Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism in New York City During the Long Sixties
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City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 6-2017 Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism in New York City During the Long Sixties David C. Viola Jr. The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1956 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] TERRORISM AND THE RESPONSE TO TERRORISM IN NEW YORK CITY DURING THE LONG SIXTIES BY DAVID C. VIOLA, JR. A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in History in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York 2017 i © 2014 DAVID C. VIOLA, JR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism in New York City During the Long Sixties by David C. Viola, Jr. This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in History in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy _________________ ____________________________________________ Date Chair of Examining Committee Joshua B. Freeman, Distinguished Professor of History, Queens College and The Graduate Center, CUNY _________________ ____________________________________________ Date Andrew Robertson, Professor of History and Executive Officer, PhD Program in History, The Graduate Center, CUNY SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE Joshua B. Freeman, Queens College and The Graduate Center, CUNY Beverly Gage, Yale University Thomas Kessner, The Graduate Center, CUNY David Nasaw, The Graduate Center, CUNY THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii ABSTRACT TERRORISM AND THE RESPONSE TO TERRORISM IN NEW YORK CITY DURING THE LONG SIXTIES By David C. Viola, Jr. Advisor: Joshua B. Freeman During a period stretching from the mid 1960s until the mid 1970s, the United States and especially New York City experienced a wave of terrorism unprecedented in many ways. Never before, and never since, have such a variety of actors from all across the political spectrum engaged in this particular form of political violence during the same period of time and especially in the same small geographic area. New York City endured a stretch of attacks that can be labeled as terrorism from 1969 to mid-1970 that the Commissioner Howard R. Learly of the New York City Police Department (NYPD) characterized it as the year of bombings in “gigantic proportions” when testifying before Congress. Scholarship on political radicalism and especially terrorism during what many scholars have termed “the Long Sixties” has largely focused on radical elements of the New Left such as the Weather Underground. This dissertation argues that, instead of how scholarship has traditionally treated it, terrorism during the time and in New York city was just as likely to emanate from the political right, and may have in fact manifested there first. This dissertation also makes the argument that terrorism and the response to terrorism – most notably by the NYPD and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) – coevolved during the period. The actions of terror actors prompted more aggressive investigations by authorities, and iv the actions of authorities drove terror actors further underground. Building on “intelligence” operations including undercover operatives and secret informants, authorities brought to bear many of the practices that would soon land them in legal trouble such as occurred during the U.S. Senate Church Committee investigation and the “Handschu” civil liberties case brought against the NYPD. And in response to these aggressive and often effective actions by authorities, groups like the Weather Underground in fact went underground. Ultimately, what this dissertation argues is that the history of terrorism in the United States is longer and more diverse than is commonly understood, and even more so than argued in scholarly history, and that the time and place of New York City during this period is uniquely important because of the diversity of the actors and the sheer volume of attacks illustrates how much more broadly accepted this form of political violence was than ever was before, or ever since. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The historical study of terrorism and the responses to terrorism in New York City, and in U.S. more broadly, is a personal pursuit (as a native New Yorker who still lives in the wake of 9/11), a professional endeavor (as a military intelligence counterterrorism officer), and most importantly, a scholarly endeavor that I believe is vastly more important to the history of the United States than has been acknowledged in preceding scholarship. The faculty, staff, and student body of the PhD program in history has been tremendously supportive of my research over the years, despite (and in large part because) the history of terrorism is not something that is often spoken of on the fifth floor of the Graduate Center. The atmosphere of support in investigating new and different directions in the field has been tremendous and for this I will always be grateful. First and foremost among the individuals who has made this dissertation possible is Professor Joshua B. Freeman, my dissertation committee chair. The guidance and encouragement he offered along the way, the willingness to read several rough chapters and steer me back on track when I wandered, and the continuing education in twentieth century U.S. history that characterized each of our conversations, were invaluable. Professors David Nasaw and Thomas Kessner, also of my dissertation committee, likewise offered tremendous guidance and direction not only during my dissertation process, but also in amazing courses with each that is the foundation upon which my historical studies are based. And Professor Beverly Gage of Yale was not only generous enough to sit on my committee, but her research and writing on terrorism in the United States has had nothing short of a profound impact on the direction of my own path as a scholar of the subject. I am lucky to have been trained under each of the members of my committee and to now call each a colleague and a friend. vi Support at the Graduate Center has extended beyond my dissertation committee; Executive Officers Helena Rosenblatt and Andrew Robertson (also a professor of mine) have been supportive all along the way; department staff Marilyn Weber and Huber Jaramillo keep things running so smoothly that we often forget how valuable that level of support is; and finally, my cohort and my peers in the history department, a longer list than I can satisfy here, have been friends, sounding boards, and trench-mates over these past years as we all worked our way through coursework, orals, figuring out how to be professors, and then planning and executing our dissertations. Without the easy comradery that exists in the program, this wouldn’t have been possible or nearly as much fun. The staff and my colleagues and students at the Center for Terrorism at John Jay College, where I have taught terrorism courses for more than four years, have challenged and shaped me as a scholar. Chief among them is Chuck Strozier, the Director of the Center and an accomplished historian and terrorism scholar, and a long supporter of my research endeavors. Scholars Jeremy Varon of The New School and Thai Jones of Columbia lead a longer list of scholars whose work mine would not be possible without, and who have been more than generous with their time. Joshua Melville and Ivan Acosta must also be mentioned – Josh has become a friend as we discussed the life of his father Sam over the past few years, and Ivan was willing enough to not only speak of his own experiences in the Cuban exile community but share his contacts as well. Of course, no historian gets anywhere in life without the tireless work of the archivists who make it all possible. Without them, this dissertation simply would not have happened. No real historical writing ever would. I will always be grateful to the staff at the National Archives and Records Administration in New York, the FBI Freedom of Information / Privacy Act team including David Sobonya, the staff at La Guardia and Wagner Archives at the Fiorello H. vii LaGuardia Community College, the Special Collections Librarian at the Lloyd Sealy Library at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the New York Municipal Archive staff, and the staff at the New York County District Attorney’s Office Records Division who dug up court records for me that haven’t been seen since the cases were closed before my lifetime. Thanks also goes out to the staff of the Mina Rees Library and the Interlibrary Loan office for their assistance in retrieving the massive stack of books referenced in this dissertation. As I continued to scratch out a living in graduate school, I have been blessed with love and support of an infinitely better family and group of friends than I deserve. My niece and nephew, Sophia and Thomas, who I hope both follow in my steps and pursue graduate education (or something else that challenges and enriches their lives), my brother Victor, my mom and step dad, all deserve special mention. Dear friends including Shan Nicholson, Andrew Wonder, and Richard Boccato, have read, critiqued, and been supportive of me and my work over the years. My colleagues in the U.S. Navy Reserve Intelligence Community have similarly been supportive of and had an enriching impact on my development as a terrorism and counterterrorism professional. Finally, this dissertation is dedicated to Charley, my best friend for eleven years and the best Siberian Husky to ever walk the planet, and by far the best study buddy I could have hoped for as I pursued my graduate education.