The Academy Award-nominated story of the radicalization of an environmental…
The Forest For The Trees
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- Transcript
THE FOREST FOR THE TREES is an intimate look at an unlikely team of young activists and old civil rights workers who come together to battle the U.S. government.
Filmmaker Bernadine Mellis is the daughter of 68-year-old civil rights lawyer Dennis Cunningham. Dennis started out his career representing the Black Panthers and the Weathermen.
Judi Bari was an Earth First! leader who was one of the first to place as much importance on timber workers' lives and families as she did on the legacy and future of the trees. But that strategic relationship was too much of a threat. Her car was bombed in 1990, and three hours later, she was arrested as a terrorist -- charges that were later dropped. Convinced it was a ploy by the FBI to discredit her and Earth First!, Judi decided to sue.
Cunningham took on Judi's case and after 12 years, Judi Bari v. the FBI finally gets a court date. Knowing this is one of her father's most important cases, Mellis is there at strategy meetings, at breakfast, driving to and from the court, documenting her morally driven, very tired dad. Not your typical 'Take your daughter to work day,' THE FOREST FOR THE TREES offers access into a unique father-daughter relationship, the painfully short yet extraordinary life of Judi Bari, and a piece of U.S. history that everyday grows increasingly resonant as once again the lines between dissent and terrorism are being intentionally blurred.
Note : This is a completely reworked version of the award-winning 2004 film of the same name. See the filmmaker's note below.
'I completed a version of THE FOREST FOR THE TREES as my master's thesis from Temple University in 2004. While that film was the same length as the final cut, and essentially followed the same story, it was quite a different film. It was my first documentary, and I was producer, director, shooter and editor, learning everything about the process as I did it. I submitted the film to festivals, and it showed at several (as listed here). Soon after finishing it, in early 2005, I went to the Working Films/MASS MoCA Documentary Residency, designed to help filmmakers develop outreach strategies for social justice films. There, I was encouraged to re-open the film by Judith Helfand (BLUE VINYL), who later became one of the Executive Producers of THE FOREST, along with Julia Parker Benello. Judith felt that if I brought in an editor, I could bring the film to a new level.
Then, in the summer of 2005, Chicken and Egg Pictures was founded by Judith Helfand, Julia Parker Benello, and Wendy Ettinger in order to support emerging and veteran women filmmakers. Chicken and Egg provided the support to hire an editor, Susan Korda. Working closely with Judith, Susan and I spent several months re-editing the film. The old cut was divided into two parts: The first half was about Judi Bari, her organizing work in the Redwoods, the bombing of her car, and the FBI and Oakland Police's arrest of her and Darryl Cherney. The second half followed Judi's civil case against the FBI, and the legal team who fought that battle, which included my father, Dennis Cunningham, as lead attorney. What Judith Helfand pushed me to do was to integrate those two stories, and to foreground my father's role a bit more, teasing out some of the richness of the father-daughter element of the film.
Making the first cut was a personal victory for me (there were times I was not at all convinced I would be able to finish it), and it was a hugely important step in the process. Ultimately, the new film, enabled by the awesome support of the women of Chicken and Egg, feels like the true realization of my initial vision, the vision that drove me to begin shooting in the first place.' Bernadine Mellis
'[I was] enormously moved. It is a powerful and eloquent document, beautifully done. It brings Judi Bari and the movement to life, and does a superb job on the trial itself...[Dennis Cunningham's] final statement to the jury was a model for such a thing -- warm, human, simple, persuasive. The film itself is so inspiring I hope it will be seen widely.' Howard Zinn, historian
'An engaging and highly personal tale... Bernadine Mellis tells Bari's story with what is clearly admiration. We see a brave woman whose dedication to the lives of trees inspired even loggers! The film's focus on Bari's court case brings together the often separate worlds of politics and environmental science... [The Forest for the Trees] will serve as a starting point for discussions on how difficult it is to turn environmental awareness into political change. The film is full of information but also raises many questions, it is factual but it also moved me to tears, it made me angry but in the end left me inspired.... a powerful film about a powerful woman, her dedication to the environment, and her allegiance with dedicated lawyers who protected her rights. I will use this film in my science class and pass it on to my political science colleagues. It needs to get out there.' Dr Katherine Flynn, Biology Department and Environmental Studies Program, Adelphi University
'At the heart of the film is Bari herself, a true folk hero with an electrifying on-screen presence.' Sonoma Valley Film Festival program notes
'As the story unfolds to its dramatic ending, this film provides unparalleled insight into threats to civil rights in the context of environmental issues.' Ashland Independent Film Festival program notes
'[The Forest for the Trees] does a great job of portraying Judi's strength and conviction... I would highly recommend this film to anyone who cares about justice, the FBI's misdeeds, redwood forests, Earth First! and/or Judi Bari herself.' Jim Flynn, Earth First!er and former Earth First! Journal editor
'The Forest for the Trees is wonderfully done: well-paced, thought-provoking and moving. It is a love letter to Bari and to Cunningham and a testament to perseverance and fighting the good fight.' Jessica Cogan, Human Rights Watch International Film Festival
'Shines a worthy light on the folks whose street-level legal legwork helps to preserve civil and human rights... Mellis' access to behind-the-scenes legal strategizing is fascinating, and her ode to her principled, passionate parent is well-deserved.' Marc Mohan, The Oregonian
'Oral history at its finest... The Forest for the Trees captures the lawyer and his team with their guard down, allowing a look behind the brave fronts that the men present to the press and the courtroom... Haunting footage of Bari's speeches and interviews prior to her death are interwoven to great effect, and imbue the tale with a sense of urgency and poignancy. Forest for the Trees is the gem of the Northwest Film Center's Human Rights on Film series.' Willamette Week Online
'As current as today's headlines... Classes in social sciences can utilize [The Forest for the Trees] as a case study for further examination of individual rights...' School Library Journal
'Recommended... Ms. Mellis presents a well-balanced piece showing both the side of the activists as well as the logging industry... College and university libraries with programs in environmental studies, human rights and sociology would benefit from having [The Forest for the Trees] in their collection.' Ronald Saskowski Jr., Educational Media Reviews Online
'DOCUMENTARY MUST-SEE...Agree or disagree with Earth First and its tactics, all people need to be wary about how - and with what evidence - citizens are fingered by the government for prosecution. Ultimately, the film is a vindication for those who harbor ideas and methodologies looked on with suspicion by the government.' Missoulian
'[The Forest for the Trees] tells a rare, emotional story...POWERFUL documentary...This emotionally charged film isn't a run-of-the-mill propaganda film.' Montana Kaimin
Citation
Main credits
Mellis, Bernadine (film director)
Mellis, Bernadine (film producer)
Mellis, Bernadine (photographer)
Bari, Judi (interviewee)
Cunningham, Dennis (interviewee)
Other credits
Editor, Susan Korda; music, Jodi Berggren.
