Incident Summary:
5/24/1990: Unknown perpetrators placed a pipe bomb underneath the front seat of a Subaru station wagon belonging to Judi Bari, a leader of the environmentalist group Northern California Earth First!. The bomb detonated while Bari and fellow environmental activist Darryl Cherney were driving from Oakland to Santa Cruz, California, United States. Bari and Cherney both sustained injuries and the car was damaged.
Overview
GTD ID:
199005240021
When:
1990-05-24
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
California
City:
Oakland
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Leader of Northern California Earth First! |
Specific Description |
Judi Bari |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Yes |
Extent of Property Damage |
Minor (likely < $1 million) |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Time Fuse |
Weapon Details |
Pipe bomb, filled with nails, connected to a motion trigger and a timing device |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
The explosive device detonated at 11:50 AM, as Judi Bari was driving past Oakland High School. Authorities originally arrested Bari and Darryl Cherney, accusing them of illegally transporting bombs. However, six months later Bari and Cherney were released due to a lack of evidence. In 2002, their estates were awarded $4.4 million because it was determined that their civil rights were violated by the FBI and the Oakland Police Department. The pipe bomb in this incident was similar to the explosive device used in the attack on the Louisiana Pacifica Sawmill in Cloverdale California two weeks prior to the attack on Bari (199005100013). On May 29th, 1990, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat received a letter from an anonymous individual, referring to himself as "the Lord's Avenger," claiming that he bombed Bari's vehicle because of her pro-choice activism. The Lord's Avenger also claimed to have bombed the Louisiana Pacific sawmill to frame Bari. It is widely believed that this letter is a hoax. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Anti-Environmentalists |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 2 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
2 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
2 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Will Harper, "The Unsolved Mysteries of Judi Bari," East Bay Express, September 12, 2001. |
Katherine Bishop, "F.B.I. Studying Letter on Blast That Injured 2," New York Times, June 1, 1990. |
Evelyn Nieves, "Truth Is Still Elusive In 1990 Pipe Bombing ," New York Times, June 16, 2002. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties