A story about a group of anarchists who almost blew up Greenwich Village.
When one thinks about terrorists, a group
of rowdy American college kids doesn’t exactly come to mind. This
however, was the reality of homegrown terrorism that began to flourish during
the 1960’s and 70’s as opposition to the Vietnam War on college campuses all
over America. At a time when the Civil Rights Movement was at its peak
and the 1968 presidential election began dividing the country, these rebellious
students found an ideology that they wanted to spread throughout the world by
any means necessary. While some students used nonviolent tactics to voice
their opinions, others went as far as declaring war on the United States
through acts of violence and terrorism. One of these groups of outspoken
militant youths became known as the Weathermen, which left behind a trail of
terror that can still be felt today.
What started out as a passive student
movement on the campus of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1969, soon
grew into a clandestine revolutionary party bent on sabotage and destruction.
A small group of graduate students, whose views leaned toward the radical left,
were able to organize and orchestrate several bombings of prominent buildings
in the United States. In the beginning, their tactics were quite clear
and most of their explosives were detonated when nobody was around, only
causing damage to buildings and surrounding structures. As time went on,
however, the group became more audacious and their next target was going to be
a US Army base full of officers in Fort Dix, New Jersey. To prepare for
this massive attack, several members moved into a small house in Greenwich
Village, New York City where inside they would prepare bombs for their next target.
The townhouse located on West 11th Street in
Lower Manhattan has had a lot of interesting characters living in it throughout
the century. Originally built in the
1840's, it was owned by Merrill Lynch & Company founder Charles E. Merrill
and prominent Broadway producer Howard Dietz.
However, it wasn’t until 1963 when advertising executive James Wilkerson
purchased it that things would really shake up the neighborhood. James had a daughter named Cathy who embraced
public opposition against the Vietnam War while attending college and soon
found herself in the company of many of the founding members of The
Weathermen. In the first week of March
1970, her parents were preparing to go on a vacation to the Caribbean. Originally Cathy was supposed to go with her
parents, but she told them that she had the flu and that she would stay behind
to take care of the house. Later that week four members of the Weathermen
quietly moved into the empty house, carrying over 60 sticks of dynamite with
them.
On March 6th 1970, five members of a radical
left group were preparing explosives for one of their most ambitious operations
ever on a quiet street in Greenwich Village.
Upstairs, Cathy Wilkerson was ironing sheets and Kathy Boudin was in the
shower. Downstairs, Diana Oughton, Terry
Robbins and Ted Gold were preparing nail bombs and duct-taping dynamite sticks
together. None of the members had any
experience in creating such intricate explosive devices and somewhere along the
way a wire was crossed where it shouldn’t have been or an electrical receiver
was activated without knowing. Out of
nowhere there was an explosion, one that would forever change the lives of all
the members inside that house.
Within seconds the whole house was obliterated with
flames shooting high up into the air.
Neighbors came rushing out of their homes to see what had happened. One
of them was Dustin Hoffman whose living room wall was blown apart next
door. There was debris scattered
everywhere mixed in with shrapnel and bloody body parts. From the burning
wreckage two half-naked women ran out bloodied and injured. The crime scene was so gruesome that it took
the police nine days to collect all the body parts for identification. In the end, it was confirmed that the three
members who were assembling bombs in the basement were all dead. Surprisingly, both of the women who ran out
were able to seek refuge in a neighbors’ home and then flee before the police
had a chance to question them.
Originally investigators thought this was a natural gas
explosion from the ongoing fire that happened.
However, after looking through the wreckage, they found some interesting
remains. Buried underneath the rubble
were 57 sticks of dynamite, pipe bombs, blasting caps, and even an anti tank
shell. None of these detonated during
the initial explosion, which was quite fortunate since there was enough
explosives within that basement to level two whole blocks. This unanticipated horrific event had an
impact on the group, but it didn’t stop them from carrying on their malicious
agenda against the US government. Within
months they were back plotting new targets, being bolder than ever and
continuing their reign of terror.
When it came to blowing up prominent buildings, the
Weathermen were not shy about claiming responsibility. Whenever a bomb was going to be planted in
front of a police station or even the Pentagon, the authorities would be
notified ahead of time and told what to expect. This type of boldness annoyed
the US government so much that it tried to capture these radicals by any means
possible such as utilizing illegal tactics in their search of the clandestine
group. While in the beginning this
yielded results, in the end, however, the court systems had to let most of
these terrorists go or give out lenient sentences because of the illegal
searches. Taking some of these members
to trial meant that the government had to release secret information about
their tactics that, for the time being, they were not willing to do. This awkward arrangement led to most charges
being dropped against the group and allowing their members’ continued
existence.
It may come to some as a
surprise, but a handful of the Weathermen are still around today living a
carefree life, writing books about their experiences, and speaking at
lectures. While most past members agree
that their intentions were never to hurt people but to draw attention to their
cause, they do not show sympathy for the damage they had done. Their ideologies and their discontent for the
government is as strong as it was 30 years ago.
While it’s safe to say that we can’t expect any more terrorist actions
from these individuals, it is a little harder to stop their influence and
admiration by others. As future
revolutionaries look upon themselves to make an impact on the world stage, they
will surely look back at the chaos that the Weathermen have created and the
legacy they have left behind for generations to come.
