Wall St in New York was a global financial centre. In 1920 the stock market thrived and smart business lunches called. At noon on 16th Sept 1920 an ordinary man driving a horse-and-cart drove in, and stopped the animal with its heavy load of dynamite and iron weights. He was in front of the U.S Assay Office, across from the JP Morgan and Co Bank headquarters, the stock exchange building and Federal Hall.
Dynamite detonated a minute later, sending bomb metal and glass from the Morgan building's windows .. throughout the Financial District. Flames covered footpaths, pedestrians were blown apart and cars piled up. The explosion killed 30 people immediately and seriously injured 143 more. Tragically the death toll kept rising throughout the day.At first it wasn’t clear if the explosion was an intentional act of terrorism. After all no wealthy Wall St bankers were killed and the victims were all ordinary workers, vendors and clerks en route to lunch. JP Morgan himself was holidaying in Scotland. And NO money was stolen from any of the banks during or after the bombing.
But scattered through the streets, mixed in with the explosion’s debris, were c500 pounds of metal window-sash weights. Most casualties had been hit by the metal shards packed in with the dynamite, indicating that this was a deliberate bombing. And it was specifically set off in front of JP Morgan, the heart of U.S capitalism.
Even so, forensics were not well developed then. Crews cleaned the damage overnight, removing physical evidence that would have been crucial in identifying the criminals. There was a powerful sense that the market needed to reopen and by the next morning, Wall St was resurrected. Broken windows and workers were plastered, streets were washed down, and the bomb-material was buried.
But scattered through the streets, mixed in with the explosion’s debris, were c500 pounds of metal window-sash weights. Most casualties had been hit by the metal shards packed in with the dynamite, indicating that this was a deliberate bombing. And it was specifically set off in front of JP Morgan, the heart of U.S capitalism.
Even so, forensics were not well developed then. Crews cleaned the damage overnight, removing physical evidence that would have been crucial in identifying the criminals. There was a powerful sense that the market needed to reopen and by the next morning, Wall St was resurrected. Broken windows and workers were plastered, streets were washed down, and the bomb-material was buried.
Anger over capitalism and wealth inequality had been growing in the U.S for decades. In 1916 ten people were killed and 40 injured by an explosion at a San Francisco parade. Authorities initially focused their attention on well-known radicals and anarchists in the city. In fact 2 radical labour leaders, Warren Billings and Thomas Mooney, were convicted and sentenced to hang, but with little evidence of their guilt both sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. They were both eventually pardoned, and the real bombers were never identified.
Anarchists were in any case thought to be responsible for bombings & assassinations from the late C19th until the early C20th i.e anarchism was seen to have become the defined political ideology in Russia. So U.S investigations started with an immediate focus on radical leftist political groups. Even before the Wall St bomb, there'd been nation-wide raids on communist centres, given that Bolsheviks were plotting to overthrow the U.S government. Violent anarchists, socialists and communists were thought to be at the core of a movement to unsettle capitalist institutions.
It was a already time of social upheaval, with 25% of workers on strike in 1919 in search of higher pay and decent working conditions. It was said that even prior to the 1920 attack, bombs had been sent through the mail to Morgan, John Rockefeller and Woodrow Wilson. But as the packages never reached their targets, where was the evidence of these bombs?
It was a already time of social upheaval, with 25% of workers on strike in 1919 in search of higher pay and decent working conditions. It was said that even prior to the 1920 attack, bombs had been sent through the mail to Morgan, John Rockefeller and Woodrow Wilson. But as the packages never reached their targets, where was the evidence of these bombs?
The bodies were covered then taken away by ambulance
New York Police and Fire Depts, Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S Secret Service were also pursuing leads by searching Italians. Based on earlier bomb attacks, the Bureau initially suspected followers of the Italian Anarchist Luigi Galleani. But the case couldn’t be proved, and Galleani had fled the country. Another dead end!
A letter carrier had found earlier printed flyers from the American Anarchist Fighters Group, demanding the release of political prisoners. Discovered AFTER the bomb, these flyers seemed similar to ones used in 1919 in two bombing campaigns run by Italian Anarchists. The Bureau tried to trace the printing of these flyers, but failed.
Nonetheless Italian anarchists were now primary suspects, partially from their assumed frustration about the treatment of Italian immigrant anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. They’d been arrested for murdering a guard and paymaster near Boston early that very year, 1920!
A letter carrier had found earlier printed flyers from the American Anarchist Fighters Group, demanding the release of political prisoners. Discovered AFTER the bomb, these flyers seemed similar to ones used in 1919 in two bombing campaigns run by Italian Anarchists. The Bureau tried to trace the printing of these flyers, but failed.
Nonetheless Italian anarchists were now primary suspects, partially from their assumed frustration about the treatment of Italian immigrant anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. They’d been arrested for murdering a guard and paymaster near Boston early that very year, 1920!
Investigators’ focus soon shifted to Mario Buda, long time Italian activist and Sacco & Vanzetti associate. Did he do the bombing in revenge for the indictment of Sacco and Vanzetti? No-one knew. Buda was never brought in for questioning, and he returned to Italy soon after the Wall St bomb.
The NYPD, FBI and private detective firms began investigations. An early suspect was Edward Fischer, an investment-world employee of a well-regarded brokerage firm. Just before the bombing, he sent notes to two former bosses, telling them to get out of Wall St at exactly 3 o’clock Wed. But Fischer, described as the victim of a nervous breakdown and mental damage, was in Toronto at the time of the bombing. Authorities briefly questioned and released him.
The NYPD, FBI and private detective firms began investigations. An early suspect was Edward Fischer, an investment-world employee of a well-regarded brokerage firm. Just before the bombing, he sent notes to two former bosses, telling them to get out of Wall St at exactly 3 o’clock Wed. But Fischer, described as the victim of a nervous breakdown and mental damage, was in Toronto at the time of the bombing. Authorities briefly questioned and released him.
In 1919 young J. Edgar Hoover got a job running the so-called Radical Division at the Justice Department; it was designed to gather information on radical groups & political organisations. He made an early surveillance system by creating a database of all the radicals in America. After the bomb, known anarchists and communists were located and questioned via Hoover’s system, then tips rolled in and eyewitnesses gave evidence. Hoover thought that the bombing was directed by forces in Russia, but again no arrests were ever made.
The New York Tribune, early coverage
How did the relentless fear of Russian and Italian workers lead to them being pursued for every violent crime, yet no evidence was found in any single case? Even when the Italian anarchists Sacco & Vanzetti were found guilty of murder and later executed, it was still without evidence. In the same anxiety-provoking atmosphere of the Wall St bomb, oppression of migrant anarchists continued unabated - without any charges ever being laid.
The next post will continue with a related theme.