Harrisburg: the Politics of Salvation Francine Du

Harrisburg: The Politics of Salvation Francine du. Plessix Gray

order forbade the nuns from ever become a good and fervent religious." underwent transformations that were I entering their parents' house again The order having shrewdly perceived unnatural in their intensity. The revo- In 1849 a maverick priest in the town after they had taken their vows, short Elizabeth's talent, she was sent to lution in the Church, the boiling pot of Beziers, France, founded an order of a death in the family. They were Hunter College in 1962 to acquire a of the Sixties' dissent induced in her a of nuns which he called "Les Reli- also prohibited from seeing any films, master's degree in art history. The mysterious personal growth of terrify- gieuses du Sacre Coeur de Marie," or reading any newspapers or any head of the department, Eugene Goos- ing rapidity. Elizabeth had been against whose aim would be to educate young books beyond the slim collection of sen, remembers her as "a person with the Vietnam war since 1965, and in girls to work among the poor. Father Saints' Lives on the convent's shelves. fringes of great firmness and stubborn- May of 1968 she was on the verge of Jean Pierre Gailhac was an eccentric There was a single radio set in the ness, full of idies fixes, but with very joining Philip Berrigan and the Catons- and a social activist. He had chosen to convent on which the sisters were radical tastes in art for a nun." ville Nine in their foray on draft board be chaplain at the local hOtel-Dieu allowed to listen to only one program: Religious orders are noted for over- files in Maryland. She desisted from so rather than preach or teach, and had Fulton Sheen's. Older members of the working the few specialists they have. acting only the night before, with also set up a rehabilitation center for RSHM vividly recall the great excite- Returning to Marymount in 1963, characteristic dutifulness toward her prostitutes. Like the order he founded, ment with which they greeted a show- Elizabeth taught Medieval, Renaissance, order. Her desire to join her friends in Gailhac seemed destined for occasional ing of Snow White and the Seven Oriental, and American art within the civil• disobedience was "an instinctive trouble, and was even accused, midway Dwarfs, which Joseph Kennedy, whose same semester. Her greatest pleasure yes-saying trust" which she could not in his career, of poisoning some nuns. ailing daughter Rosemary was at the was to lecture on her favorite twen- have explained to her community, at Notwithstanding his personal tribula- college, once brought to Marymount tieth-century masters—Jackson Pollock, that time, in rational terms. But the tions, his order flourished, and a small compulsive rigor and dedication that mission was sent to the United States she had brought to her nun's vocation in the 1880s to establish a convent on were now put to the uses of the these shores. Movement. Its arrival was forlorn. The American A characteristic image of the 1970 sponsor of the mission, a rich Cincin- Elizabeth McAlister: She drives with a nati widow, had died while the nuns friend down the highway toward a were en route from France, and they Movement meeting, high beyond the were left stranded at the docks. A speed limit, the window open. She is priest took pity on the sisters and now clothed in a brief-skirted sport offered them his house in Sag Harbor, dress; on her lap is an open copy of Long Island. But their troubles were the New Testament which she looks at not over. The priest fell in love with frequently during her voyage. It was the youngest of the nuns, who had not during such a trip, on January 12, yet taken her vows, and the group's 1971, as she was getting into a car in a mother superior had to return to parking lot in Newark, New Jersey, France for further counsel. This epi- that seven FBI men walked up to her sode is documented in the archives of and said: "You're under arrest, Sister the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Liz." "Please," she replied, her Irish Mary (RSHM) under the title "Les temper rising, "my name is Elizabeth Tristes et Douloureuses Epreuves de la —my friends call me Liz." They read Maison de Sag Harbor." Such afflic- her the charges: conspiring to kidnap tions did not prevent the order from Henry Kissinger and blow up heating

rItIPTlill .n.111/ Aictinm,ichPA crhnnlc ;„ the Religious of the Sacred Heart of sode is documented in the archives of

