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The Anti-Capitalist Terrorists Who Blew Up Wall Street

by Philip Bump | 8:53 am, October 11th, 2011

» 30 comments

“It was a crash out of the blue sky – an unexpected, death-dealing bolt which in a twinkling turned into a shambles the busiest corner of America’s financial centre.”

At 12:01pm, the wagon exploded.

Five hundred pounds of cast-iron sash weights were packed around a hundred pounds of TNT. When the bomb went off, triggered by a timer, the small, heavy weights became bullets that flew in every direction.

In all, thirty-eight people were killed, over a hundred forty injured. The blast left a two foot crater, flipped automobiles, killed horses; it caused $2.5 million in damage. The shrapnel created pock-marks in building facades; the offices of J. P. Morgan and Co. were all but obliterated. One of Morgan’s sons was injured.

This was September 16, 1920, and was the most devastating of a campaign of terrorist attacks by Italian anarchists committed to the overthrow of American capitalism. The wagon exploded on Wall Street.

The aftermath of the 1920 explosion

Visitors to the area will recognize the scene above. The church in the background at left-center is Trinity. To the right is old Federal Hall; the statue of George Washington marks the spot where, in 1789, the first President took the oath of office. The Morgan offices were in the building at left. You can still today see where the leaden slugs struck.

Terroristic attacks weren’t common – so much so that it wasn’t until two days later that the police felt comfortable declaring the explosion to be the result of a bomb attack. The device was ultimately identified when two pieces of casing were found. One was found by a chemist employed by the Rockefeller Institute who found a fragment in the explosion’s crater, a few inches deeper than the police initially searched. The other was inside the body of a messenger boy. The bomb was built like an aerial torpedo, exploding about four feet off the ground. Chest height.

Immediately before the explosion, a mail carrier found an unusual group of flyers crammed into a mailbox near Wall Street. Printed in red ink on rough sheets of paper, they 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.

Police later determined that the bomber (or bombers) had set a short timer and then left the area, dropping the leaflets in the mailbox while making an escape. Two minutes after the letter carrier removed the notes, he heard the explosion.

The flyers were a strong indicator that the culprits were members of the loose-knit group of anarchists led by Luigi Galleani. Until his deportation in 1919, Galleani lived in Paterson, New Jersey, and Massachusetts, publishing a newspaper (Cronaca Sovversiva, or Subversive Chronicles) and giving frequent speeches intended to spur the working class to revolution. His influence was primarily limited to the Italian immigrant community, but there – it was powerful. In 1914, he published Faccia a Faccia col Nemico (“Face to Face With the Enemy”) which praised assassins as heroes.

The attacks of his followers – Galleanists – began in 1914 and lasted through the rest of the decade. They set bombs Westchester County, outside of New York City. They attacked police stations, churches. A bomb was left under the chair of a Magistrate who’d sentenced an anarchist to jail. They plotted to blow up St. Patrick’s Cathedral. One follower attempted to poison a gathering of scores of business and finance leaders at a banquet, making many sick. A cop was stabbed in Boston. A bomb exploded in San Francisco, killing ten; another in a Milwaukee police station after being removed from a church killed nine policemen. In 1919, anarchists mailed 30 packages of dynamite to leaders throughout the Northeast – but failed to include proper postage on most.

In 1919, eight bombs were exploded simultaneously in several cities – dynamite, wrapped with shrapnel. Three people, including an anarchist, were killed. The bombs were accompanied by a flyer:

War, Class war, and you were the first to wage it under the cover of the powerful institutions you call order, in the darkness of your laws. There will have to be bloodshed; we will not dodge; there will have to be murder: we will kill, because it is necessary; there will have to be destruction; we will destroy to rid the world of your tyrannical institutions.

The goal was always the same: destabilize the power structures – political and financial – of a still-young United States. Dismantle the class system. In the words of Galleani:

When we talk about property, State, masters, Government, laws, and police, we say only that we don’t want any of them.

Simple enough. The attack on Wall Street targeted Morgan in particular and the symbolism of the district in general. It was a message from anarchy to structure.

Even today, walls bear scars from the attack

It backfired. The next day, New Yorkers convened on the spot. Brigadier General William Nicholson addressed the crowd. It was Constitution Day.