Distributor subjects
Activism; American Studies; Anthropology; Environment; Environmental Ethics; Forests and Rainforests; Geography; History; Human Rights; Humanities; Law; Social Justice; Social Psychology; Sociology; Women's StudiesKeywords
Earth First, Judi Bari, Bernadine Mellis, Dennis Cunningham, terrorist, FBI, Judi Bari v. the FBI, take your daughter to work day, US history, dissent, terrorism; "The Forest For The Trees"; Bullfrog Films
WEBVTT
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The way our system works...
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Let\'s try to...
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If it doesn\'t work, we\'re shit.
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Okay. Try again.
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There\'s the great political
question in any system
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Quis custodiet ipsos custodes,
whatever the Latin is
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the question is who guards the
Guardians, who\'s gonna police to police?
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If the police do wrong and the prosecutor won\'t
do anything about it then it\'s up to the person
00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:59.999
who\'s wrong to bring a case in civil
court to enforce their rights.
00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:04.999
[music]
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This is my dad, Dennis Cunningham.
00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:14.999
Thank you, Dad. He\'s been
a civil rights lawyer
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for almost 40 years. You want some peach?
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His cases are epic. I can
measure my life against them.
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When I was seven, he was
on a team of lawyers
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who sued the FBI and the Chicago police
for Black Panther Fred Hampton\'s murder.
00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:39.999
Right.
00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:44.999
You might run a liberator like Eldridge Cleaver out of the
country, but you can\'t run liberation at the country.
00:01:45.000 --> 00:01:49.999
You might murder a freedom fighter like Bobby
Hutton, but you can\'t murder freedom fighting,
00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:54.999
and if you do, you\'ll come up
with answers, that don\'t answer,
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explanations that don\'t explain...
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Fred was 21 years old. He was shot two times to the
head. That summer, I went to court with my dad.
00:02:05.000 --> 00:02:09.999
The defendants maintain that they had
been fired on first, but evidence showed
00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:14.999
that Fred had been killed in his sleep.
The trial resulted in a hung jury.
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Then after the 1971
Attica prison rebellion,
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he was part of a team that filed a
lawsuit on behalf of the prisoners.
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27 years later, they finally settled.
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[music]
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I haven\'t been to court with my father in years,
but in one week, one of the most important cases
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of his career is finally going to trial,
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Earth First and Judi Bari versus the FBI...
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I was surprised my dad even took the case.
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He always considered the environment a luxury issue for the privileged. 58 hours a
week in the mill, yeah, we have milling your children jobs, that\'s what you\'re doing,
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I mean it\'s not your fault.
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And then he met Judi Bari. These people think
they\'re riding through a jeep dark redwood forest
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and they\'re riding through a little strip with
clear cut on either sides that used to be
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the heart of the redwood Ecosystem. Starting this logging seize,
the Louisiana–Pacific\'s has instituted a new logging practice
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What do they call logging to infinity.
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So what he\'s talking about the implement
his plan in desertification in 60 years.
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We simply doesn\'t seize the
land by eminent domain.
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She was totally sharp,
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totally funny, totally on
top of what was going on
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and totally the leader
of that group, you know.
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So the person we\'re here to protest is not
the loggers and not the mill workers,
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it\'s the president of Louisiana-Pacific,
a man named Harry Merlo.
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Harry Merlo is the ultimate tree-Nazi.
00:04:05.000 --> 00:04:09.999
The Car bomb explosion sends two members of the Earth
First group to the hospital. Good evening everyone.
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This Pipe Bomb went off at a busy Oakland intersection
and the man and woman who were heard had planned
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to lead a summer of militant protest against
logging practices in Northern California.
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The unofficial word is the two environmentalists injured
when a bomb went off in their car just before-noon
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are suspects and not just victims.
My dad saw it on the news.
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The bomb inflicted minor injuries on
Darryl Cherney, the passenger in the car.
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Judi\'s pelvis was shattered. But
that was just the beginning.
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Here is uh... one of the death
threats that was released today.
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There\'s a picture of Bari with the rifle crosshairs
that was delivered to her house. On the other hand,
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the police are now saying that they have
a hard cut and dried physical evidence
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that these two are responsible for the bombing yesterday. Judi Bari and Darryl
Cherney will be charged with possession and transportation of explosives.
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The DA dropped the charges
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for lack of evidence that the FBI continued
to insist. Judi was their only suspect.
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By then, people all across America
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had come to know Judi Bari as a terrorist.
As she was regaining the ability to walk
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with my dad as her lawyer,
Judi launched a civil suit
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against the FBI and Oakland Police.
We\'ve been charged with false arrest,
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illegal searches and seizure,
unequal protection of the law
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and conspiracy to violate our First Amendment right by
discrediting us as terrorists. It would be 12 years
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before the case went to trial.
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[music]
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When I was alive the birds
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would nest upon my boughs
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And all through long winter nights,
00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:09.999
the storms would \'round us howl
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And when the day would break,
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I\'d reach my branches
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to the sun
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I was a child of earth and sky
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and all the world was one.
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[music]
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Along with protecting the ancient
redwoods and forests jobs,
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Earth First was now focused
on restoring their reputation
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and clearing Judi\'s name.
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The next day in the paper, although it made no sense with
the picture of my field land, they called it evidence
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that took away my Birkenstock
and took away my car
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when the (inaudible)
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They stole my freedom.
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Suddenly in 1996, after five years
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of appeals by the defense
and stalled court dates,
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Judi was diagnosed with terminal breast cancer. In
cases we\'re to tell the truth, though, the truth
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and nothing but the truth here in this matter before us. Yes,
I do. Thank you. I\'m sorry... Knowing that she was dying,
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she asked my father to tape her deposition,
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hoping that one day it
would be seen by a jury.
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State your name for the record, Ma\'am.
Judi Bari.
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Can you describe how you felt? What you
were thinking about? I was terrified
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and I was terrified not just
because of the bombing,
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I was equally terrified that I
would be framed for this bombing
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and spend my children\'s childhood in prison
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and not get to raise my children
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Did you know at the time that the FBI
was involved in the case? Absolutely.
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Judi died one month later.
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[music]
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[sil.]
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Tomorrow morning, the case is
finally going in front of the jury.
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It\'s been five years since Judy\'s
death and 12 years since the bombing,
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but the judge is limiting the
trial to just six weeks.
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The case of this nature, you\'re
talking about the Fourth Amendment
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and the First Amendment. The Fourth Amendment
question is, was there a false arrest?
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Did the cops\' hookup the evidence?
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And under the First Amendment, did they
do it in order to discredit Earth First?
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That\'s the decision that you have to make. You
have the base it on the facts and the evidence,
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you have to base it on your deliberations with each other
and you have to base it on your human understanding
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of what the evidence shows, went on here.
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That was good.
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Oh, your mother wants you.
00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:53.000
[music]
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And still a long to get.
00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:04.999
[music]
00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.999
The FBI has been doing instead of fighting
terrorism is looking at activists
00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:14.999
and tampering with activists, protected activities and
that\'s got to stop and they\'ve been doing it for decades.