France for further counsel. This epi- Maison de Sag Harbor." Mary (RSHM) under the title mother superior had to return to yet taken her vows, and the group's opening many distinguished schools tions did not prevent the order from and colleges throughout America, one of the most noted of which is Mary- Tristes et Douloureuses Epreuves de la

mount College in Tarrytown, New York. It is at Marymount that Sister

attended college and later taught. in the Harrisburg Seven conspiracy trial Elizabeth McAlister, recently convicted for smuggling letters into a prison,

children of Irish immigrants who had come to the United States in the E

construction business in Montclair, 1920s, and had set up a successful New Jersey. Her childhood was peace- ful, uneventful, and fairly prosperous. She had always loved to draw, and

holy name day cards and place cards early in her college life she designed

for the nuns' religious holidays—the feast of Saint Joseph, the feast of the

of :ionconformism to be found in her Immaculate Conception. The only seed on these greetings which her order clay life is that she loved contem- po.ary art and made abstract designs found "highly unacceptable" because

f.f their avant-garde tenor.

come to Elizabeth in the most tradi-

tional way. Sometime in her freshman year, while in prayer, she received God. It had come as a surprise to her

what she believed to be a call from

who looked upon the rules of the

Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary

as harshly restrictive. Until 1962 or so

the regulations of this semi-cloistered

nd as a discomfiture to her parents,

lizabeth McAlister is one of seven

The call for a religious vocation had

Such afflic-

"Les

special dispensation for the com- on a Tuesday of Holy Week as a

munity.

Elizabeth McAlister, a tall, long-

compulsively disciplinary, exemplary limbed girl with blue eyes and thick dark brown hair, was an intense,

nun who spent her early twenties perfecting herself in her vocation. She orable," did not even chafe against such rigid convent customs as the

of the refectory at breakfast time to recite publicly, kneeling on the floor confess any small instance of mis- "Reverend Mother, I most humbly ask demeanor: turning a light out too late, your pardon for all the pain I have also ask pardon of the community for breaking a tea cup. It went this way: caused you since I came to this house,

by my disrespect and disobedience. I

the bad example I have given them by my continued failings in the Holy

I may be sincerely converted and Rule. I ask you all to pray for me that

a penance which she had to

"amende hon-

Joan Miro, Barnett Newman, David Smith. still dressed in the vestments that had

been traditional to her order since the nineteenth century: a floor-length hab-

it of blue serge, over which hung a

highly starched white linen

which reached halfway down to her she pinned the enormous coif of waist. On her head she wore a starched white linen that framed her

tete,

face. Over the ..oif she wore a third veiling would be added when she layer of white veiling reaching to the

attended chapel. She rose at 5:30, and During the political turbulence of the until 1968 her daily schedule would waist, and a fourth layer of black remain the following: a period of meditation at 6 A.M., mass at 6:45, and

three more hours of meditation and 1960s, persons like Elizabeth McAlister day. prayers • interspersed throughout the

In those early years Elizabeth was

or cap, of white muslin to which

pelerine

serre-

1971, as she was getting into a car in a and said: "You're under arrest, Sister that seven FBI men walked up to her parking lot in Newark, New Jersey,

temper rising, "my name is Elizabeth her the charges: conspiring to kidnap Liz." "Please," she replied, her Irish

ducts in Washington, D. C. "Over, Henry Kissinger and blow up heating age, over." entered the car, "we've got the pack- over," the agents radioed when she had —my friends call me Liz." They read

men came to arrest Eqbal Ahmad, a and to the apartment shared by Pakistani scholar living in Chicago. In Baltimore, the FBI went to the apartment of Anthony and Mary Scoblick, McLaughlin. The best known of the Harrisburg Seven, Father Philip Berri- Fathers Joseph Wenderoth and Neil

necticut, where he is serving a six-year sentence for the destruction of draft Federal Penitentiary at Danbury, Con- gan, was told of his indictment at the files in 1967 and 1968.

