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David "Gypsy" Chain's Death NO ACCIDENT!

Action Alert! September 28, 1998 Action Alert!

One Year After Gypsy's Death ! ! !


On September 17, 1998, 24-year-old Earth First! activist David "Gypsy" Chain
was killed in the woods he was working to defend. Gypsy died from
massive head injuries after being struck by a giant redwood purposely
felled towards a small group of Northcoast EF! activists who had
gathered to protest an illegal logging operation on Pacific Lumber/Maxxam
land near Grizzly Creek State Park in Humboldt County, California.
Chilling video tape footage captured by activists on the scene recorded
the 52-year-old logger who felled the tree, known only as "A. E. ," making
death threats at the protesters just before David was killed. The following
is an excerpt from the video transcript:


"Get outa here! Otherwise I'll f*ckin; I'll make sure I got a tree
comm' this way..Ohhhhh, f*ck! I wish I had my f*ckin' pistol ~
guess I'm gonna just start packin' that motherf*cker in here '
Cause I can only be nice so f*ckin' long. Go get my saw,
I'm gonna start fallin' into this f*ckin' draw!"


Before the video tape was released, Pacific Lumber (Palco) president
John Campbell had pronounced David Chain's death an "accident." The
crime scene was not sealed off by authorities, and no investigation was
initiated. Gypsy's fellow activists from Northcoast Earth First! had to stop
Palco loggers from re-entering the site the next day! They continue to
stand guard at the place where this beloved member of the EF! family was slain.

We all know David Chain's death was no accident, it was simply the latest
escalation in a campaign of fear, intimidation and harassment perpetrated by
lumber companies whose only concern.is profits and expansion, directed at
nonviolent forest defenders who love the woods and put the Earth first.
Activists from the Mattole region of northern California and Cove Mallard
in Idaho both Wrote about similar confrontations with aggressive loggers in
the latest issue of the EF! Journal. Their stories of being chased through
the woods by gangs of loggers with baseball bats, having trees sawed out
from underneath them and having campsites ripped apart and burned in the
dark of night give a clear indication that this kind of thing may happen
wherever Earth First! is taking a stand against timber corporation chainsaws.
And the authorities are doing do nothing to protect the activists. In fact, the
same sheriff's department now in charge of investigating David Chain's death
applied pepper spray directly to the eyes of Earth First protesters during a
civil disobedience action last year in a case of police brutality that made
headlines across the nation (see article in last EF!) ~.

David Chain will be deeply missed by the family of forest defenders he leaves
behind and will always be remembered for his commitment to putting the Earth
first. Please join us in mourning the loss of this brave activist from the frontlines
of the ecological resistance~movement and in angrily condemning Pacific
Lumber/Maxxam for the blatant disregard for human life they have shown in
their quest for profits. Palco/Maxxam must be held accountable for Gypsy's
death, for the destruction of the world's last unprotected ancient redwood forests
and for condoning violence towards nonviolent activists. We are encouraging all
who are shocked by this climate of violence the timber industry and the authorities
have created to contact officials to express your outrage. It is reasonable to
conclude this same fate awaits another peaceful environmentalist if something
is not done right now to prevent it. Not one more ecowarrior must die in defense
of Mother Earth.

The message in Gypsy's death is loud and clear: putting the Earth first means
putting your life on the line. We must put pressure on Humboldt District
AttorneyTerry Farmer and Sheriff Dennis Lewis to file charges against
Pacific Lumber and the logger who felled the tree that killed David Chain.
We must put pressure on the California Department of Forestry to revoke
Palco's timber operators license for gross negligence. We must put pressure
on Pacific Lumber/Maxxam to cease logging operations in Timber Harvest
Plan 97-172 near Grizzly Greek Redwoods State Park where David Chain
was killed. And we must demand a thorough investigation be conducted and
the results brought to the public's attention.

Here's what you can do:
Organize protests, rallies, marches, press conferences, letter campaigns and
vigils. Issue press releases and solidarity statements to the media. 'Write letters
or submit editorials to your local newspapers. Speak out on free-radio and
community radio stations. Flood the fax machines, phone lines, e-mail boxes
and web sites of Humboldt District Attorney Terry Farmer, Sheriff Dennis
Lewis, California Department of Forestry, California Attorney General Dan
Lungren, Pacific Lumber andMaxxam with urgent appeals. Contact your
own legislators to express your outrage and, if at all possible...

Come to Humboldt and Join the Resistance!

!!Call These numbers or write to express your outrage !!

