The McNamara Brothers

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James and John McNamara were Irish-American Los Angeles trade unionists. They are best known for their attack on the offices of the Los Angeles Times on October 1, 1910, when a bomb started a fire which killed 21 newspaper employees and injured a hundred more, according to the New York Daily News' A Justice Story, which was printed on October 5, 2005, shortly after the 95th anniversary of the incident.

When the case came to trial in 1911, the unions hired well-known union lawyer Clarence Darrow to defend the brothers. Darrow initially planned to fight the case, but soon realized that both were guilty.

Although as a lawyer he had a duty of loyalty and due care to defend his clients to the best of his abilities, not inconsiderable in his case, he also could not lie for them or knowingly permit them to lie under oath in court.

Once he realized the overwhelming weight of evidence (including bomb-making materials found in the office of John McNamara) that would be offered by the prosecution, Darrow convinced the judge to allow the brothers to withdraw their not guilty pleas.

Their guilty pleas were entered before jury selection was completed. John, the older brother, served 15 years. James, who had actually planted the bomb, was sentenced to life, and died on March 8, 1941, thirty years after his arrest. ^[1]. Jim was described as chewing gum indifferently as his sentence was being read.

Aside from Samuel Gompers' tearful disbelief, some of the brothers' supporters in the trade unions claimed to be stunned by their confessions (although possibly not by their actions), and were vastly disappointed that Darrow had not performed with his usual verve, although he did, in fact, save the men from execution, which was his mission.

This, combined with Darrow's subsequent arraignment on two charges of attempted bribery of jurors - although acquitted on both counts, he was ordered to leave California and never again practice law there - led to his refusal to ever represent labor unions again.

James McNamara's post-trial conclusion was: "You see? . . . The whole damn world believes in dynamite."^[2]

The outcome of the McNamara case similarly devastated the electoral chances of Socialist candidate Job Harriman, at that time considered likely to be the next Governor of California.

[edit] Notes

^ "James Barnabas McNamara", Current Biography 1941, pp.549-50
^ Montgomery, David (April 1967). "Age of Industrial Violence, 1910-15 (Review)". Technology and Culture 8 (2): 234–237.