The indictment brought against these

seven persons in January, 1970, relied

solely on conversations reported by an

FBI informer, Boyd Douglas, a convict violence, and on letters exchanged at with a long record of lying and of

McAlister and Philip Berrigan. The charges against this predominantly Lewisburg Prison between Elizabeth

Catholic group—whose vast indiscre-

political innocence and previous isola- tions were caused in good part by their ture. The charges implied, as does the for committing thoughtful sins. The as guilty for thinking sinful thoughts as tion—were ironically Catholic in na- indictment blurred all distinction be- old Church teaching, that one can be tween discussion and agreement, be-

That same evening a posse of FBI

The New York Review tween conversation and action, and for the general conspiracy charge to invaded that most private and sacred hold. part of man which is his fantasy life. Lynch's insertion of conspiracy in And it had been triggered, in turn, by draft board raids that had never been the fantasies of the angry spy master, previously prosecuted—and had not the late J. Edgar Hoover, who was been mentioned in the first indictment coup de grace. seeking to reestablish his prestige at —was his attempted Presumably he thought it a charge easy Hannah 1 the wane of a long career. When Hoover appeared before the to prove because all the defendants Senate Subcommittee on Appropria- save Eqbal Ahmad had had some tions on November 27, 1970, to make associations with such raids: it served as a sugar coating that might help a Arendt the allegations that led to the Harris- burg indictment, it was his first visit to jury to swallow the more damning on the major any Senate group in fifteen years. He medicine of bombing and kidnaping had come under the pretext of asking charges. Counts 2 and 3 of American upheavals for additional funds for the FBI which Lynch's indictment charged Elizabeth had already been voted to him by the McAlister and Philip Berrigan with House. Hoover announced, that day, threatening Henry Kissinger in letters "It is astonishing how much insight "an incipient plot on the part of an they wrote to each other; Counts 4 of our political history is containe anarchist group" which, led by the through 10 had to do with these two especially in these recent essays."-t imprisoned Berrigan brothers, was plan- defendants sending unauthorized cor- ning to blow up government heating respondence in and out of Lewisburg systems and kidnap a high government Federal Prison. LYING IN POI, official. The Harrisburg Seven went to trial One must sense the full measure of the following year, on January 24, Hoover's desperation. He had made 1972. The man who had triggered CIVIL DISOBEE several previous attempts to force an Hoover's ire and indiscretions—the elu- sive Daniel Berrigan—had been dropped indictment of the group, but neither the White House, the Republican from his status of co-conspirator in the new indictment and would come to Policy Committee, nor the Internal ON VIOLEN court only as an infrequent visitor to Security Division had wanted to make the spectators' gallery. 1 his charges public. Hoover's stubborn determination to obtain an indictment THOUGHTS ON seems to reflect his frustration at the III Justice Department's failure to indict The courtroom of the Harrisburg AND REVOLU Daniel Berrigan under the fugitive law. Federal Building is like an ultra- Berrigan had evaded the FBI for nearly modern mortuary. Its carpeting is slime four months, had mocked and derided green; the benches have the thinness of it. But the Attorney General wisely imitation hickory coffins; the ceiling is Crisesof the II saw fit not to enlarge this priest's an expanse of fifty-four squares of $6.95, paper $2.9! well-publicized martyrdom. flood-lit panels that give off a garish The Justice Department is reported light; the sole adornment is an enor- HARCOURT BRACE to have been appalled by Hoover's mous American flag. it is the- third public revelations of November 27, and time in recent years that I sit in the dead set against an indictment at the press section of a courtroom seeing a time because of insufficient evidence. group of Catholics—all of them ac- The group was simply one of several quaintances, some of them good that were continually being watched friends—prosecuted for their activities and followed by the FBI. But Hoover's against the Indochina war. In this Senate appearance forced Justice to bleak courtroom I am filled with a take very swift face-saving action. The despair that I never experienced at the first handwriting and fingerprint anal- trials of the Catonsville Nine or the yses on documents compiled by the Milwaukee Fourteen. informer Boyd Douglas and the FBI In 1968 and 1969 the defendents at were undertaken on Monday, No- such trials were clearly the moral vember 30, the first available week- aggressors, having deliberately brought Mich( day after Hoover's allegations of Fri- punishment upon themselves by the day, November 27. A grand jury was sacrificial gestures of draft board raids. convened in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Their triumphant courtroom testi- the very next day, on December 1, and monies expressed their hopes that the held hearings from December 20 into war could be ended, the "system" Harrin(• the second week of January. On reformed by acts of nonviolent civil 12 a hasty and sloppy indict- disobedience. With the same joyousness America's forem ment was handed down after the case with which they sang civil rights songs surveys, chronic was put to the grand jury by Assistant over mounds of burning draft files, Attorney General Guy Goodwin, Jus- they