. On May 24, 1990, he and fellow activist Judi Bari were the targets of a car-bomb assassination attempt in Oakland, Calif. At the time, they were organizing protests against clear-cut logging in a campaign known as Redwood Summer. Bari, who has since died of cancer, was injured and spent months in the hospital. Cherney received minor injuries. Last June, he won a $4.4 million lawsuit against the FBI and Oakland Police Department for civil rights violations committed against the two. The 10-member jury unanimously agreed the defendants violated the First and Fourth amendments of the U.S. Constitution by arresting Bari and Cherney and blaming them for the car bombing. Cherney’s attorney successfully argued the police made the arrest in an attempt to take away their freedom of speech instead of searching for the would-be assassin. The police failed to follow leads in the unsolved case, which included threats from someone calling himself or herself "The Lord’s Avenger," Cherney said. That six-week trial, as well as activism in the post-9/11 world, will be the subject of Cherney’s lecture, which begins at noon Saturday in SOU’s Stevenson Union. "In the wake of 9/11, the FBI has been given broader powers," he said. "Anybody who is suspected of being a terrorist can have their houses searched (without consent or knowledge) and have their phone tapped. "Judi and I were just the early victims," he said. While the monetary settlement has yet to occur, the plaintiffs have won both a moral and legal victory, he said. A songwriter and musician who believes humor goes a long way in bridging gaps, Cherney has written a song about a second "terrorist" attack called "The Great Medford Oregon Potato Gun Massacre." In 1995, Cherney and other activists spent the night at the Medford Congregational United Church of Christ following an environmental rally. Just before midnight, someone with a potato gun began lobbying spuds into the church. No one was injured by the spud-firing "terrorist." Cherney will perform the "Potato Gun Massacre" and other songs with his band, Darryl Cherney and the Chernobles, during a benefit concert Saturday in Ashland. "That will be in our new album ‘Earth First: We’ll Log Other Planets Later,’" he said. For more information on the conference, call Headwaters at 482-4459 or check out http://www.headwaters.org Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S