A car bomb. A forest war. And an activist caught in the middle. When Earth First! organizer Judi Bari was nearly killed by a bomb planted beneath the driver’s seat of her Subaru, the FBI didn’t hunt for the bomber—they arrested her. What followed was a decades-long battle between environmentalists, the logging industry, and law enforcement, marked by conspiracy, smear campaigns, and civil rights violations.
In this episode, we dig into the unsolved car bombing that silenced a voice—but only briefly. We explore the psychol...
A car bomb. A forest war. And an activist caught in the middle. When Earth First! organizer Judi Bari was nearly killed by a bomb planted beneath the driver’s seat of her Subaru, the FBI didn’t hunt for the bomber—they arrested her. What followed was a decades-long battle between environmentalists, the logging industry, and law enforcement, marked by conspiracy, smear campaigns, and civil rights violations.
In this episode, we dig into the unsolved car bombing that silenced a voice—but only briefly. We explore the psychological toll of being framed, the sociopolitical war over California’s redwoods, and why Judi Bari remains a lightning rod for activism, even after death. Was she targeted for her politics? Or was the FBI covering something up?
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References:
Alternative Tentacles. (n.d.). Judi Bari. https://alternativetentacles.com/pages/artist-page/judi-bari
Bari, J. (1992). The feminization of Earth First!. History Is A Weapon. https://www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/barifemef.html
Cherney, D. (n.d.). JudiBari.org: The official archive of Judi Bari’s life and case. JudiBari.org. http://www.judibari.org/index.html
Cherney, D. (2010). Motion to preserve the bombs. JudiBari.org. http://www.judibari.org/Mo-Preserve-Bombs-2010.pdf
Cherney, D. (2010). Declaration in support of motion to preserve bombs. JudiBari.org. http://www.judibari.org/Mo-Preserve-Bombs-Declaration-Cherney-2010.pdf
Fifth Estate Collective. (1997, Summer). Judi Bari lives. Fifth Estate, 349. https://www.fifthestate.org/archive/349-summer-1997/judi-bari-lives/
Greenson, T. (1997, January). Judi Bari: Outspoken and uncompromising. North Coast Journal. https://www.northcoastjournal.com/jan97/1-97.people.html
InfoRefuge. (n.d.). Judi Bari biography. https://inforefuge.com/judi-bari-bio
Industrial Workers of the World. (n.d.). Judi Bari biography. https://archive.iww.org/history/biography/JudiBari/1/
Kuletz, V. (2021, August 10). How Judi Bari tried to unite loggers and environmentalists. JSTOR Daily. https://daily.jstor.org/how-judi-bari-tried-to-unite-loggers-and-environmentalists/
Martin, D. (1997, March 4). Judi Bari, 47, leader of Earth First! protest on redwoods in 1990. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1997/03/04/us/judi-bari-47-leader-of-earth-first-protest-on-redwoods-in-1990.html
Trees Foundation. (2020, May 20). 30 years ago in May: The bombing of Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney. https://treesfoundation.org/2020/05/30-years-ago-in-may-the-bombing-of-earth-first-activists-judi-bari-and-darryl-cherney/
Wheaton, B. K. (2010). Declaration in support of motion to preserve bombs. JudiBari.org. http://www.judibari.org/Mo-Preserve-Bombs-Declaration-Wheaton-re-8-23-10.pdf
United States Department of Justice. (2010). Opposition to motion to preserve bombs. JudiBari.org. http://www.judibari.org/D-Opp-P-Mo-Preserv-Ev-8-12-10.pdf
Zinn Education Project. (n.d.). Judi Bari car bombing. https://www.zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/judi-bari