elaborated on the evangelic mys- explains the me lung to mow up government heating respondence in and out of Lewisburg systems and kidnap a high government Federal Prison. LYING IN POL official. The Harrisburg Seven went to trial One must sense the full measure of the following year, on January 24, Hoover's desperation. He had made -1972. The man who had triggered CIVIL DISOBEE several previous attempts to force an Hoover's ire and indiscretions—the elu- sive Daniel Berrigan—had been dropped indictment of the group, but neither from his status of co-conspirator in the the White House, the Republican new indictment and would come to Policy Committee, nor the Internal ON VIOLEN court only as an infrequent visitor to Security Division had wanted to make the spectators' gallery. his charges public. Hoover's stubborn determination to obtain an indictment THOUGHTS ON F seems to reflect his frustration at the III Justice Department's failure to indict The courtroom of the Harrisburg AND REVOLU Daniel Berrigan under the fugitive law. Federal Building is like an ultra- Berrigan had evaded the FBI for nearly modern mortuary. Its carpeting is slime four months, had mocked and derided green; the benches have the thinness of it. But the Attorney General wisely imitation hickory coffins; the ceiling is Crises of the II saw fit not to enlarge this priest's an expanse of fifty-four squares of $6.95, paper $2.9 well-publicized martyrdom. flood-lit panels that give off a garish HARCOURT BRACE The Justice Department is reported light; the sole adornment is an enor- 1W to have been appalled by Hoover's mous American flag. It is the third - public revelations of November 27, and time in recent years that I sit in the dead set against an indictment at the press section of a courtroom seeing a time because of insufficient evidence. group of Catholics—all of them ac- The group was simply one of several quaintances, some of them good that were continually being watched friends—prosecuted for their activities and followed by the FBI. But Hoover's against the Indochina war. In this Senate appearance forced Justice to bleak courtroom I am filled with a take very swift face-saving action. The despair that I never experienced at the first handwriting and fingerprint anal- trials of the Catonsville Nine or the yses on documents compiled by the Milwaukee Fourteen. informer Boyd Douglas and the FBI In 1968 and 1969 the defendents at were undertaken on Monday, No- such trials were clearly the moral vember 30, the first available week- aggressors, having deliberately brought Mich day after Hoover's allegations of Fri- punishment upon themselves by the day, November 27. A grand jury was • sacrificial gestures of draft board raids. H convened in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Their triumphant courtroom testi- the very next day, on December 1, and monies expressed their hopes that the held hearings from December 20 into war could be ended, the "system" the second week of January. On reformed by acts of nonviolent civil January 12 a hasty and sloppy indict- disobedience. With the same joyousness America's foren ment was handed down after the case with which they sang civil rights songs surveys, chronic was put to the grand jury by Assistant over mounds of burning draft files, Attorney General Guy Goodwin, Jus- they elaborated on the evangelic mys- explains the ml tice's most passionate hunter of politi- tique that their witness in jail could In these pages, he ex- sociali cal dissidents. To correct the legal move the conscience of the nation and "His. plores socialist history imprudences of this first indictment, a abate the violence of its rulers. from pre-19th-century vi- of thec social Four years later, at Harrisburg, the sions of Utopia to the various "so- shrewder superseding bill was'issued on "I st April 30. cialisms" abroad today: "revolution government is the aggressor, and the from above," "socialist capitalism," who d. rulers' violence has increased. The "military socialism," "substitute cialist: proletariats"— even the "invisible" theori numerals draft board raiders who have "Ev. I n the first indictment of January American mass movement. And con- 12, which included a special conspir- gone to jail over the past four years cludes with a clear and forceful with S may have sacrificed their freedom for demonstration of the relevance of acy-to-kidnap section carrying a possi- socialism to our time with his pro- well a: ble life sentence, a jury, if it were to no result whatever. The war they gram for a new history through satisfy Hoover's allegations, would have contested has grown in hypocrisy and had to find the defendants guilty of in technological brutality. The peace the particular charge of conspiring to movement feels more powerless than kidnap Henry Kissinger. William than ever before. At Harrisburg in 1972 the government is the inquisitor, CIAI Lynch's much broader superseding in- by MICHAEL HARRINGTON, author $12.50, now at your bo dictment had as Count 1 a general prosecuting not disobedience but absurd fantasies of disobedience. Sitting SATURDAY REVIE' conspiracy charge with a maximum 230 Park Avenue, N.Y. penalty of five years. Under this in this cavernous, heavily guarded indictment a jury need only find the courtroom, I am haunted by the fact defendants guilty of any one of the that this could be the trial of any three illegal objects of the count— antiwar citizens seeking possibilities for conspiring to raid draft boards, con- action: If the government came for spiring to blow up heating tunnels, or them in the morning, it may come for conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger— us at night.

