Wall Street bombing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wall Street bombing | |
|---|---|
 The aftermath of the explosion |
|
| Location | New York City, New York |
| Date | September 16, 1920 12:01 pm (UTC-4) |
| Attack type | horse-drawn wagon bombing |
| Deaths | 38 |
| Injured | 400 |
| Perpetrator(s) | unknown; the Galleanists (Italian anarchists) are suspected |
The Wall Street bombing was a terrorist incident that occurred at 12:01 p.m. 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. Thirty-eight were killed and 400 persons were injured by the blast.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Attack
At noon, a horse-drawn wagon passed by lunchtime crowds on Wall Street in New York City. The wagon then stopped across the street from 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 heavy cast-iron slugs exploded in a timer-set detonation, sending the slugs tearing through the air. The horse and wagon were vaporized. Dozens of bodies littered the street, and the bomb caused over $2 million in property damage, wrecking most of the interior spaces of the Morgan building. An automobile was hurled into the air, and glass was shattered for blocks (the damage can still be seen on the buildings today [1]). Later a janitor may have swept glass out of a broken window, further adding to the injuries. Word soon spread that another bomb was nearby, creating further panic.
Shortly before the bomb exploded, 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 Anarchist Fighters.
The bomb failed to kill any high government officials, instead claiming mostly messengers, stenographers, clerks and brokers as its victims.[2]
[edit] 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 detonated in a public place, evidently targeting financial workers and institutions. Officials blamed anarchist and communist elements, fuelling the ongoing Palmer raids. The Washington Post went so far as to call the bombing an "act of war."[3]
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. In defiance, the J.P. Morgan company decided not to fix the visible damage of 23 Wall Street, and it is still visible today.
Well after the deportation of 10,000 radicals by the Palmer raids, and the development of the U.S. Justice Department's General Intelligence Division (forerunner of the FBI), this era of political bombings in America finally ended in 1932.[citation needed]
[edit] Perpetrators
Anarchists were suspected, especially the Galleanists, Italian anarchist followers of Luigi Galleani. The Galleanists had a motive for planning the bombing, because they were incensed over the indictment for murder of two of their colleagues, Sacco and Vanzetti. Discrimination against immigrants and resident aliens, especially those from Eastern Europe and Sicily, increased notably after the attack, and public support for the Palmer raids increased. Investigators searched hundreds of stables to determine who had purchased the horse and wagon, but nothing was uncovered. The note was analyzed and its language structure found similar to other 'bomb' leaflets left at the scene by the Galleanists, but this by itself was insufficient. Despite vows that the police would catch the perpetrators, no charges were ever filed. The FBI rendered the file inactive in 1940, and the crime remains unsolved.[citation needed]
One Galleanist in particular, Mario Buda (1884 - 1971?), an associate of Sacco and Vanzetti whose car led to the arrest of the latter 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. Buda (at that time known as Mike Boda) had just managed to elude authorities at the time of Sacco and Vanzetti's arrest, was experienced in the use of dynamite, and is believed to have constructed several of the largest dynamite package bombs for the Galleanists. He was also in New York at the time of the bombing. However, he was never arrested or questioned by police. After leaving New York, Buda resumed the use of his real name in order to secure a passport from the Italian vice-consul, then promptly sailed for Naples. By November he was back in his native Italy, never to return to the United States.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Manning, Lona. "9/16/20: Terrorists Bomb Wall Street", Crime Magazine, 2006-01-15.
- Avrich, Paul, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background, Princeton University Press, 1991
- Davis, Mike. Buda's Wagon: A Brief History of the Car Bomb, Verso Books, 2007.
- ^ Baily, Thomas A.; & Kennedy, David M. (1994). The American Pageant (10th ed.). D.C. Heath and Company. ISBN 0-669-33892-3.
- ^ TheStreet.com : Previous Terror on Wall Street - A Look at a 1920 Bombing | The Ballot Dance - TSC
- ^ History News Service
