Darryl Cherney Music

Cherney: Yes, the money is technically for the new Office of Homeland Security, which coordinates intelligence agencies, but a colossal portion of it was allocated to the FBI and its overall operations.

King: What does all this new money and power handed to the FBI mean to activists, or even the average American progressive? Do they need to watch their backs, or is that paranoid?

As long as there's life, there's a chance for us to pull out of this downward spiral. It's necessary to educate ourselves ... and snap out of the hypnotized state that we are in.

Cherney: You know, four-fifths of the FBI's power lies in bullying and intimidation. If the FBI walks into an art gallery and says, "You have un-American art hanging on your wall," the owner's going to think, Oh my God, the FBI's after me. I ought to take this off my wall. The average person is not aware of the FBI's history of intimidation tactics. The first piece of advice I would give to anybody who's been visited by the FBI is to take them seriously, but not too seriously, because they'll get most of what they want—which is to silence dissident voices in America—through sheer intimidation. People scare easily because we have a lot to lose in this country. We have houses, we have cars, we have jobs—and they will call your employer. But I think the ability to laugh in authority's face is an important tool, and the American public needs to learn how to use it.

Now, in the rare case where the FBI rifles through your home—which they can do now without the usual kind of warrant, and without even telling you they did it; in other words, black-bag jobs have been rendered legal by the anti-terrorism bill—in these cases you need to get a lawyer and sue them immediately, because once you sue them, you have the power of discovery and the power of subpoena.

King: Filing a lawsuit against the FBI is easier said than done. Yours went on for eleven twelve years.

Cherney: Yes, but the process is in some ways more important than the end result, because for as long as Earth First! has been suing the FBI, the FBI's attacks on Earth First! have been greatly diminished. When you shine the light of day on the FBI, they tend to retreat back into the shadows. They don't like the public to know what they're doing.

King: Nonetheless, it's a little difficult for the average American, especially someone trying to make a living and support a family, to keep up the fight against such a formidable adversary.

Cherney: That's correct, but democracy is more than just a matter of voting on election day. Democracy is a day-to-day, moment-to-moment ritual. To have self-government, you have to be involved all the time, or else you're not actively governing. This is a quandary that the American public faces. Our government is so monolithic and so corrupt that most people don't want to get involved. And the government uses that reluctance against us, to suppress and deprive us of our liberties, perhaps until it becomes too late to regain them. Part of what we're doing at Earth First! is working through the media—as frustrating as that can be at times—to inform people of what rights they have, what rights they're losing, and how to stand up to the intimidation tactics used by the government and corporations. Suing the FBI in federal court is a Herculean task, but also a grand way to take on a large chunk of the industrial beast.

King: The media so often slam you, or at least misunderstand you, and yet you still have to deal with them if you want to get your message out. Is there any other way?

Cherney: Well, I still subscribe to the notion that we can make a difference through the press. But most people don't have the stomach to have their words twisted, to have peace turned into hate. You have to have the type of personality that is able to take that kind of abuse. We can actually trick the media into getting our message out; we just have to use our wits.

King: Were there times when you had doubts about the case, maybe wanted to settle or just give up?

Cherney: Sure, there were times when I said, "Gee, I wish this thing was over with." We went through two years of settlement conferences. We weren't looking to settle—we were adamant about that—but the courts like you to settle, so they order you into settlement conferences. It was actually a good exercise for us. We got to sit down and map out our demands. The one thing you can get from a settlement that you can't get from a jury is fulfillment of demands other than money. We demanded an investigation of the bombing; an investigation of the investigators; an apology; and the disbanding of the Oakland Police Department's Intelligence Unit, which spies on activist groups in the city of Oakland. When we made our demands, the FBI/Department of Justice lawyer, Joe Sher, looked at us and said, "You're asking for unconditional surrender." And we said, "Uh huh. That's right." And as my lawyer said, the toughest thing for them to give you is not the money.

Cherney: That's right. It's the last thing you're going to get. They'd rather give you $100 million than say they're sorry.

Cherney: I still have a very positive attitude about the activism I'm involved in. I'm an optimist. I've had so many positive experiences in this work that I feel I'm on the right path. Every day I wake up not with an agenda, but with an open mind as to what the right thing is to do next. I'm on a spiritual mission, because the best way to approach any problem is not to get mired in the physical and the material, but rather to approach it from a spiritual place. I'm on a mission from the Goddess to help humanity reconnect with the Earth. I can't say that I am right or that I am wrong. History will be the judge of that. But I will do the best I can.