Disasters
New York City (NYC)
Fraunce's Tavern Bombing - 1975
Fraunce's Tavern Bombing - 1975
On a cold January afternoon in 1975, a Wall Street crowd was out having
lunch at the Anglers Club on the second floor of the Fraunces Tavern.
Little did they know that an organization of Puerto Rican Nationals had
planned an attack on the same building. Ten pounds of explosives
enclosed in a briefcase was slipped into the hallway of the building
moments before the bomb detonated. The explosion occurred at 1:29 pm,
and severely damaged the internal structure of the building. While the
heavy bricked walls of the building remained intact, the windows
shattered by the force of the blast. The staircase was completely
destroyed and the entryway demolished. Inside the building, victims
disoriented by the blast rushed towards the exit doors. A total of four
men were killed in the blast, and many more injured or maimed.
The organization responsible for the bombing took full credit for their
actions. The Armed Forces of National Liberation otherwise known as FALN
had organized the attack in response to a prior bombing that occurred in
Puerto Rico. The organization accused the CIA of being responsible for
the attack that killed three people and injured several civilians.
During police investigation of the bombing, a note was found inside a
nearby phone booth stating: "You have unleashed a storm from which you
comfortable Yankis (sic) cannot escape." FALN members represented a
small minority of Puerto Rican nationalists who expressed great
dissatisfaction of Puerto Rico's common wealth status, enforced by the
United States of America. FALN carried out numerous such attacks,
including one bombing at LaGuardia airport several years prior.
Following the Fraunces Tavern bombing, the FBI and CIA had difficulty
locating information regarding the terrorists responsible. It wasn't
until 1978, when an accidental explosion in the home of William Morales
provided them with an important lead in the FALN terrorist organization.
William Morales turned out to be a member of FALN, and was their main
explosives expert. The explosion left him severely disfigured. In his
apartment, a seemingly endless supply of explosives were discovered by
police and ultimately earned Mr. Morales a 89 year jail sentence. No one
was ever officially arrested for the bombing. However, in 1980, sixteen
members of the terrorist organization were arrested and convicted for
trying to overthrow the government. Among them was Oscar Lopez Rivera,
one of the leaders of the organization. In 1999, President Clinton
offered the prisoners clemency. All prisoners, except for Oscar Lopez
Rivera, accepted the offer of clemency.
Visit Additional NYC Building Bombings:
World Trade Center (1993)
World Trade Center (9/11/2001)
Source:
nytimes.com
insidetheapple.net
nydailynews.com