[News] Activists Assaulted, Arrested After Serving Subpoena

[News at freedomarchives.org]

August 27, 2004

http://www.contrast.org/treesit/


Mattole Activists Assaulted, Arrested After Serving Subpoena for Pepper 
Spray Trial

Humboldt County, CA - Five Mattole Forest Defense activists were arrested 
early Wednesday morning after serving a subpoena to Pacific Lumber's head 
of Security. Carl Anderson, an ex-sheriff's deputy, who has lead the timber 
corporation's face to face opposition to activists in the woods for over a 
decade, was served a subpoena to appear at the infamous pepper spray trial 
in San Francisco, which starts September 7. The case dates back to 1997, 
when non-violent forest activists were subjected to torture, in the form of 
pepper spray swabbed in their eyes. The pepper spray victims, who are the 
plaintiffs in the case, subpoenaed Anderson to testify at trial.

Both the service of the subpoena, and the subsequent assault, took place on 
state park land near the entrance to PL property. The activists documented 
proper service of the subpoena with a video camera, as they have learned 
the hard way that PL representatives have ignored legal subpoenas in the 
past. Activists have been threatened and unlawfully detained during 
previous attempts to serve legal documents in another pending case 
involving PL.

Shortly after the subpoena was served, activists were met by a truck from 
Columbia Helicopters, who are contracted by PL to stack logs from 
clear-cuts. Activists reported the truck driver was aggressive with his 
driving, and pushing into activists' bodies to get through them. When 
another truck appeared on the scene, this one a personal red pick-up truck, 
the driver jumped out and assaulted the woman with the camera, which was 
held around her neck by a strap. After he wrestled with the woman, 
reportedly throwing her to the ground, he began choking her with the strap 
as he attempted the take the camera from her. She tried to protect the 
camera by wrapping her body around it, but he was determined to take it 
from her. He pulled out a knife and eventually cut the strap, but not 
without cutting the woman in the process.

The sheriffs arrived sometime thereafter, but refused to take reports from 
activists. They did, however, take notes on the report offered by Carl 
Anderson. The activists attempted to notify the deputies that they had been 
assaulted, to which Anderson reportedly joked to the Officer Carla Bolton, 
"What are you going to do, arrest me?" Given the number of times activists 
have witnessed Anderson giving orders to the sheriffs', opening the doors 
to their trucks and helping himself to their vehicle phones and equipment, 
the answer wasn't hard to guess. Five activists were arrested, and the 
videotape and mangled camera confiscated along with the proof of service of 
the subpoena.

The five activists were released from jail Friday afternoon. Trial has been 
set for September 20, 2004 at 8:30 at the Humboldt County Courthouse in Eureka.

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