The Sue Saga Continues- Oct. 93

(by Karen Reedstrom, compiled from press releases)

Scientists at the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research have learned that a contingent of federal agents arrived in Japan on September 22, 1993, to continue an investigation which began with the May 14, 1992 seizure of "Sue", the world's largest, most complete, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex.

The team of six agents was lead by South Dakota Assistant U.S. Attorney Ted McBride, and included customs agents and Laurie Bryant, a Bureau of Land Management paleontologist who was present at earlier government seizures of Institute property.

"If it weren't so ghastly, I would jokingly call this escapade 'Ted's Excellent Adventure'", Institute President Peter Larson said. "However, this trip, which is unnecessary in terms of the case, is full of free days and courtesy calls. They could have accomplished what they intended to do in a couple of days, not two and one-half weeks."

The agenda, which included sixteen days in Japan (excluding travel days), only slated seven of those days for actual work. Two additional days were set aside for introductory meetings and courtesy calls, one of which included both a "lunch party" and a "dinner party."

"In Japan, most people work at least six days a week," Larson explained. "If the American contingent really wanted to work while they were there, they would have had no trouble getting their meetings accomplished in one straight week," Larson said. "Japanese translators giggled when they read this schedule. They said, 'this is not a work trip, it's a play trip.'"

In the most expensive city on the planet, a "play trip" at taxpayer expense is no throw-away issue. Tokyo is a city in which a cab ride from the airport to downtown exceeds 200 American dollars, and an IRS-approved per diem is $292. A first-class round-trip ticket from South Dakota costs nearly $6300. "We're paying for every meal, every cab ride, every cup of sake, and every package of cigarettes during what amounts to a vacation abroad—for at least five people," Larson said.

"It is a blatant attempt to destroy a business we have spent a lifetime creating," stated Larson. "The only reason for Ted McBride to be in Tokyo at taxpayer expense is to approach Institute customers in an effort to sour relationships which took years to establish and will be all but impossible to replace....It is hard to imagine why an entire team of federal agents needs to be sent to the world's most expensive city to investigate crimes which, if they existed at all, could be proved without leaving the continental United States. My business partners and I are innocent, but we might be destroyed as effectively as if we were actually guilty of a crime."

The federal agents were accompanied by Japanese policemen. In a nation where obedience to authority is expected, the presence of the police is certain to have had a chilling effect upon the Japanese businessmen and scientists involved.

"Culturally, it is a slap in the face of every Japanese for the Department of Justice to take such an unnecessary and heavy-handed approach to this investigation," said Larson. "We, and the Japanese, have already provided the U.S. government with information of all the specimens they are supposedly investigating in Japan. This trip was absolutely unnecessary." He added that the Institute has done business with countries all over the world, and fears the focus on these particular specimens may be a result of "Japan-bashing."

"Fossils tell the history of life on this planet, not of just one country," Peter Larson said. "We are proud to have provided museums in Japan and other countries with fossils, so that children everywhere can learn from them."

The McBride led government team will conduct investigations through the huge Tokyo metropolitan area, including Shinagawa-ku, Shinju-ku, and Olta-ku, along with the cities of Okayama and Takasaki-shi, Gunma.

Larson concluded: "This may be 'Ted's Excellent Adventure', but instead of sushi, I think he should be eating crow."