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WALL STREET BOMBING
The Wall Street bombing was a terrorist incident that occurred at 12:05 pm on September 16, 1920 in the Financial District of New York City. It was the deadliest bomb attack on American soil for seven years, until the Bath School disaster. 33 were killed and 400 persons were injured by the blast.
Shortly before the bomb went off a warning note had been placed in a mailbox at the corner of Cedar Street and Broadway. The warning read:
- Remember we will not tolerate any longer. Free the political prisoners or it will be sure death for all of you. American Anarchists Fighters.
Attack
At noon, a horse-drawn wagon passed by lunchtime crowds on Wall Street, in New York City. The wagon then stopped in front of the headquarters of the J.P. Morgan Inc. bank at 23 Wall Street, on the Financial District's busiest corner. Inside, 100 pounds (45 kg) of dynamite with 500 pounds (230 kg) of fragmented steel exploded, perhaps by remote control, sending the shrapnel tearing through crowds. An automobile was hurled into the air, and glass was shattered for blocks (the damage can still be seen on the buildings today [1]). Word spread that another bomb would go off, creating further panic.
Reaction
The American public was unaccustomed to such acts; though eight Chicago police officers had been killed during the Haymarket Riot in 1886, President William McKinley had been assassinated in 1901, the Los Angeles Times offices were burnt down in 1910 (killing twenty), and bombs were mailed to government leaders, the Wall Street attack was unusual in that it was aimed at the public, and intended to kill large numbers of people. It was the worst act of politically-motivated terror on American soil until the Oklahoma City bombing. Officials blamed anarchist and communist elements, fueling the ongoing Palmer raids.
Wall Street reopened the next day, with evidence of the bombing covered by cloths. The public was jittery: headlines warned that other buildings might be bombed, and that bridges on the West Coast would also be targeted by terrorists. With the deportation of 10,000 radicals by the Palmer raids, and the development of the Justice Department's General Intelligence Division (forerunner of the FBI), the era of political bombings in America by the radical left soon came to an end.
Perpetrators
The Washington Post called the bombing an "act of war," though it was not known who was responsible. No charges were ever filed in the bombing. Anarchists were suspected, especially followers of Luigi Galleani. Discrimination against immigrants and resident aliens, especially from Eastern Europeand Sicilian immigrants increased notably after the attack, cementing public support for the Palmer raids. Investigators searched hundreds of stables to find who sent the horse, but nothing was uncovered. Despite vows that the police would catch the perpetrators, the FBI rendered the file inactive in 1940 and the crime remains unsolved to this day.
One Galleanist in particular, Mario Buda (aka Mike Boda), (died 1963), an associate of Sacco and Vanzetti, (whose car led to the arrest of his fellow anarchists for a separate robbery and murder), is alleged by some historians, including Paul Avrich, to have planted the bomb as revenge for the arrest and indictment of his fellow Galleanists Sacco and Vanzetti.
References
- Manning, Lona, "9/16/20: Terrorists Bomb Wall Street", Crime Magazine, 2006-01-15.
External links
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