FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OCTOBER 22, 1998
Contacts: Steven Schectman (415) 788-5228 (707) 822-5853

HUMBOLDT SHERIFF READY TO CHARGE ACTIVISTS WITH MANSLAUGHTER

San Francisco, CA: Cindy Allsbrooks says she's determined to discover the truth about her son's death. David Nathan Chain, a young environmental activist was killed by a tree felled by an employee of the Pacific Lumber Company on September 17, near Grizzly Creek State Park.

"The last time I flew out to California it was to honor my son at the many memorials held for him," said Allsbrooks, 44, a corporate saleswoman from Coldspring, TX. "But this time it was to find out why David was killed."

"On Tuesday I went to the place where David died," Allsbrooks said. "I talked to eyewitnesses, and to our attorneys. Earlier, Detective Freeman from the Humboldt County Sheriffs Department told my attorney that the purpose of the investigation is to prepare for civil lawsuits he expects will be brought against Pacific Lumber and the Sheriffs Department. When we met, he said he would recommend in his report to the District Attorney that the non-violent activists be prosecuted for manslaughter."

Allsbrooks said the situation smacks of impropriety. "Apparently, Sheriff Lewis believes he can conduct an impartial investigation. It's not an investigation at all. It's part of an after-the-fact attempt to cover up the truth."

A.E. Ammons, the Pacific Lumber employee who felled the tree that killed Chain, repeatedly threatened to kill the activists. His profanity-laced death threats were captured on video one hour before Chain's death by activists documenting illegal logging.

On the tape Ammons is heard screaming: "Get outta here! Otherwise, I'll (expletive) make sure I got a tree coming this way." And, "I wish I had my (expletive) pistol." Moments before the tree struck Chain, four eyewitnesses heard Ammons acknowledge their presence in the woods, and repeat his threat to fall a tree on top of them. Curiously, Ammons is not a suspect in the homicide, nor have any charges been brought against him by any authority.

Physical evidence at the crime scene suggests Ammons cut the tree that killed Chain out of the rational sequence customarily used by loggers, and contrary to recognized, standard industry safety procedures. Informed sources say that Pacific Lumber took no disciplinary action against Ammons or his supervisor. "Pacific Lumber sent an enraged employee out to cut down trees in an area they knew was occupied by the activists, without supervision, and where violations were in fact, found," Allsbrooks said.

At 6:00 a.m., on the day after Chain died, Pacific Lumber prepared to log in the area of the crime. They were kept from doing so by the non-violent activists' blockade of their logging road.

Allsbrooks believes that Pacific Lumber's press releases were part of a cover-up. "Within hours of David's death they issued obviously false statements that were reprinted in many major newspapers saying Mr. Ammons didn't even know activists were in the woods," she said. "They also said that the tree Mr. Ammons felled was not the one that killed David. We now know that those were just plain lies." After the activists' video was released, Pacific Lumber was forced to retract these statements.

"The Sheriff's investigation is focusing on finding the non-violent activists to be the criminally culpable party. The Sheriff sent a letter to Earth First!, demanding copies of their non-violence and civil disobedience training manuals," she said.

"The Sheriff has failed to investigate the Pacific Lumber Company's safety policy and procedures that should have prevented the death of my son," said Allsbrooks. "Sheriff Lewis relied on Pacific Lumber's word that they have tested Ammons for drugs or alcohol after the incident. Why didn't the Sheriff's Department do its own drug test?" Two Sheriffs Deputies, the Pacific Lumber accident expert, and the head of Pacific Lumber security spent five hours at the crime scene on September 26 with A.E. Ammons, yet Pacific Lumber tried to obstruct Allsbrooks' attorneys from making an investigation of the crime scene. Allsbrooks said, "As a parent, I appeal to Charles Hurwitz and John Campbell to let me discover the truth. I demand that the crime scene not be logged until an investigation by an impartial government agency can be completed."

Do you want to Help yet?

Back to David Chain index

Back to EF! Media Center