Wall Street bombing
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The Wall Street bombing was a deadly terrorist incident that occurred on September 16, 1920 in the Financial District of New York City. It was then the deadliest bomb attack on US soil, and would remain so for 75 years, until the Oklahoma City Bombing.
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The Attack
At noon time, an old wagon, pulled by a horse, passed by lunchtime crowds on Wall Street, in New York City. The cart then stopped in front of the offices of the J.P. Morgan Company, on the financial district’s busiest corner. Inside, 100 pounds (45 kg) of dynamite with 500 pounds (230 kg) of fragmented steel exploded, perhaps by remote control, sending the shrapnel tearing through crowds. An automobile was hurled into the air, and glass was shattered for blocks (the damage can still be seen on the buildings today [1] (http://www.forgotten-ny.com/STREET%20SCENES/morgan/morgan.html)). The wounded piled on the streets.
Casualties
30 people were killed initially, and 40 were dead by the end of the month. 300 others were injured. People began to panic as word spread that another bomb would go off. Police were called, and they began to investigate the crime, the likes of which had not been seen on this scale in the country’s history.
Reaction
The American public was not used to acts like this. 8 Chicago police officers had been killed during the Haymarket riot in 1886, President William McKinley was assassinated in 1901, the Los Angeles Times offices were burnt down in 1910, killing 20, and bombs were mailed to government leaders. But this attack was aimed at the public, and intended to kill large numbers of people.
Wall Street reopened the next day, with evidence of the bombing being covered up by cloths. The public was jittery, just like it was after the September 11 attacks—headlines warned that other buildings might be bombed, and that bridges on the West Coast would also be targeted by terrorists. But these acts never materialized. Also like 9/11, it became the national spirit to do things patriotic—though no one was sure who to stand up to. The Washington Post called the bombing an “act of war,” though it was not known whom to blame.
Perpetrators
No charges were ever filed in the bombing. Anarchists were suspected, especially followers of Luigi Galleani, and persecution of Eastern European and Sicilian immigrants increased after the attack. Investigators searched hundred of stables to find who sent the horse, but nothing was uncovered. Despite vows that the police would catch the perpetrators, the crime remains unsolved to this day.
External Links
- The Wall Street Bombing (http://www.theinstitute.ieee.org/inst_art.jsp?isno=06001&arnumber=12011_history§ion=9)
- Terrorism in America (http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:Daquv8wKGRQJ:fyi.cnn.com/2001/fyi/news/09/18/history.terrorism/+%22wall+street+bombing%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8)
- The First Wall Street Bombing (http://www.h-net.org/~hns/articles/2001/091701a.html)