Weather Underground, May 19th Terror Groups’ Reign of Terror; Clinton Pardoned One Convicted Terrorist, More at Large
May 19th A onetime Barnard student, a Texas sorority sister, the daughter of a former communist journalist—joined and became leaders of the May 19th Communist Organization known for their bomb making. Named to honor the shared birthday of civil rights icon Malcolm X and Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, M19 took its belief in “revolutionary anti-imperialism” to violent extremes.
Just before 11 p.m. on November 7, 1983, they called the U.S. Capitol switchboard and warned them to evacuate the building. Ten minutes later, a bomb detonated in the building’s north wing, harming no one but blasting a 15-foot gash in a wall and causing $1 million in damage. Over the course of a 20-month span in 1983 and 1984, M19 also bombed an FBI office, the Israel Aircraft Industries building, and the South African consulate in New York, D.C.’s Fort McNair and Navy Yard, Smithsonian profiles the group.
One of the leaders of the group, originally a member of Weather Underground, Susan Rosenberg, was later pardoned by Bill Clinton and is currently openly active in a group called Thousand Currents that helps fund the Black Lives Matter Movement.
On November 29, 1984, Susan Lisa Rosenberg and
Timothy A. Blunk, reputed members of the May 19th Communist Organization (M19CO), a Marxist-Leninist group which openly advocates the overthrow of the U.S. Government through armed struggle and the use of violence, were arrested by local authorities in New Jersey. Rosenberg and Blunk were subsequently indicted on Federal firearms and illegal possession and transportation of explosive charges. They were held in lieu of $1 million and $500,000 bonds, respectively, NCJ Official government website reports
At the time of their arrests, Rosenberg and Blunk were in possession of a hugh cache of explosives and numerous weapons. Rosenberg had been a Federal fugitive since 1982, on charges in connection with the November 1979 prison escape of the alleged leader of the Black Liberation Army, Joanne Chesimard, who is currently an FBI fugitive, as well as the October 20, 1981 Brink’s robbery and slayings in Nanuet, New York. Rosenberg has been charged with participation in the planning of this holdup and subsequent shootout which left a gU8rd and two police officers dead.
The FBI writes about the bombing Weather Underground group: Three Weather Underground members were killed when a bomb they had built exploded in the basement of a townhouse in Greenwich Village on March 6, 1970. In the days following the explosion, police found 57 sticks of dynamite, four completed bombs, detonators, timing devices, and other bomb-making equipment. Bettmann/Corbis photo.
On January 29, 1975, an explosion rocked the headquarters of the U.S. State Department in Washington, D.C. No one was hurt, but the damage was extensive, impacting 20 offices on three separate floors. Hours later, another bomb was found at a military induction center in Oakland, California, and safely detonated.
A domestic terrorist group called the Weather Underground claimed responsibility for both bombs. Originally called the Weatherman or the Weathermen, a name taken from a line in a Bob Dylan song, the Weather Underground was a small, violent offshoot of Students for a Democratic Society, or SDS, a group created in the turbulent ‘60s to promote social change.
When SDS collapsed in 1969, the Weather Underground stepped forward, inspired by communist ideologies and embracing violence and crime as a way to protest the Vietnam War, racism, and other left-wing aims. “Our intention is to disrupt the empire … to incapacitate it, to put pressure on the cracks,” claimed the group’s 1974 manifesto, Prairie Fire.
By the next year, the group had claimed credit for 25 bombings—including the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, the California Attorney General’s office, and a New York City police station.
The FBI doggedly pursued these terrorists as their attacks mounted. Many members were identified, but their small numbers and guerrilla tactics helped them hide under assumed identities. In 1978, the Bureau arrested five members who were plotting to bomb a politician’s office. Others were captured after two policemen and a Brinks’ driver were murdered in a botched armored car robbery in Nanuet, New York, in 1981.
By the mid-’80s, the Weather Underground was essentially history. Still, several of these fugitives were able to successfully hide themselves for decades, emerging only in recent years to answer for their crimes. Once again, it shows that grit and partnerships can and will defeat shadowy, resilient terrorist groups.
On January 20, 2001, former President William J. Clinton, in one of his last acts as President of the United States, pardoned Susan L. Rosenberg. The Senate issued a resolution in disagreement of the pardon:
2001: This resolution condemns former President William J. Clinton’s pardon of Susan L. Rosenberg, a known political terrorist, supporter of the Weather Underground, convicted felon, purveyor of violence, and alleged participant in the 1981 robbery of a Brink’s armored car that left a guard and two police officers dead.
Some of the convicted terrorists remain at large.
Elizabeth Anna Duke is wanted for her alleged involvement in a series of criminal activities during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. She was allegedly a member of the radical group known as the May 19th Communist Organization which advocated communism and the violent overthrow of the United States Government. Duke was arrested in Bucks County,
Pennsylvania, in May of 1985 for her alleged participation in this group, but was released on bail. She later fled the jurisdiction and has been a fugitive since October of 1985. A federal arrest warrant was issued for Duke in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on November 13, 1986, charging her with the aforementioned federal charges.
Donna Joan Borup is wanted for her alleged participation in a violent anti-apartheid demonstration at JFK International Airport in Queens, New York, on September 26, 1981. During the riot, Borup allegedly tossed a caustic substance into the eyes of a Port Authority Police Officer, leaving him partially blind. At the time, Borup was a member of the May 19th Communist Organization, a Marxist-Leninist organization which advocated the armed revolution and violent overthrow of the United States Government. Borup, along with some accomplices, was arrested and released on bail pending trial in May of 1982.
On May 20, 1982, an arrest warrant was issued for Borup after she failed to appear for her trial on a Queens County indictment which charged her with riot in the first degree and assault in the first degree. On September 14, 1982, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Borup in the Eastern District of New York and she was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
Susan Rosenberg continues to claim she is the victim of persecution but he U.S. Government while in the slam.
In We Bombed the U.S. Capitol, author William Rosenau tells a shocking, never-before-told story from American history. Rosenau takes a close look at the hidden history of M19, the first and only domestic terrorist group founded and led by women, and their violent fight against racism, sexism, and what they viewed as Ronald Reagan’s imperialistic vision for America. A book signing follows the program. From the National Archives.