The Palmer Raids & Terrorist Violence

The Palmer Raids & Terrorist Violence

Even before the horror of September 11, 2001, America had a past of terrorist activity and violence. Our long history of labor and political turmoil has involved bombing and killings. For example, a bomb killed seven policeman and injured 67 others in Chicago on May 4, 1886 at Haymarket Square where there was a union rally. In 1877 seven union activists, known Darrowjury_2 as the "Molly Maguires " were hanged in Pennsylvania. A prominent union leader of the day, Eugene Debbs, of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen was charged conspiracy against the government in 1894 in connection with union strikes and activities. Defended by Darrow he was acquitted In 1906 the Governor of Idaho Frank Steuneberg was killed by a planted bomb at his home. Big Bill Haywood, leader of the International Workers of the World (IWW or "Wobblies") was tried for the murder. Defended by Clarence Darrow, Haywood was acquitted. On October 1st 1910, a bomb exploded at the Los Angeles Times newspaper building causing the second floor to collapse on workers below resulting in the death of twenty one people. Union activists, brothers, James and Joseph McNamara were charged with the bombing. Defended by Darrow they ultimately pled guilty. This kind political and worker unrest coupled with violence continued up to the start of World War I.

During World War I America developed a fear of radical left wing political groups. The Russian Revolution occurred in 1917 which caused Americans to be concerned about similar activities in the United States. That same year Congress passed the Espionage Act which broadly punished "disloyalty" towards the U.S. Government and in 1918 Congress passed the Sedition Act. In the United States there was widespread concern about revolution and communist activity.

During this period the State of Washington had its share of union and political violence. On Sunday November 5, 1916 about 300 members of the IWW boarded the steamers Verona and Calista in Seattle and headed North to Everett for a rally. In what became known as "bloody Sunday" they were met at the dock by 200 people under the authority of the County Sheriff Donald McRae who told them they would not be allowed to land. A shot was fired and that was followed by more shooting. When it was over two of the "deputies" on the dock were dead and 20 wounded including the Sheriff. As many as twelve IWW members were killed and another 27 wounded.

In April of 1919 during a period of tension from union strikes, Seattle Mayor Ole Hanson’s home was targeted for bombing. A bomb was intercepted and dismantled before it could do any harm.

In Centralia, there were fights and violence as the IWW tried to organize workers in the timber industry. On Armistice Day, November 11, 1919 during a parade, a riot broke out that resulted in gun fire killing four veterans who had recently returned from WW I. Vigilantes rounded up IWW members and jailed them. Later that day one of them was lynched by the crowd. The rest were tried in a "kangaroo court setting" and sent to prison.

The day after the bomb was discovered at Mayor Ole Hanson’s home, a bomb was sent to the home of Georgia Senator Thomas Hardwick. It was the size of a pencil box and had a return address of a well known department store. His wife was opening the mail and handed it to the maid to open. When the string was undone it exploded blowing both hands off the maid and severely burning the wife.

On May day that year thirty four bombs wrapped in brown paper with a string around them containing dynamite soaked with nitroglycerin and filled with metal shrapnel were intercepted at post offices. They were addressed to such people as Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, John D. Rockefeller, U.S. Senators and the Postmaster General of the United States. They were all designed to explode when the string was released.

President Woodrow Wilson had offered A. Mitchell Palmer the post of Secretary of War, but Palmer was a devoted Quaker and because he was a pacifist declined the post. In March of 1919 Wilson named him Attorney General of the United States. In June of 1919 Palmer had just left the library of his Washington D.C. home to go upstairs when there was a massive explosion which seriously damaged the house. No one was injured. The bomber was found dead in the front yard due to a premature explosion. He turned out to be an Italian alien living in Philadelphia. On the same day bombs were simultaneously set to blow up in eight American Cities. In Philadelphia a Catholic Church was bombed. In New Jersey homes of prominent citizens were bombed. A bomb was intercepted at the Mayor’s office in Cleveland and a the homes of judges bombed as well.

In spite of his pacifist beliefs Palmer began a massive effort to round up, jail and deport anyone suspected of being a radical after the bombing at his home. There was no FBI, but there was a small Bureau of Investigation and Palmer recruited 24 year old J. Edgar Hoover as his special assistant to head the bureau. Using questionable means Hoover’s department had collected, by October of 1919, some 150,000 names of suspected people mostly immigrants, communists and union members. Palmer then instituted what became known as the "Palmer Raids." Over the next seven months some 10,000 people were rounded up. In December of 1919 some 249 people where placed on a ship and sent to the Soviet Union without any trial or due process. In January of 1920 some 6,000 people were arrested, mostly from the IWW union. More then 4000 people were arrested in one night. The raids and arrests were almost all done while ignoring legal due process. In spite of the illegality the general hysteria of the country resulted in widespread support for Palmer’s actions. Palmer became popular enough to attempt a run for the presidency.

During this era there were other examples of the constitutional laws being Sacco_vanzetti_1 ignored out of fear and bias. On April 15, 1920 two men were killed during a robbery at South Braintree, Massachusetts. Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco, two Italian anarchists were arrested, tried and executed for the robbery in spite of the overwhelming evidence they had not committed the crime. The controversy about the trial and the innocence of the two men created international attention. But there continued a nation wide public fear about radicals in the United States.

However, in spite of J. Edgar Hoover and Palmer’s actions, or perhaps because of it, the bombings continued. On September 16, 1920 a man drove a wooden wagon drawn by a horse to 23 Wall Street and stopped in front of the J.P. Morgan & Company building. It was the world’s most powerful financial institution. He casually walked away. Hundreds of pounds of explosives surrounded by shredded window sash weights suddenly exploded as workers were exiting the building. The huge blast killed 38 people and wounded over 400 more plus causing enormous damage to the surrounding buildings. It was a monumental explosion which increased the existing hysteria about radicals in the country. In fact, bombing and violence continued to occur, but with less frequency through the early 1930’s. The later actions of red baiting Senator Joe McCarthy in the 1950’s were a repeat of the actions of Attorney General Palmer and Hoover.

0 thoughts on “The Palmer Raids & Terrorist Violence

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