“Yesterday one of the greatest outrages ever committed against society was perpetrated on the very spot on which we stand. Are we, as American citizens, going to close our eyes to things like that? I say no, a thousand times no!”
“No!” came the mighty response and cheering started…
The speaker ended. A man sprang up in his place. Waving his hands he began “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and again the vast harmonization of thousands rang out.
“O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!”

No person was ever convicted of the bombing. Historians now believe the culprit was a Galleanist named Mario Buda, who was also implicated in the San Francisco and Milwaukee bombings several years before. Buda left the country immediately after the Wall Street attack and died of old age in Italy in 1963. The attacks continued until the early 1930s, the last an attack on the judge who sentence Galleanists Sacco and Vanzetti to death.

The quote at the beginning of this article is a first-person account from an Associated Press reporter who happened to be at the scene. He continues:

“The crowd was strangely quiet, and over it seemed to hang a feeling of awe and horror. At the commands of the police it moved and fell back silently. On the steps of the old Sub-Treasury Building…stands a statue of George Washington. Looking down from its pedestal between the massive granite columns, scarred by missiles from the explosion, the outstretched hand of the Father of the Country seemed to carry a silent command to be calm.

“Then came the ambulances.”

Occupy Wall Street

Anonymous

People who use bombs , like King Obama’s cronies Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn (who was on the FBI top ten most wanted list for a long time ) , don’t care who is maimed or killed as long as they make their point . Ayers made nail bombs to effect the most damage . Just a couple of Obama’s chums .
Anonymous

The majority of those who did terrorists attacks are like the Occupy Wall Street bunch; Anarchists, Socialists and Marxists.
Ralph

“Mediaite is the site for news, information and smart opinions about print, online and broadcast media”

How is this history relevant to Mediaite users? Is it necessary to make peaceful protesters seem violent and dangerous for some reason? If that’s the agenda, then just say so.
Anonymous

Who are the people down at the Occupy Wall Street? They are self identified Anarchists, Communists and Socialists.

At my local OWS ‘camp out’ I saw marxist flyers, socialists flyers and people wearing anarchists t-shirts.

Marxist doesn’t work.

Communism doesn’t work.

Pure Socialism doesn’t work.

Anarchism doesn’t work.
Anonymous

Peaceful protesters don’t fight with cops or try to storm the Smithsonian.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mary-Judah/100002261193541 Mary Judah

Finally! Let us see what these idiots are really being used to do. Nothing is new under the sun.
Ralph

And as a result of their misconduct, the deaths of 38 people 90 years ago will be placed on their heads. Why not just arrest all Italians instead?
Anonymous

Well look here;

A UK newspaper went undercover and discovered that many of the 99% ers at the OWS are the children of the 1% rich of NYC;

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2047664/Occupy-Wall-Street-Children-1-good-time-protests.html
http://twitter.com/AbsurdHero Nick Wright

If by “fight with cops” you mean “get beaten by them”, and if by “try to storm the Smithsonian” you mean “try to hold a peaceful protest there.” Oh, and by the way, the one leading the charge was a conservative blogger trying to infiltrate the movement and make them look like you want them to look.

http://www.businessinsider.com/right-wing-blogger-infiltrates-occupy-dc-and-gets-pepper-sprayed-leading-the-protest-2011-10
TruDat

I recall when the lefty-loons blew up Sterling Hall in Madison, WI., effectively ending the momentum of the anti-war movement; they killed an innocent researcher.

The left are a vile, violent bunch; don’t underestimate the depth of their hatred.
Anonymous

I disagree, it is an excellent and timely article. The political process is how laws should be changed in this country, not by special interest groups bullying people and politicians. What happened in Wisconsin some months ago was disgusting, what is happening now is both disgusting and smells.

“the one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again” - George Santayana
Anonymous

I disagree, it is an excellent and timely article. The political process is how laws should be changed in this country, not by special interest groups bullying people and politicians. What happened in Wisconsin some months ago was disgusting, what is happening now is both disgusting and smells.

“the one who does not remember history is bound to live through it again” - George Santayana
Anonymous

The “Occupiers” blocked the Washington bridge and were told to move…and they refused. Blocking thousands of people who tried to home or do their own business.

I saw the video of the police moving people who took over the streets BLOCKING traffic without a permit. The people I saw trying to push their way into the Smithsonian were not that one guy…they were several others…and they were violently trying to push their way in the Smithsonian.