00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:19.999
This is Alicia Littletree. When I first
met her, I thought she was a lawyer
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\'til I found out she dropped out of high
school to sit in a tree with Earth First.
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Judi became her mentor. Understand that this
case was a case of the FBI false appeal,
00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:34.999
the case of the FBI perjury,
case of FBI cover-up
00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:39.999
and that cannot be tolerated.
00:10:40.000 --> 00:10:44.999
Tony Serra, he started out working for the Black
Panthers in the \'60s. My dad says he loves Tony
00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.999
because Tony doesn\'t bottle up his rage.
He knows how to use it.
00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:54.999
And constitutional rights are more significant and
must be more significant. Why did it takes a long?
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Because they\'re solving
because they\'re always good.
00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:04.999
Bob Bloom defending the Panther 21 against false
charges was Bob Bloom\'s first case out of law school.
00:11:05.000 --> 00:11:09.999
Bob tells the story of how the
jury foreman\'s voice resounded
00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:14.999
as he pronounced the words
\"Not Guilty\" 21 times.
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They stole, they stole, they stole hoping it would
go away. That what they do best. They did not
00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:24.999
uh... take, for instance, that were exonerated them or
possibly point your finger to somebody else. They did not
00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:29.999
obtain DNA evidence and might
have fingered about me.
00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:34.999
William Simpich, he knows every single ink stain on
the thousands of pages of FBI files on this case.
00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:39.999
They have to utilized this investigations as an opportunity
to do uh... a deep investigation of Earth First.
00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:48.000
[sil.]
00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:54.999
Yeah. Lost them. Okay, I\'ve got it.
00:11:55.000 --> 00:11:59.999
I\'m prohibited from
filming in the courtroom,
00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:04.999
but I plan to be at the trial everyday
to support my dad, who\'s trying to do
00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.999
his best for Judi.
00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:14.999
The first week is dedicated to opening
statements, where lawyers for both sides
00:12:15.000 --> 00:12:19.999
have to lay out the case for the jury and
the Earth Firsters packing the courtroom.
00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.999
The seven defendants from the
FBI and the Oakland police
00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:29.999
have to justify arresting Judi and Darryl
and prove that they had reason to believe
00:12:30.000 --> 00:12:34.999
that Judi and Darryl were
planning a terrorist act.
00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:39.999
The lawyers for the FBI and Oakland
police, open with the following defense.
00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:44.999
One, that the bomb would have been visible
00:12:45.000 --> 00:12:49.999
to Judi and Darryl because it was on the backseat
floorboard of the car, two, that nails taped to the bomb
00:12:50.000 --> 00:12:58.000
to act as shrapnel were identical to nails
found in a bag in the trunk of Judi\'s car
00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:04.999
and three that Judi and Darryl were members
00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.999
of a violent terrorist organization.
00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:14.999
In his opening statement, my father begins
00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.999
by evoking the image of
the ancient redwoods,
00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.999
the tallest living things on earth.
00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:33.000
[music]
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:39.999
Redwoods originated at the time of the
dinosaurs and can live 2000 years.
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97% of that old growth
00:13:45.000 --> 00:13:49.999
has been cut down. Judi Bari
was the leader in the battle
00:13:50.000 --> 00:13:54.999
over the remaining 3%.
00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:59.999
[sil.]
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My dad tells the jury that
when Judi joined in 1998,
00:14:05.000 --> 00:14:09.999
Earth First was known for its
adamant stance and radical tactics.
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:14.999
They put the teeth into the environmental movement \"Sharp
teeth, perhaps\" he says, but that didn\'t make them terrorists.
00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:19.999
They used human blockades,
equipment sabotage
00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.999
known as monkey wrenching and tree
spiking driving metal nails into trees
00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:29.999
to jam the lumber works.
00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:34.999
You see that, that\'s a short gun. Every one of our
logging trench, we have a... we carry weapons
00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:39.999
around because we\'ve been vandalized. We\'ve had
obstacles thrown in the road in front of the truck,
00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.999
we had gates vandalized,
equipment vandalized.
00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.999
If Spike tree that\'s dangerous to a logger and there\'s
a, you know, there\'s a mill worker in Cloverdale,
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:54.999
that lost half his face
because of a spike tree.
00:14:55.000 --> 00:14:59.999
But you were still willing to talk to Judi?
Yeah. Why is that?
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Well, I mean, twice when
my equipment burned up,
00:15:05.000 --> 00:15:09.999
she called me first and she said \"Jerry, it wasn\'t
us. I mean it wasn\'t my group. I can\'t say it
00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:14.999
when somebody hitting logging, but it
wasn\'t us.\" And I believed her. I did.
00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:19.999
It\'s not like you\'re expecting them to
not be who they\'re gonna be, you know,
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.999
I mean I expected Judi to be out,
you know, on the front lines,
00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:29.999
but... but at the same time, I also expected
that when we made an agreement in private
00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:34.999
or at a meeting or something that\'s she\'s gonna
stick by it and she always did, she always did.
00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:39.999
What we\'re talking about eliminating
it\'s not just the Forest,
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:44.999
but also the forest, it\'s just. They just closed down the
part of rally saw mill, to that saw mill applied 132 people
00:15:45.000 --> 00:15:49.999
subsequently, they opened this tip
flat, which employs eight people.
00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.999
Nobody advocated to the workers
in your struggle at all.
00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.999
There\'s environmentalists that
were saying \"Shut it down,\" umm...
00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:04.999
you know, that basically what this is gonna mean, it\'s
allowed to gentrify class to come in. If we stop have the
00:16:05.000 --> 00:16:09.999
uh... resource based economy, what\'s gonna
happen to our area is the gentrification.
00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:14.999
Then we have the companies who want to cut every tree and then
leave. Louisiana-Pacific moved in and the whole thing changed.
00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.999
They just started going nuts, you know, they\'d...
they put, they got three or four more mills running
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.999
and they just logged more and more and more
and after about six or eight years of that
00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.999
I kept thinking \"Wow! You know,
this isn\'t gonna last much longer.\"
00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.999
And they came back and did it again, logged but the little...
the little stuff they left behind and there was nothing.
00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.999
Then he took the oak after that. It
looked like the moon. It looked out...
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.999
I mean, I drove off there one day on the Main stein road
and I just about vomited. I thought \"What! What are they?\"
00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
And then they left, sold out.
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
[music]
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
Judi was a carpenter and a former union organizer
who saw that the large lumber companies
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:04.999
benefited from the conflict
between activists and loggers.
00:17:05.000 --> 00:17:09.999
Without that conflict the companies would be
under a lot more pressure to log sustainably.
00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:14.999
In a historic move to show solidarity
00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.999
with forest product workers,
one month before the bombing
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
Judi renounced tree spiking.
All North Coast Earth First
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.999
followed her example. That was pretty vague
because it actually did build bridges
00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.999
between environmentalist and loggers.