June 1, 1972

R R

other religious of the Catholic left, left, Catholic the of religious other

argue emotionally about links between between links about emotionally argue

love on the way to raiding a Boston Boston a raiding to way the on love

McLaughlin, Philip Berrigan, and most most and Berrigan, Philip McLaughlin,

ebullient, savvy pair. Like Wenderoth, Wenderoth, Like pair. savvy ebullient,

years of work in the black ghetto, and and ghetto, black the in work of years

when he used to raffle off his parish's parish's his off raffle to used he when the race problem and the war. Tony, Tony, war. the and problem race the

draft board. They are a clean-cut, clean-cut, a are They board. draft

was sick and tired of leeching off the the off leeching of tired and sick was

do, sit around the parish and be a a be and parish the around sit do, integrity and identity that has per- has that identity and integrity

tales of his years in the inner city, city, inner the in years his of tales

poor." poor." vaded the radical clergy since the the since clergy radical the vaded deroth is an athletically built Boys' Boys' built athletically an is deroth they have been radicalized by their their by radicalized been have they

Town type with a scrubbed, ingenuous ingenuous scrubbed, a with type Town

the son of a former Pennsylvania Pennsylvania former a of son the

includes Guy Goodwin in his prayers. prayers. his in Goodwin Guy includes

congressman, has a Mediterranean Mediterranean a has congressman,

down by his bed every night he he night every bed his by down

their actions. "What was I supposed to to supposed I was "What actions. their

delphia a few months after Neil had had Neil after months few a delphia

Sixties recurs often in their exegesis of of exegesis their in often recurs Sixties handsomeness and enormous dark eyes. eyes. dark enormous and handsomeness

face. He tells me that when he kneels kneels he when that me tells He face.

He is the wit of the group, and regales regales and group, the of wit the is He

me out of court with Robin Hood Hood Robin with court of out me raided one in New York. They spent spent They York. New in one raided

furniture on Bingo nights and distrib- distrib- and nights Bingo on furniture service to others, the kind of priests priests of kind the others, to service

slight, frail, cerebral young man given given man young cerebral frail, slight, parasite on the black community?"• "I "I community?"• black the on parasite

black ghetto, and the dilemma of of dilemma the and ghetto, black

their priesthood years in Baltimore's Baltimore's in years priesthood their

who used to get the longest line at the the at line longest the get to used who

to rigorous theologizing. Joseph Wen- Joseph theologizing. rigorous to confessional. Neil McLaughlin is a a is McLaughlin Neil confessional.

sense of dejection. They sit next to to next sit They dejection. of sense

collars throughout the trial.• They re- They trial.• the throughout collars

mind me of Bernanos's Bernanos's of me mind

who work themselves to the bone in in bone the to themselves work who

conventional, devout, dedicated pastors pastors dedicated devout, conventional,

be convicted fills me with a particular particular a with me fills convicted be

each other alongside the left wall of of wall left the alongside other each

the courtroom, wearing their white white their wearing courtroom, the Wenderoth and Neil McLaughlin may may McLaughlin Neil and Wenderoth

Anthony and Mary Scoblick fell in in fell Scoblick Mary and Anthony

Joe raided a draft board in Phila- Phila- in board draft a raided Joe

The thought that Fathers Joseph Joseph Fathers that thought The

"petit cure," cure," "petit

amaker's. He is thinner than I have have I than thinner is He amaker's.

