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On the second day of the police assult on the Earth First! barricade, 13 members of the public were arrested, three of them civil rights workers charged with "failing to disperse." Pepper spray was again used, this time three applications on one woman within 30 minutes; despite the pain that left her screaming, she refused to comply with police orders and release herself from the "lockdown" device.

Observers were forced across a police line on the other side of the two-lane highway. Lt. Gary Busey, incident commander for the Humboldt County Sheriff's Department warned observers that this was an "unlawful assembly" and particularly told members of the press to disperse, but that anyone crossing the road would be arrested.

Police vehicles were parked apparently to block line of sight between protesters and observers, and a blue tarp was pulled across the automobiles that made it harder to peer between wheels and around the side.

Still, observers could see police leaning over activist Carrie "Liz" McKee as she screamed. Earth First! says pepper spray was first applied with gauze, and later the gauze was wrung out directly into her eyes. Earlier reports from observers that a Dixie Cup filled with pepper spray was directly poured over her face and into her eyes were apparently inaccurate.

When she failed to release from lockdown, authorities applied the burning fluid again. And still a third time pepper spray was applied, as she vomited. McKee refused to unlock, and they were forced to cut her free.

The crowd of observers surged forward in defiance of police who pressed them back to the center line of the highway, which quickly became the skirmish line. At one point, 12 observers were laying in the roadway. For more than six hours, police were directing one-way traffic on the highway around the observers who had now become protesters themselves.

Earth First! has released information on the two women pepper sprayed on Wednesday, Noel Knudson and Christine Meyer, who were chained to logging equipment near the death site of David "Gypsy" Chain. In that case, EF! says their heads were tipped back and the pepper spray poured directly into their eyes, causing them to choke.

"They're [the police] targeting the women," an observer at the Thursday action said.

Updates will follow as information become available.