00:17:35.000 --> 00:17:39.999
And so they, of course, the unfortunate
part was is that Judi got bombed,
00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.999
right in the middle of all these meetings.
And uh... you know,
00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:49.999
so we were... we were... the thing we\'re trying
to prevent which was violence, we couldn\'t.
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
[sil.]
00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
Good morning, (inaudible).
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:04.999
Look at this, Red.
00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:13.000
[sil.]
00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:19.999
Look at, how big that is.
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:28.000
[sil.]
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
Today, defendant Lieutenant
Sims of the Oakland Police
00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
took the stand. He testified that
he had never heard of Judi Darryl
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
or Earth First before the bombing.
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.999
When asked where he got the information
that they were terrorists,
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:54.999
he replied at the scene from
the FBI agents present there.
00:18:55.000 --> 00:18:59.999
He was followed by Supervisor
Reikes of the FBI who testified
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.999
that he never told the Oakland Police
the Judi and Darryl were terrorists.
00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:09.999
Oakland the same FBI didn\'t FBI told us all
this stuff and they encouraged us to do it.
00:19:10.000 --> 00:19:14.999
FBI saying \"We didn\'t do anything
like that. This is all Oakland.\"
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:19.999
So it\'s turning into this wrestling match
between them. It\'s very fun to watch
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
and if you\'re right the course of it. It\'s very clear
that they\'re all lying and that\'s why we\'re trying
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.999
to get out and that\'s what I think is very clear...
clear for the jury that this was all of them together
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
it was a conspiracy they all
did it together and umm...
00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
hopefully, the jury\'s gonna understand.
But it was Richard Held who Judi believed
00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
masterminded the conspiracy.
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
He was the special agent in-charge of the San
Francisco FBI at the time of the bombing.
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:54.999
We have to go where the evidence goes, as an investigative
agency. We collect whatever evidence would be able
00:19:55.000 --> 00:19:59.999
and take it to the U.S. attorney\'s office to
determine if there\'s a basis for prosecution.
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:04.999
Held had a long history of
handling leftwing political groups
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
on behalf of the FBI. In 1970, he
helped put Black Panther Geronimo Pratt
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
behind bars for murder. 27 years later
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
with Bob bloom as one of his
lawyers, Pratt was released
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
based on evidence that the FBI had
always known he was innocent.
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
Maybe it runs in the family. Held\'s
father then deputy director of the FBI
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
was a defendant in the case of
the murder of Fred Hampton,
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:39.999
the Black Panther, my dad
represented when I was a kid.
00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:44.999
Richard Held Junior was the number one
defendant in Judi Bari versus the FBI
00:20:45.000 --> 00:20:49.999
until the judge dismissed him saying that
he wasn\'t at the scene of the bombing.
00:20:50.000 --> 00:20:54.999
But he wasn\'t the only one the
judge kept from testifying.
00:20:55.000 --> 00:20:59.999
We had advertised Howard then that our expert
witness about the background of FBI wrongdoing.
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:04.999
They made emotional alumni
00:21:05.000 --> 00:21:09.999
uh... to bar that out and to bar...
and to bar mention of Cointelpro
00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:14.999
and she granted this.
00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:19.999
I\'ve been hearing my parents talk
about ColntelPro all my life.
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.999
It stands for Counter Intelligence
program and it was founded secretly
00:21:25.000 --> 00:21:29.999
by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover in 1957.
00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:34.999
Hoover believed that dissent
is dangerous or as he put it,
00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:39.999
the forces which are most anxious to weaken our
internal security are not always easy to identify.
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:44.999
They use cleverly camouflage
movements such as Peace groups
00:21:45.000 --> 00:21:49.999
and Civil rights groups to
achieve their sinister purposes.
00:21:50.000 --> 00:21:54.999
These organizations were carrying on legal
activities. They were protesting the government,
00:21:55.000 --> 00:21:59.999
they were organizing uh...
but the FBI uh...
00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:04.999
saw any attempt to organize any activity
that was critical of the government
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.999
as something\'s they had a
right to interfere with.
00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:14.999
The existence of Cointelpro was
finally uncovered in 1971,
00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:19.999
when secret files were stolen from an FBI office
in Pennsylvania and released to the media.
00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:24.999
And in fact, it turned out that
the FBI was continuing to uh...
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:29.999
carry on break-ins of perfectly legitimate
organizations, organizations that
00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:34.999
simply were protesting an American policy.
Do you know why
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
you weren\'t allowed to say all
this in court? Umm... No.
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
Well, they had to give us our day at
court \'cause we had so much evidence.
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:49.999
Yeah. We didn\'t. That\'s right. But they\'re looking it as hard as
possible. 90%, I mean even they loss, they kick it out like crack deal.
00:22:50.000 --> 00:22:54.999
Right. Right. We\'re supposed to straight.
00:22:55.000 --> 00:22:59.999
Right. So make you think that maybe, maybe there\'s some
problem here in this uh... in the structure of how this...
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:04.999
how this country has put together.
I mean that\'s the challenge now.
00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:09.999
We like how it\'s put together has the constitution
has the Bill of Rights, it\'s perfectly plain
00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:14.999
as judicial review. They tell you, it\'s
stole without, and then they don\'t follow.
00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:19.999
[sil.]
00:23:20.000 --> 00:23:24.999
This whole case revolves around the fact
00:23:25.000 --> 00:23:29.999
that instead of looking for the real bomber, the FBI
and Oakland police kept pointing the finger at Judi.
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:34.999
No one was ever formally charged.
00:23:35.000 --> 00:23:39.999
The bomber was never found. And to this day,
the defense attorneys relentlessly imply
00:23:40.000 --> 00:23:44.999
that it was Judi all along.
00:23:45.000 --> 00:23:49.999
[sil.]
00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:58.000
[music]
00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:04.999
Goddamn it.
00:24:05.000 --> 00:24:09.999
She\'s been an that side. Today Earth
Firsters will take the stand.
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:14.999
They will testify about Judi\'s work in the weeks leading up
to the bombing. Earth First was planning Redwood Summer,
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
a massive nonviolent Civil Disobedience
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
that strategically coincided with the
campaign for a contentious ballot initiative
00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
called \"Forests Forever.\" If past,
Forests forever would have stopped
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
all logging of the old growth by
giant corporations like MAXAM,
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
and Louisiana Pacific.
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
The timber companies plan on cutting down every tree they could that
summer, so that the vote would be as mood as possible if it won.
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
So after playing with Redwood Summer was
to block every tree from being cut down
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
that we could. The plan was to physically slow them
down easy using Nonviolent Civil Disobedience.
00:24:55.000 --> 00:24:59.999
Judi came to me to umm... really worried
00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.999
that somebody is gonna get hurt. And we
sat down and... and actually agreed upon
00:25:05.000 --> 00:25:09.999
uh... Rules of Engagement.
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
Uh... I decorated the non-violence quote.