gigantic branches of Gimbel's and Wan- and Gimbel's of branches gigantic upon out looks which Jail, County

rage of the caged lion in the hulking hulking the in lion caged the of rage

movements of his body. We have been been have We body. his of movements

ever seen him. There is the pent-up pent-up the is There him. seen ever ment, his gigantic fortitude. fortitude. gigantic his ment,

federal marshals. In Harrisburg his his Harrisburg In marshals. federal

shackled, surrounded by a posse of of posse a by surrounded shackled,

by the absoluteness of his commit- his of absoluteness the by

friends for almost four years. During During years. four almost for friends cells and courtrooms, hands and feet feet and hands courtrooms, and cells this time he has needled my conscience conscience my needled has he time this

gan has been shuttled between prison prison between shuttled been has gan in a severe, categoric gesture and and gesture categoric severe, a in

answers: answers:

admire his sense of honor. When I ask ask I When honor. of sense his admire

temporary residence is the Dauphin Dauphin the is residence temporary

possible futility of any sacrificed free- free- sacrificed any of futility possible

offered a diplomatic position in Bhut- in position diplomatic a offered

rather than suffer through the absurdi- the through suffer than rather panding, I am further haunted by the the by haunted further am I panding,

draft board raid of 1967, Philip Berri- Philip 1967, of raid board draft

to's governnient. I have come to to come have I governnient. to's

ties of this trial he puts out his hand hand his out puts he trial this of ties

Princeton with highest honors, and was was and honors, highest with Princeton

him why he does not skip to Pakistan Pakistan to skip not does he why him

, ,

In 1972, with the war still ex- still war the with 1972, In

For recurring periods since his first first his since periods recurring For

"ca ne se fait pas." pas." fait se ne "ca

the stand. Judge R. Dixon Herman sits sits Herman Dixon R. Judge stand. the

A day in court, at mid-trial, in early early in mid-trial, at court, in day A

at the bench. He is a sixty-one-year-old sixty-one-year-old a is He bench. the at goes swimming in the nude at the the at nude the in swimming goes skull-like face, who is an American American an is who face, skull-like

Legionnaire, a Veteran of Foreign Wars, Wars, Foreign of Veteran a Legionnaire,

license to make elderberry wine, and and wine, elderberry make to license

sequestered and given the longest list list longest the given and sequestered Nixon appointee with a grim and and grim a with appointee Nixon

standing the fact that they have been been have they that fact the standing

March. Boyd Douglas is about to take take to about is Douglas Boyd March. a Moose, a Lion, and a Mason, has a a has Mason, a and Lion, a Moose, a

the jury, three men and nine women women nine and men three jury, the

forty laps. laps. forty

YMCA every day, vigorously spanning spanning vigorously day, every YMCA

who look amazingly cheerful notwith- cheerful amazingly look who

can remain critical of this defendant defendant this of critical remain can grayed much since her indictment. I I indictment. her since much grayed

have grown to love her in the past past the in her love to grown have

can see her actions in both their their both in actions her see can

tortured by a dilemma facing many many facing dilemma a by tortured

nobility and their rashness. rashness. their and nobility while remaining her friend, whether I I whether friend, her remaining while

year. Throughout the trial I remain remain I trial the Throughout year.

writers in this time of crisis: whether I I whether crisis: of time this in writers

To the right of the courtroom sits sits courtroom the of right the To

IV IV

can't look up to us and be dominated dominated be and us to up look can't

Tony says. "He hates us because he he because us hates "He says. Tony

Inquisitor theme: he is the oppressed oppressed the is he theme: Inquisitor

exemplifies a new stage of the Grand Grand the of stage new a exemplifies

fulfill his need for authority. authority. for need his fulfill

ethos. Anthony Scoblick has an inter- an has Scoblick Anthony ethos.

