9/16/1920 - Our forgotten terrorist attack

[sss1977]

Source: Damninteresting.com

I happened upon an article recently that involved an event I'd never even heard of, so I thought I'd share it for those of you like me who didn't know such an event ever occured in our past.

Also this is my first actual post here now that I finally have the ability to post instead of just reply.

Location: New York City, Wall Street
Date: September 16th, 1920

At approximately one minute after twelve o'clock, the abandoned wagon's timer reached zero in the pleasant afternoon sun. A bomb consisting of one hundred pounds of dynamite packed with five hundred pounds of cast-iron slugs violently vomited red-hot shrapnel and destruction in every direction. A number of passers-by were instantly vaporized by the extreme heat and pressure. The blast sent a nearby automobile careening through the air as countless jagged iron fragments ripped through the crowd. The nearby structures trembled as the shock wave slammed into their outer walls with tremendous force, shattering windows and turning lobbies into lacerating hailstorms of glass. Many of the cloth awnings which overlooked the street burst into flames. Within a half-mile radius thousands of plate-glass windows burst in the city's tall buildings, peppering the streets of Lower Manhattan with razor-sharp glass shards.

Sounds like an effective little IED...

Thirty people had died in the first few moments, and ten were mortally wounded. Some 300 other men, women, and children were injured. Many staggered towards the Trinity Church to escape the choking smoke. Another wave of panic rippled through the crowd as word spread that another bomb was set to go off nearby, but the rumor proved untrue. News of the disaster spread quickly, and within thirty minutes the street was filled with hundreds of New York City policemen and Red Cross nurses who had rushed to the scene by horse, car, subway, and on foot.

As always, our first responders show their courage and dedication...

The Washington Post referred to the bombing as an "act of war," though no one could be certain who the enemy was. The newspaper also wrote, "The bomb outrage in New York emphasizes the extent to which the alien scum from the cesspools and sewers of the Old World has polluted the clear spring of American democracy." Though the anarchists had not been proven responsible, the US government's ongoing anti-radical Palmer Raids were increased in intensity as a consequence of the bombing. Immigrants were aggressively targeted, especially Italians, Russians, and Jews. Thousands of citizens were detained in the name of national security, though most of them clearly had nothing to do with the Wall Street terror plot. Ultimately, the orgy of misguided justice resulted in the deportation of about 10,000 such "radicals."

Apparently what we should have done is to go hunting for Russian terrorists in caves, and then go obliterate Italy. A single terror attack is enough to declare war on entire sovereign nations, isn't it?

Wall Street soon became a symbol of patriotism in the eyes of the country, and stock trading came to be viewed as an act of defiance against the terrorists. Before the attack a number of outspoken citizens had decried the unchecked growth of power underway on Wall Street, but many of those voices fell silent in light of the new public sentiment. Those critics who continued to voice their concerns were denounced as supporters of violence and terror, a trend which rapidly smothered all public debate on the matter.

It all looks pretty familiar doesn't it? How did we as a country survive the next 81 years without passing the USA Patriot Act, wiretapping citizens, and resorting to torture? Must have been some kind of freak accident we made it this far without all these vital new tools...

Full article here ----> http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=847