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
It says \"We will use no violence,
verbal or physical, towards any person.
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:24.999
We will carry no weapons. We
will not damage any property.\"
00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:29.999
It was around this time that Judi
started receiving death threats.
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:34.999
From the scene of the bottom, Judi was taken
to the hospital. I feel it being veiled
00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:39.999
from the ambulance into surgery
to manage to tell the paramedic
00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:44.999
to tell the paramedic, they called industry of
Environmental center and she gave him the phone number
00:25:45.000 --> 00:25:49.999
and she said \"I\'ve been getting death
threats. You should investigate
00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:54.999
the fort by Nazis and it\'s limber industry\" and then
she remembered nothing else and she went into surgery.
00:25:55.000 --> 00:25:59.999
Well, Oakland police stood
outside the operating room door,
00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:04.999
placed her under arrest till 3 pm,
while she was still in surgery.
00:26:05.000 --> 00:26:13.000
[music]
00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:53.000
[sil.]
00:26:55.000 --> 00:26:59.999
F.B.I. defendant Special Agent Sena was called to
the stand and questioned about the death threats
00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:04.999
sent to Judi shortly before the bombing.
He was asked
00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:09.999
if he had investigated possible sources of
the threats. Special agent Sena replied
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:14.999
\"I don\'t know. I wasn\'t all that involved.
I wasn\'t all that interested.\"
00:27:15.000 --> 00:27:19.999
Then they call their Washington D.C.
document analysis expert
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:24.999
umm... a very nice woman from
00:27:25.000 --> 00:27:29.999
uh... the FBI lab. We pulled out
the original, one original threat,
00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:34.999
the one that says \"Judi Bari get out and go back where
you come from, you won\'t get a second warning.\"
00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:39.999
And we uh... we showed her this document with the original
document. We said \"Well, if so given document like this,
00:27:40.000 --> 00:27:44.999
could you tell this was an
original?\" Should one glance at it,
00:27:45.000 --> 00:27:49.999
and she said \"Yeah, this looks like an original, got the original
stamp and, and the paper it seems to be yellowing around the edges
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:54.999
and in this appears to be
an original.\" It was great
00:27:55.000 --> 00:27:59.999
she turned into our real witness. She confirmed that
we\'ve given that... that Judi\'s attorney had given
00:28:00.000 --> 00:28:04.999
the FBI the originals and they\'ve done
nothing with them. So that was great.
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:09.999
In the last years of Judi\'s life, Alicia
lived with her and her daughters.
00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:14.999
She said she went to Judi University. It talked
about the pipe bombings more than timber stuff.
00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:19.999
Before she died, Judi asked
Alicia to carry the case
00:28:20.000 --> 00:28:24.999
to the end. I mean you guys... You guys are wrong
about this. You have to show the Chris Wall
00:28:25.000 --> 00:28:29.999
and Senator... okay, you\'re telling me that we don\'t
have facts. But you already blew up apart, sir.
00:28:30.000 --> 00:28:34.999
Then these are the meeting was a set up, what do
we have? But you go for it and you don\'t have it
00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:39.999
and you can\'t hold them to the very
words then you can\'t go forward,
00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:44.999
then you just all you get us the pipe bombs up and north. There weren\'t pipe
bombs at all. I know but that doesn\'t mean he\'s ain\'t gonna say there were
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:49.999
then how we disprove that?
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:54.999
I\'ve confident that there were. Guys, well, let
me... let me just... the case is going in Judi,
00:28:55.000 --> 00:28:59.999
conspiracy\'s agreement, that is
not like it\'s business agreement
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.999
that\'s is written down in black and
white, insight in front of witnesses.
00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:09.999
Conspiracy is a secret agreement. Yes, it
was. It can only be through circumstantially
00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:14.999
and two people come together and then their actions are
in concert and they\'re actions are directed toward
00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:19.999
criminal objective, you can refer
that there\'s an important agreement.
00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:24.999
So you know we have to go... we
have to ease that ship again them
00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:29.999
and if there will, if they\'re
open, if they think it\'s perjury
00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:34.999
and I think that\'s bullshit, they
may walk the extra mile for us.
00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.999
With hearing... As for secretly,
we\'ve been fighting for always...
00:29:40.000 --> 00:29:44.999
Give me a Law degree, okay. You can
have mine. I\'m through with it.
00:29:45.000 --> 00:29:49.999
What\'s the matter, dad?
00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:54.999
Nothing, I\'m just... I\'m... I\'m tired.
I gonna go home and take the nap
00:29:55.000 --> 00:29:59.999
and then I\'m gonna get up and think about what I got to
think about. Okay, why are you not turn out for this work?
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:04.999
You keep saying that. Because
I don\'t like to jump to work.
00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:09.999
I... I... I like to let things slide
and then sometimes they slide too much
00:30:10.000 --> 00:30:14.999
and then you\'re not dealt with.
00:30:15.000 --> 00:30:19.999
Always something slide, so much.
00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:24.999
But isn\'t that partly just that you have too many different
things to do, it\'s not really your fault sort of like...
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:29.999
Yeah, but I could do way better at it, if
I was a different kind of personality,
00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:34.999
if I was cut out for this
work and I do it way better.
00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:39.999
[music]
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:44.999
Well, what work are you cut out for?
00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:49.999
[sil.]
00:30:50.000 --> 00:30:54.999
Do you feel like there\'s very
little success in the cases
00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:59.999
I mean, other people would have given it
up? I... it would feel like a desertion,
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.999
you know, I can\'t live
with myself I don\'t think.
00:31:05.000 --> 00:31:09.999
So, you would feel like a desertion of
the things that you\'ve committed to
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
and the people that you\'re
committed to, a desertion of Judi.
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
That I have had some pretty extraordinary
clients, political people,
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:24.999
organizers, activists over the years and
she was very at the top of that class.
00:31:25.000 --> 00:31:29.999
She had more understanding,
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:34.999
more energy to bring to
the work (inaudible).
00:31:35.000 --> 00:31:39.999
But stopping the war in the
Middle east is not enough
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.999
because as long as we continue to
live in the manner that we live.
00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:49.999
And it is only matter of timing before the next war begins. It
was really great blow to lose her. This case is not about me,
00:31:50.000 --> 00:31:54.999
it\'s not about Darryl and it\'s not about Earth
First. It\'s about the right of all activists
00:31:55.000 --> 00:31:59.999
who work for social change. It was shame,
00:32:00.000 --> 00:32:04.999
that we lost Judi. I\'m sorry,
you never got to know her.
00:32:05.000 --> 00:32:09.999
What a shame.
00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:15.000
I\'ve... and we know her only this way.
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:24.999
Sergeant Chenault of the Oakland
Police testified that at the scene
00:32:25.000 --> 00:32:29.999
Frank Doyle of the FBI had told
him nails found tape to the bomb
00:32:30.000 --> 00:32:34.999
were identical to nails found in
a bag in the back of Judi\'s car.