*California Deptartment of Forestry, 1416 9th Sacramento, CA 95818; (916)653-5121

'California Department of Forestry, 118 Fortuna Blvd., Fortuna, CA 95540: (707)725-4413
; fax~(707) 725-5810

'California State Attorney General Dan Lungren, 1300 I Street,
Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-9555;

Humboldt County District Attorney-Terry
Farmer, 825 5th St., Eureka, CA 95501; (707) 445-7411.

'Humboldt County Sheriff-Dennis Lewis, 826 Forest St., Eureka, CA 95501:
(707) 445-7251; fax (707) 445-7298.

'Pacific Lumber-John Campbell, 125 Main St,
Scotia, CA 95565; (707) 764-4269; fax (707) 764-4150;

Maxxam-Charles Hurwitz, 5847
San Felipe, Houston, TX 77057; (713) 975-7600; fax (713) 952-4795

An injury to one is an injury to all! We must defend the right of all people to
engage in constitutionally-protected protest, civil disobedience and nonviolent
direct action in order to protect the forests David Chain died to save and in
order to stop the destroyers of the Earth who committed this crime from doing it
again. We did what right and respect for the Earth demanded we do, And they
killed him for it. David Chain gave his life for the wild.

Justice Must Be Done!
Groups that are organizing. the fight for justice for David Chain are: Northcoast
Earth First!, POB 28, Arcata, CA 95518; (707)825-6598; ncef@humboldtl .com;
Mendocino Environmental Center, 106W. Standley St., Ukiah, CA, 95482;
The Bay Area Coalition for Headwaters (BACH) C/O Ecology Center, 2530
San Pablo Ave., Berkeley, CA 94702; (510) 548-3113; Environmentally Sound
Promotions POB 2254, Redway, CA. Copies of the video tape can be obtained
through the Earth First! Journal. Please call. Donations for the Gypsy Legal
Fund and condolence cards for his family can be sent to the Trees Foundation,
POB 2202 Redway, CA 95560 (707) 923-4377

Donations are also being humbly sought by the EF! J to help defray the costs
of this $800 emergency mailing, thank you.

"We are so proud of Dave and the work he was doing with Earth First!
We believe his death will not be in vain. It gives us great peace knowing
that he died fighting for what he believed in."...
Family of David Chain.

"The eco-warrior does not fight people. he fights an institution.
the planetary Empire of Growth and Greed. He fights not human beings,
but a monstrous megamachine never seen since the days of the
Jurassic and the carnivorous dinosaur... he fights a runaway technology,
an all devouring entity that feeds on humans, on all animals, on all living
things. and even finally on minerals, metals, rock, soil, on the eanh itself,
on the bedrock basis of universal being!"
Edward Abbcy, Hayduke Lives!

Here is a tip for Witches and Pagans - Call upon the Goddesses
Athena and Maat, both Goddesses of TRUTH and JUSTICE
to bring Gypsy's killers to justice...

 

For the latest information,
call

Headwaters Hotline
(510) 835-6303

 

Urgent update on Gypsy's case: The oral argument hearing (2:30pm - Feb. 7th, 2000) was cancelled, even though many made the trip to the bay area to show their support.

Fellow activists, Urgent update on Gypsy's case!: The oral argument hearing has been cancelled. This afternoon(2:30pm - Feb. 7th, 2000) the judge's clerk called Pacific Law and told us that the judge will review the issues at hand based on the parties written arguments with the court. The status conference that was scheduled was also cancelled and post-poned to a later date to be announced. We await the judges decision on the motions via mail in the next couple of weeks.

Those who made their way to the Bay area, we apologize for this inconvenience. This cancellation was made from the courts discretion and was very late notice for those of us driving the long way to the city.

Hearing Update on David "Gypsy" Chain's case - Cancelled!

Case NO. C99-4183 SBA

Date: February 8, 2000-cancelled

Time: 11:30am-cancelled

Dept.: Courtroom 3

Judge: Honorable Armstrong

Memorandum of Points and Authorities of Plantiffs' Response To Defendants' Rule 12(b)(6) Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs' Claims for Civil Rights Violations, Negligent Inflictional of Emotional Distress, Ultra-Hazardous Activity, Joint Enterprise Liability and Wrongful Death Punitive Damages Plaintiffs' Response To Defendants Ammons and Reback Motion for More Definitive Statement under Rule 12(e) Plaintiffs' Response to Defendants' Motion to Strike Certain Paragraphs of the Complaint and Prayer Go to the pacific law website to view the Plaintiffs' Reponses and the Defendant's proceedings on-line.