General Defense Committee

General Defense Committee

Federal Court Orders FBI To Turn Over Evidence for Independent Forensic Analysis in 1990 Judi Bari Car Bombing Case

Posted Mon, 04/02/2012 - 3:25pm by IWW.org Editor

Note: Judi Bari was a dues paying member of the IWW from 1988-94 and active in the IWW when the bombing on May 24, 1990 took place.

By Ben Rosenfeld - April 2, 2012

In an order dated March 31, 2012 and released today, Honorable Claudia Wilken, United States District Judge of the Northern District of California, affirmed a March 21, 2011 Order by Magistrate Judge James Larson, directing the United States, through the FBI, to turn over evidence in the 1990 car bomb assassination attempt of Judi Bari in Oakland, CA to a third party forensic laboratory for independent testing.

"This is a historic and momentous development", said Ben Rosenfeld, attorney for plaintiff Darryl Cherney, Judi Bari's co-organizer in the sustained campaign to preserve California's ancient redwoods, who was also injured when the bomb went off. Cherney went to Court in 2010 to prevent the FBI from destroying the evidence. That evidence includes a mostly intact explosive device built by the same hands as the car bomb, a cardboard sign, and latent fingerprints.

The FBI never subjected this evidence to basic forensic examination. Its lawyers contacted Cherney's lawyers in 2010 announcing plans to destroy the evidence. In 2002, an Oakland federal jury found three FBI agents and three Oakland police officers liable for violating Bari and Cherney's First and Fourth Amendment Rights in trying to frame them by falsely accusing them of transporting the bomb which nearly killed them. The FBI never looked elsewhere.

Cherney alone has continued to pursue the bomber(s). With co-Director Mary Liz Thomson, he just released a new documentary entitled Who Bombed Judi Bari? The evidence, hitherto sealed away in an FBI locker, may finally yield an answer to that question.

Request a copy of the Court order via one of the contacts above, or look it up on PACER under federal Case No. 91-01057 (Document Number 686). For historic information about the case, visit judibari.org.

IWW Endorses Occupy Wall Street

Posted Wed, 09/28/2011 - 12:28pm by IWW.org Editor

On behalf of our union, the General Executive Board of the Industrial Workers of the World sends our support and solidarity to the occupation of Wall Street, those determined to hold accountable our oppressors.

This occupation on Wall Street calls into question the very foundation in which the capitalist system is based, and its relentless desire to place profit over and above all else.

When 1% of the ruling class holds the wealth created by the other 99%, it is clear that the watchwords found in our union's preamble, "the working class and the employing class have nothing in common", ring true more than ever.?The IWW does not follow a business union model. We believe that the working class and the employing class have nothing in common and we don't foster illusions to the contrary.

Throughout the world, from Egypt to Greece, from China to Madison, Wisconsin, working class people are starting to rise up. The IWW welcomes this. We see the occupation of Wall Street as another step - no matter how large or small - in this process.

IWW General Defense Committee Statement in Support of Occupy Wall Street

Posted Wed, 09/28/2011 - 12:16pm by IWW.org Editor

The General Defense Committee of the Industrial Workers of the World stand in solidarity with our brave brothers and sisters at Occupy Wall Street. We denounce and detest the intimidation, harassment, and brutality exhibited by the New York Police. The actions of the police lay bare the true nature of Wall Street and Capitalism.

We call on all those that still retain a sense of humanity to show their support of the working class by refusing to engage in the brutal silencing of dissent. The only individuals who remain unaffected by the volatility of capitalism, globalization, and the stock market are those who are getting richer from furthering the disparity of all workers through calculated economic calamity. We support all of our brave fellow workers on the front lines of this occupation throughout the United States, and those like it across the world.

We recognize that the true occupying forces are the wealthy ruling classes, their institutions, and the States that legitimize their power. The police and military forces that protect their masters' wealth and power are just as guilty as their masters. Only by uniting as workers and standing together as a class, can we take back our streets and our workplaces.

Solidarity Forever!

General Defense Committee of the IWW

Noam Chomsky on the Occupation of Wall Street

Posted Wed, 09/28/2011 - 12:10pm by IWW.org Editor

Disclaimer:  The following was issued by Noam Chomsky (a dues paying memebr of the IWW) as an individual and not on behalf of the IWW.  It is posted here for informational purposes only:

Anyone with eyes open knows that the gangsterism of Wall Street -- financial institutions generally -- has caused severe damage to the people of the United States (and the world). And should also know that it has been doing so increasingly for over 30 years, as their power in the economy has radically increased, and with it their political power. That has set in motion a vicious cycle that has concentrated immense wealth, and with it political power, in a tiny sector of the population, a fraction of 1%, while the rest increasingly become what is sometimes called "a precariat" -- seeking to survive in a precarious existence. They also carry out these ugly activities with almost complete impunity -- not only too big to fail, but also "too big to jail."

The courageous and honorable protests underway in Wall Street should serve to bring this calamity to public attention, and to lead to dedicated efforts to overcome it and set the society on a more healthy course.

Noam Chomsky

Update on the Occupy Wall Street / New York Action

Posted Mon, 09/26/2011 - 1:22am by IWW.org Editor

This is a first-hand account by an IWW member / participant:

I just got back from the occupation.

There was almost no police there today. About 2-3 dozen . The other days there were several hundreds ( and cops from Jersey City-- a different state who knows why)

The occupation is right in front of an FBI office for what that does?

The police brutality was a big full page photo on the front of the NY Daily News today -- they print 500,000 copies, it is a major paper. The news did a big inside story right next to a page of reports about big shots who paid themselves giant salaries ripping off the tax payers . The brutality even got mentioned in the NY Times -- hard to imagine ! It was on page 20. Even conservative radio stations reported the unprovoked attacks and mace .

Some people were still being released late into tonight. A small young guy was released after 27.5 hours . He had been arrested 3pm Sat. He told me he is seriously impressed with the IWWs he was in jail with.

Some people are worried that late tonight the cops might attack when the crowd is at its smallest. They really want people to be watching on live stream and people to be there late into the night, early in the morning.  Luckily there are 3 major English language TV station trucks there now.

The people are trying to very carefully to stay in the most positive relationship with the NYPD.

They are really trying. Lots of cops talk about agreeing with the protest but they don't want to lose there jobs.