Oakland's secret police

THE CIVIL SUIT by two Earth First! members against the FBI and the Oakland Police Department hasn't answered what many see as the key question: who planted the bomb that maimed Judi Bari? But as A.C. Thompson reports on page 21, the six-week trial that just concluded revealed some dramatic information about local and federal law enforcement – information that ought to set off alarm bells in Oakland.

Among other things, an Oakland police officer acknowledged on the witness stand that he was part of an intelligence unit that spied on as many as 300 activist groups – and may still be in existence today. That's remarkable news – more remarkable, perhaps, because none of the mainstream news media at the trial even mentioned it. The trial dealt with arrests that took place 12 years ago, so the question now is whether the OPD is still paying police officers to spy on, and presumably maintain files on, citizens whose only crime is participation in a political organization. Does Oakland still have a Red Squad?

Meanwhile, testimony from FBI agents suggested the Oakland cops involved in the Bari case may have prepared two search warrants with false information. The plaintiffs claim this was intentional – that the police and the FBI wanted to frame Bari and her colleague, Darryl Cherney. One law enforcement witness chalked it up to poor communication. Either way, it casts doubt on the validity of not only the search warrants used to toss Bari's house but potentially also hundreds of other warrants prepared by the OPD.