00:32:35.000 --> 00:32:39.999
Did you later come to learn that the
nails were nowhere near identical?
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:44.999
His answer was \"Yes.\" Special Agent Doyle
00:32:45.000 --> 00:32:49.999
was asked about his claim that the
bomb had been in plain view behind,
00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:54.999
not hidden under Judi\'s seat. Doyle replied
00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.999
\"I think we\'re having a
problem with the term under.\"
00:33:00.000 --> 00:33:04.999
Bob Bloom then questioned him about
his participation in bomb school
00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.999
where Doyle trained law enforcement officers
on the proper handling of bombing incidents.
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
Did you teach bomb school about
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
a month before the bombing? \"Yes\", he said.
Was it held on a clear cut owned
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
by the Louisiana Pacific Lumber Company?
Again \"Yes.\"
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
You got some penance to do boy?
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
No, no. I\'m free. Why does you have...
I\'m pissed at him. Why? I\'ll tell you.
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
All right. Yes. I\'m laboring here. Why are you in
trouble? Intensively. And my trouble is I was...
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
I swore that you and the fucking juror...
where are you? I know you got lots of stuff.
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
Don\'t oiss me off like that, don\'t send me knows tell
me to stop fiddling with the fucking light where she...
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:54.999
I\'m fiddling with it for a reason. I was
fiddling with it \'cause I felt it necessary,
00:33:55.000 --> 00:33:59.999
that\'s my point. He put it down notes on the
thing and it had to be told by the judge
00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:04.999
your notes are visible. Can someone else be in
charge of the overhead projector? I could. I tried.
00:34:05.000 --> 00:34:09.999
Maybe someone should your
assistant with screen, dad
00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:14.999
what do you think? I don\'t
want another body up there.
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:19.999
The damn machine fuck, man that whole
system just sucks (inaudible).
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:24.999
I never saw any things... It doesn\'t suck. I\'m mean it\'s sliding back and forth,
we gotta get it lined up and then you try and get it big... big as it will go,
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
so you could read it, you can\'t read it. You look
at it. You can\'t read it. And you look up there
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
and you see they can read it. No, he said documents...
And the pictures look like shit up there.
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:39.999
I thought it was deliberate fiddling. Oh,
you did? Yeah, fiddling to show that
00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:44.999
this was an important document and I needed to be
waved in the face that\'s that certain judgment.
00:34:45.000 --> 00:34:49.999
It was the worst kind of fiddling. It was like felonious
fiddling. It was, you know, minor miscreant fiddling.
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:54.999
It was bad news. It was bungling fiddling. It looks
silly and wrong and the judge had to say something
00:34:55.000 --> 00:34:59.999
and they\'re not fiddling. Are they fiddling? But fiddling
is essential... We can have fiddling on our side.
00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:04.999
Before the case because the case sort of revolves
around the fiddle, so fiddling is just sort of...
00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:09.999
[sil.]
00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:14.999
You have a dollar? I\'m not having any cash.
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:19.999
Hmm. You need some?
00:35:20.000 --> 00:35:24.999
I\'m alright. Well, you have a lot.
00:35:25.000 --> 00:35:29.999
Hey, thanks pops. You\'re welcome.
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:34.999
So what are you gonna do now?
00:35:35.000 --> 00:35:39.999
I\'m gonna go sleep. You\'re
gonna go sleep? Yeah.
00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:44.999
You\'re gonna eat anything? I... might
eat up something, you wanna eat?
00:35:45.000 --> 00:35:49.999
My parents political work
always dominated our lives.
00:35:50.000 --> 00:35:54.999
While my dad was fighting for justice in court,
my mother was fighting for change in the streets.
00:35:55.000 --> 00:35:59.999
She joined Women for Peace
and the Weather Underground.
00:36:00.000 --> 00:36:04.999
She left my dad, when I
was one, took us kids
00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:09.999
and moved from Chicago to California.
10 years later
00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:14.999
my dad moved to San
Francisco to be near us.
00:36:15.000 --> 00:36:19.999
He remained committed to his work which
consumes him now as much as it always did.
00:36:20.000 --> 00:36:24.999
And the stuff I\'ll tell you what else you know, all the
dirty stuff they did and the Judge wouldn\'t respond to.
00:36:25.000 --> 00:36:29.999
She\'ll makes them stop
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:34.999
instead of that she fucking lean on us
about the time give us all that bull shit.
00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.999
And then you think about how she
led Richard Held on the case
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
and she kept all that cointelpro
stuff out of the case.
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
What... what\'s the fucking case? You know, it turned out
just the way you could predict. People are more than well,
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
what\'s the fuck happening here? Who are you
these assholes? Why would they, you know,
00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
uh... you know, just a bunch
of stumble bomb asshole cops
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
and agents. I mean they... they
came across like assholes, right.
00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
So obviously \"Oh, that\'s something,
you know, key lead, you know,
00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:14.999
black art, cover action to
say nothing about how absurd
00:37:15.000 --> 00:37:19.999
it is to be doing a 12 years after
the fact. Take all this time,
00:37:20.000 --> 00:37:24.999
do all this work, spend all these money, get dogged
around so much. Call the court of appeals, come back.
00:37:25.000 --> 00:37:29.999
Call again. Come back. Ah...
that\'s on this side. Okay.
00:37:30.000 --> 00:37:34.999
[sil.]
00:37:35.000 --> 00:37:39.999
Fries, all right. Enjoy it.
00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:44.999
Thank you. Now let\'s do it.
00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:49.999
Are you sure you\'re preparing? I understand
it. I... I need someone else to do in life.
00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:54.999
I\'m... I\'m... I\'m hopeful
of getting a life.
00:37:55.000 --> 00:37:59.999
[sil.]
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:04.999
Sometimes, I think about that now and...
and you know
00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:09.999
how much of my life this has been.
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
I think about walking around later night with the
dog, you know. I\'m always thinking about this shit.
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
And then said all but all these
years of thinking about it,
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
I still ain\'t ready to deal with it.
I\'m ready to have it\'d be my life.
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
This week both Judi and her daughter
Lisa will testify, Lisa in person,
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
Judi as videotaped, five years ago.
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
How do you feel about the
jury views, ...just coming.
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
Uh... that\'s what you said that they have tape... That... well, you know...
Yeah. Yeah. I have a little of hope. It seems like we know... we have a fair...
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:49.999
a fair impartial jury and it seems like
you know, we\'ve really have a chance here
00:38:50.000 --> 00:38:54.999
and I\'m... I\'m... I\'m really happy about that and it\'s really
emotional for me because this is been such a long time coming,
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.999
but I... I think it\'s, I think we have a chance.
It should have been run through... Okay.
00:39:00.000 --> 00:39:04.999
Question, are you
acquainted with Judi Bari?
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:09.999
Answer, yes, she\'s my mother.
Question, Do you recall the occasion
00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:14.999
when she was bombed? Answer, Yes.