So one guy could control all those others? lol…is that how stupid the Occupiers are?

Plus pure Socialism, Communism and Marxism don’t work…and especially Anarchism.

So…what are you going to replace Capitalism with?
Anonymous

Did you believe the Tea Party when they accused the left of infiltrating their protests… no you didn’t. So sod off.
Ralph

LOL, you forgot one. And now…
Capitalism doesn’t work.

Yes, I saw some communist-socialist books available at the DC protest also. I also saw Code Pink, an anti-war group, and even The Washington Post had a tent there. Or maybe that was the Taste of the Town, a restaurant thing. At times it smelled as though they were burning someone at the stake.
Anonymous

You morons murdered tens of thousands of people just to steal their oil. Do you really think people will believe you have a problem with violence? You’re just a bunch of murderous compulsive liars, and everybody knows it.
Darladoon

italian anarchists rule!!!!!!
Anonymous

The people who
did this, did not want Wall Street Occupied, I will always believe they are the
children of the people who paid to stop JFK, who everyone knew worked for the
common people of America. I have felt this way since the early 1960′s. Money
has no conscience.
Jonathan Cantor

Hey not to step on the toes of the writer. But the Smithsonian’s awesome blog Past Imperfect covered this already. Highly recommended story by some great historians!

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/history/2011/10/anger-and-anarchy-on-wall-street/
Anonymous

Intereting history lesson, but really irresponsible journalism. The Occupy Wall Street protests are non-violent and have nothing to do with anarchists, and participants are not terrorists. Yet clearly this article attempts to draw a link if not paint them with the same brush, using inflammatory rhetoric and sensationalistic headlines. This is the kind of thing I expect from Fox, not from Mediaite.
http://twitter.com/pbump Philip Bump

Hadn’t seen this! Thanks for sharing the link.
Anonymous

Mort à la bourgeoisie
Vive le son de l’explosion!

http://youtu.be/CU84hLf7snw
Jonathan Cantor

This was good.
LarryB

This just in…William Prescott’s colonial troops have occupied Breed’s Hill and Bunker Hill. The British troops are preparing an assault on both hills. Hopefully you guys will keep us updated on this, too.
expatpatriot

Those who ignore history are condemned to watch repeats of Gomer Pyle, USMC on free-to-air television.

Just sayin’.
expatpatriot

That’s a bit over the top. Irresponsible to draw historical parallels? I don’t think so.

Please note that this article points out pretty graphically (without referencing OWS) how the two “movements” are different.
expatpatriot

StupiDat and WrongDat again. At least you’re consistent.

The Weatherman bombing did nothing to the momentum of the antiwar movement, of which the Weathermen were merely a criminal sideshow.
expatpatriot

“Infiltrators” at Tea Party events didn’t actually post their adventures in left-wing blogs as did the goniff who caused trouble at the Smithsonian — who then trotted back to the The American Spectator to tell all his little friends how bold he’d been. Pathetic, I know, but that’s the way the right rolls these days.

Once again, you have demonstrated your inability to make any useful distinction between things that are related but not identical. By any chance can I give you a 1 dollar bill for your hundred?
Anonymous

I say irresponsible because the piece is not introduced as an historical article; the headline and first four paragraphs could be read as current news, though with an admittedly anachronistic use of a wagon (presumably horse, not station) as the delivery mechanism for the bomb. It’s not until the fifth paragraph that it’s revealed that this didn’t happen yesterday, it happened more than 90 years ago and was perpetrated by a group that has no connection with anything going on on Wall St. today. I also think it’s irresponsible to generalize the OWS protests as anti-capitalist; the vast majority who are there and who support the protests are not calling for an end to capitalism but for fixing a system that is broken – one that treats corporations and the rich more favorably than the middle class and poor. There is nothing communistic about equality. In fact I’d say that’s much more of a rational capitalist approach than those who would call for special treatment of corporate “citizens.”
expatpatriot

My guess as to the editorial intent of this article? To do something a little more interesting than the norm on Mediaite: a solid historical piece that implied that there’s a long history of tension between plutocrats and the bourgeoisie and sometimes that history is played out in the streets of NYC.

If I’m right about editorial intentions, then I’m also not offended by, appalled at, or suspicious of the piece. My outrage-O-meter may be dialled a little lower than yours.