00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:19.999
Question, where were you when you found out? Answer,
my father picked me up from the school bus stop
00:39:20.000 --> 00:39:24.999
and he told me something
really bad had happened.
00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:29.999
We went home for a while and then
stayed in a neighbor\'s that night
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:34.999
because the FBI came to search the house.
Question, did things happen
00:39:35.000 --> 00:39:39.999
that you heard about as a result of the
arrest, things said to her or to you?
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:44.999
Answer, both. We lived in a small community
00:39:45.000 --> 00:39:49.999
where half of the industry was logging or the timber
industry. It was sometimes really a hostile place
00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:54.999
for both of us. There were
people who believed the charges.
00:39:55.000 --> 00:39:59.999
Question, how did you come to
feel about the whole thing?
00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:04.999
Answer, I had somehow convinced
myself when I was nine
00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.999
that if I had been there with her, it wouldn\'t have happened.
It made me I wanna be around her all the time. Question...
00:40:10.000 --> 00:40:14.999
What is the basic event out
of which the case over?
00:40:15.000 --> 00:40:19.999
In May... on May 24th of 1990,
00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:24.999
I was bombed and nearly killed in a car bomb
assassination attempt. There was a very huge explosion
00:40:25.000 --> 00:40:29.999
and I felt it ripped through me.
I felt it from underneath of me.
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
And umm... I don\'t remember what
happened in the next couple of minutes,
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
I remember the explosion being so powerful
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
that the sound itself had a force. Uh...
I remember the explosion very clearly.
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
My legs both were immobile at the time. I knew that
my body was ruined. I knew that I was paralyzed.
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:54.999
I felt that I was dying. I was
in the critical care room.
00:40:55.000 --> 00:40:59.999
And at one point, I was taken and moved
and I was moved to the jail ward.
00:41:00.000 --> 00:41:04.999
And this I understood was
because I was under arrest.
00:41:05.000 --> 00:41:09.999
Today, how do you feel about
the continuing effect
00:41:10.000 --> 00:41:14.999
of original accusations against you?
I\'m still perceived as a terrorist by,
00:41:15.000 --> 00:41:19.999
you know, people who only know,
lately about Earth First,
00:41:20.000 --> 00:41:24.999
I think Earth First continues to be discredited
by it and people on the East Coast for example,
00:41:25.000 --> 00:41:29.999
they know anything about me, I\'m that terrorist who
blew myself up with my own bomb. Anything else?
00:41:30.000 --> 00:41:34.999
Well, it\'s just, you know, it\'s kind of
a... it\'s a... it\'s a disturbing thing
00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
and I feel like a great injustice. My
dad had questioned her for five hours.
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
I have no further questions to deal with.
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:49.999
It was time for the defense
to cross-examine her.
00:41:50.000 --> 00:41:54.999
No questions for the Federal defendants.
No questions for the Oakland...
00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:59.999
All right, that concludes then
00:42:00.000 --> 00:42:04.999
the deposition of Judi Bari
00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:09.999
and the uh... above mentioned case
00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:14.999
and the... thank you, all. It
doesn\'t matter what the verdict is.
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
This is all you\'re working for, you know.
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
This is what all these years have enforced so that
Judi could get on the stand to tell her story.
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:33.000
[music]
00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:59.999
But I don\'t think that you argue,
00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.999
forget about that and say this year, we\'re
going to get the bomber. I\'d think that...
00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:09.999
that sound... I don\'t see it. I just don\'t see it. If the punch
line is that they couldn\'t go out investigate, we don\'t believe,
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
I don\'t, it\'s hard to accept this. Because we\'re in the age
of Homeland Security. This case... We\'re in the age where
00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
everybody thinks that FBI is shitting their pants
to find every potential terrorist in the country.
00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
I think they\'re all good normal people
who would want this crime to be solved.
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
I think that\'s gonna be... they don\'t care about the politics.
They\'ve really don\'t. They don\'t even care about Judi and Darryl.
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
Okay, first premise accept... Okay.
It should be... he\'s like a...
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:39.999
I just gonna block him out. He always seems head shaking,
every time, I say something. Of course, they do,
00:43:40.000 --> 00:43:44.999
but they... they don\'t have any hope that it will
be. It never will be. No, I don\'t have any sense
00:43:45.000 --> 00:43:49.999
that it will be. Growing in the wood,
it will bring about the industry...
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
The crime they\'re dealing with is
what the FBI did, not the bombing.
00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
That\'s what they\'re asked to decide about.
When they think about
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
the fact that there\'s a bomber out
there and the fact that their decision
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
could mean that bomber might get looked for?
But it doesn\'t. And nobody knows anything...
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:14.999
Why doesn\'t... why doesn\'t it?
Because they\'re never ever in life
00:44:15.000 --> 00:44:19.999
going to do a honest investigation of this case,
no matter what anybody says anytime anywhere.
00:44:20.000 --> 00:44:24.999
To make your argument the strongest
00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.999
and the most idealistic, it\'s like this we\'re never in
this for money. You\'re gonna see on the verdict nominal.
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:34.999
Get one dollar, we only want one
dollar, well, we want this crime...
00:44:35.000 --> 00:44:39.999
And you know, and... and then you go
back way. But if you\'re asking for money
00:44:40.000 --> 00:44:44.999
with your left hand and then your right hand saying
\"What we really want this investigation...\" uh...
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
that the two are not compatible. If the Judi
supposed to be the authority over them, right? No.
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
If their authority over them say \"No.\" No, the
Jury is the authority over the facts, you know.
00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:59.999
I\'m talking about their brains. I\'m talking about
their brains. I don\'t see where did it come from
00:45:00.000 --> 00:45:04.999
about these people that you seems to have
the sense that you can read their minds
00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:09.999
because they\'re square Americans and you\'re not. I mean, all
the more reason you wouldn\'t know what they\'re thinking.
00:45:10.000 --> 00:45:14.999
You\'ve got to me to... to the point
where I would give a throw away.
00:45:15.000 --> 00:45:19.999
I call it a throw away, which I\'d mean, you put it
in their mind and if they wanna go that way, fine.
00:45:20.000 --> 00:45:24.999
That\'s so nice of you. But I\'m gonna put all my uh... socks uh...
but... you know... No. I agree with you that it\'s a throw away.
00:45:25.000 --> 00:45:29.999
But you can\'t argue. It\'s not a legal... there\'s no legal basis
for it, there\'s no nothing. It\'s like one of those things,
00:45:30.000 --> 00:45:34.999
it\'s a little bit more about push...
And maybe, just maybe, you know,
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
no way is to sustaining the plain\'s position
will create or engender a real investigation
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
and do we really get the bomber. You
know, there\'re cases that sometimes
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:49.999
are 25 years late and they still get them...
that\'s a throw away. There... That\'s fine.
00:45:50.000 --> 00:45:58.000
[sil.]
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
Oakland\'s lawyers closed
by defending the arrest
00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
implying that Judi and Darryl\'s
nonviolent stands had been a mere front.
00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
The federal lawyers attributed the
arrest and the fruitless investigation
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:19.999
to a series of innocent mistakes
likening the entire episode
00:46:20.000 --> 00:46:24.999
to a children\'s game of telephone.
00:46:25.000 --> 00:46:29.999
[sil.]
00:46:30.000 --> 00:46:34.999
Whether jury wanted the text of the First and
Fourth Amendments from the Bill of Rights,
00:46:35.000 --> 00:46:39.999
the first amendment freedom of speech and
Freedom of Association in the Fourth Amendment,
00:46:40.000 --> 00:46:44.999
the freedom from unreasonable
searches and seizures and uh...
00:46:45.000 --> 00:46:49.999
and so we got in there just talking about
it and the federal government opposed
00:46:50.000 --> 00:46:54.999
giving them the text of the fourth...
First and Fourth Amendments.
00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
And I thought that would be...
parts of it would be irrelevant.
00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
After three and-a-half
weeks of deliberation,
00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
the jury is finally handing
down their verdict.
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
Alicia\'s always wanted Judi there for their
final day in court. So she\'s bringing her ashes
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:19.999
to sit on the plaintiff\'s table
in full view of the judge,
00:47:20.000 --> 00:47:24.999
the jury and all the defendants.
00:47:25.000 --> 00:47:29.999
[sil.]
00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:34.999
Yahoo...
00:47:35.000 --> 00:47:39.999
Hello everybody, good to
see you all, thank you.
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.999
[sil.]
00:47:45.000 --> 00:47:49.999
You have to leave then. Okay. I had a
press conference. I have to leave now.
00:47:50.000 --> 00:47:54.999
4.4 million
00:47:55.000 --> 00:47:59.999
[sil.] But jury got it.
00:48:00.000 --> 00:48:04.999
They got that... No one got off. Yeah.
They got off on certain claims but.
00:48:05.000 --> 00:48:09.999
Okay. I really I\'m in a press conference.
00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.999
I love you, mom.
00:48:15.000 --> 00:48:20.400
Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney. You put your lot pinning up down, we
hope the FBI and Oakland and all the police... constitution demands.
00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
It\'s a good way and very good luck. FBI... They\'re
talking about expanding FBI powers to spy,
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:34.999
to gather information on people. This
case needs to be part of that discussion.
00:48:35.000 --> 00:48:39.999
I got no words.
00:48:40.000 --> 00:48:44.999
I got, you got wait until it got \"Oh, God, you consider these
words.\"... lagging at this just like FBI into Chicago putting
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:49.999
since the lagging when they murder Fred Hampton.
Judi Bari and I see the FBI and the path
00:48:50.000 --> 00:48:54.999
of all the people to get persecuted
by the FBI over decades.
00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:59.999
Now I want to turn this over our attorneys, I just
have to say Dennis Cunningham need a attorney...
00:49:00.000 --> 00:49:08.000
[sil.]
00:49:10.000 --> 00:49:14.999
What does what mean? It\'s verdict. It\'s
never been... It means that they...
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
they know that the... the people can
see when activists are attacked
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
for their activism by the government, by the
police and by the National or Federal Police
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:29.999
and... and that\'s now, you know,
unavoidable for everyone to see,
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:34.999
even the press would she has been so
you know, reluctant to pay attention
00:49:35.000 --> 00:49:39.999
to this story for 12 years, is now gonna
have to deal with it, aren\'t you?
00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:44.999
[music]
00:49:45.000 --> 00:49:49.999
I want to remember the one
who isn\'t here, Judi Bari.
00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
She died of Cancer, five years ago.
00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
I think you were able to get some sense of her in this
trial. But actually nothing approaching the power
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
and strength and eloquence and dedication
she brought to the work she did.
00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
And what it was that she changed from being a
private citizen and to being a public person
00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
in order to do. But we
have to remember that
00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
because the key part of the story
is understand that she was somebody
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
who would draw this type of
hostility trying to expose things
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
that we\'re destructive of the life
force and the habitat we all share
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
and of the trees. So she
mustn\'t be forgotten
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
and she mustn\'t be underestimated. The animosity
to her mustn\'t be underestimated either.
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:44.999
Why would you decide the
bomb was in plain view
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:49.999
when the hole was in the front seat and you could see
right down to the pavement, you could see the crack
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
in the pavement right through the hole
in the seat by the bomb hidden under,
00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
you can see that the front door was
wrecked and the back door was undamaged.
00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
The bottom was hidden. If you were there, I
was there or anybody acting in good faith
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.999
would have known the bomb was put
there to hurt or kill that woman
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:14.999
because she had a big mouth.
She was effective,
00:51:15.000 --> 00:51:19.999
reaching out to timber workers and she
scared the hell out of the timber company.
00:51:20.000 --> 00:51:24.999
It was a lot of sacred stuff
for so-called \"Sacred stuff\"
00:51:25.000 --> 00:51:29.999
that has to be challenged and the
complacency if you want to call it that
00:51:30.000 --> 00:51:34.999
people don\'t want to have their things
upset their lives, their routine.
00:51:35.000 --> 00:51:39.999
But sometimes it has to be upset and
somebody has to take on that burden.
00:51:40.000 --> 00:51:44.999
That\'s sacred thing itself to
take that duty upon yourself.
00:51:45.000 --> 00:51:49.999
Trees were the focal point, but it was really
about the earth. It was about the air,
00:51:50.000 --> 00:51:54.999
was about the water and the
food and the workers themselves
00:51:55.000 --> 00:51:59.999
trying to wake people up.
What does it take to do that?
00:52:00.000 --> 00:52:04.999
What kind of people have this
kind of nerve and dedication?
00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:09.999
Where did they get it from? There\'s all bunch more
that sit here in this courtroom day after day.
00:52:10.000 --> 00:52:14.999
You look at them and you know,
they\'re not the same as you.
00:52:15.000 --> 00:52:19.999
They don\'t think the same as you.
But you can\'t see they\'re criminals
00:52:20.000 --> 00:52:24.999
and you can\'t say that it makes them fair game
for a creepy response from law enforcement.
00:52:25.000 --> 00:52:29.999
We\'re talking about civil rights,
about fundamental rights.
00:52:30.000 --> 00:52:34.999
We\'re talking about rights that are the essence
of the concept this country is based on,
00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:39.999
going back as far as it goes.
I have a nice quote here
00:52:40.000 --> 00:52:44.999
I found from Alexander Hamilton,
\"The sacred rights of mankind,
00:52:45.000 --> 00:52:49.999
we call it human kind are not to be
00:52:50.000 --> 00:52:54.999
Romans for amongst old parchment.
They\'re written as with the sun being
00:52:55.000 --> 00:52:59.999
by the hand of the divinity itself
00:53:00.000 --> 00:53:04.999
and can never be erased or
obscured by mortal power.
00:53:05.000 --> 00:53:10.000
[music]