hates us for not behaving like priests," priests," like behaving not for us hates who hates the oppressor for ceasing to to ceasing for oppressor the hates who

by us." Lynch, Scoblick tells me, me, tells Scoblick Lynch, us." by

autocratic, disciplinarian Catholic Catholic disciplinarian autocratic,

esting view of the prosecutor: "He "He prosecutor: the of view esting

remains an entrenched example of the the of example entrenched an remains

this encounter with nuns and priess priess and nuns with encounter this

freeing themselves from traditional traditional from themselves freeing

molds of Church authority, Lynch Lynch authority, Church of molds

knowledge the defendants' greetings. In In greetings. defendants' the knowledge

ing throughout the trial to even ac- even to trial the throughout ing

main untainted by their contact, refus- contact, their by untainted main

Sixties, he appears determined to re- to determined appears he Sixties,

transformed by the turbulence of the the of turbulence the by transformed

cate "up yours." Prosecuting Catholics Catholics Prosecuting yours." "up cate old that in hand his of pinky and

to avoid the press, he raises the index index the raises he press, the avoid to

fraternity sign that used to communi- to used that sign fraternity

one of the modest diners he frequents frequents he diners modest the of one

occasionally bumps into a reporter at at reporter a into bumps occasionally

in FBI custody?" "Vice-President of of "Vice-President custody?" FBI in

case, Mr. Lynch?" "In the murder, no. no. murder, the "In Lynch?" Mr. case,

In the prosecution, yes." "What kind kind "What yes." prosecution, the In

the Fifties, totally untouched by the the by untouched totally Fifties, the

ITT." ITT." of a job did Boyd Douglas have while while have Douglas Boyd did job a of

events of the past decade. When he he When decade. past the of events "Were you involved in the Yablonski Yablonski the in involved you "Were

ginia, with her own Movement—the Movement—the own her with ginia,

Movement to build a continuous bicy- continuous a build to Movement

is totally preoccupied, down in Vir- in down preoccupied, totally is

cle path from Alexandria to Washing- to Alexandria from path cle Church. That his favorite reading is is reading favorite his That Church.

ton. William Lynch likes to joke. joke. to likes Lynch William ton.

naval history. Also, he and Mrs. Lynch Lynch Mrs. and he Also, history. naval One learns that he is a lector at his his at lector a is he that learns One

as the destroyer of his Roman Catholic Catholic Roman his of destroyer the as

are are

banters occasionally with the press. press. the with occasionally banters

toward the end of the trial, Lynch Lynch trial, the of end the toward

parish. That he sees Pope John XXIII XXIII John Pope sees he That parish.

Lynch seems a man straight out of of out straight man a seems Lynch

Although guarded at first, now, now, first, at guarded Although dedicated cyclists, and Mrs. Lynch Lynch Mrs. and cyclists, dedicated years of work in the black ghetto, and Yr VI ,11V a,.”..,aata.." • a ., argue emotionally about links between hates us for not behaving like priests," the race problem and the war. Tony, Tony says. "He hates us because he the son of a former Pennsylvania can't look up to us and be dominated congressman, has a Mediterranean by us." Lynch, Scoblick tells me, handsomeness and enormous dark eyes. exemplifies a new stage of the Grand He is the wit of the group, and regales Inquisitor theme: he is the oppressed me out of court with Robin Hood who hates the oppressor for ceasing to tales of his years in the inner city, fulfill his need for authority. when he used to raffle off his parish's furniture on Bingo nights and distrib- Lynch's Catholicism even seeps into ute the earnings to his black parishion- his conversations about the Justice ers. Mary is a slight, pretty, red-haired dom. On my last visit with Philip of forbidden television programs in Department, whose Organized Crime former nun who is a doctoral candi- Berrigan before the Harrisburg trial legal history. Lodged at a nearby Section he joined in 1961, and whose date in French literature. Her specialty began, he talked with a new sense of motel, they are prohibited by the internecine affairs he enjoys discussing. is contemporary French drama and the disenchantment and isolation. "You judge from watching "Hawaii Five-O," I once asked him how former Attorney theater of the absurd. She softly hums become increasingly modest about the "Dragnet," "Ironside," "Perry Mason," General Mitchell would enjoy returning Gregorian chants to herself throughout effects that any actions can have on "Mod Squad," "The DA," "Cade's to private practice. Didn't a man of the trial, requiems she remembers from the monolith of the American empire," County," "Sarge," "Mannix," "Can- that mettle wish for power rather than convent days. he said. "You have to draw some non," "O'Hara, US Treasury," "Adam- money? The queStion interested conclusions about what social change 12," the lawyer segment of "The Bold Lynch. "Well, what about the Jesuits," C ast in Harrisburg as the sinister people want . .. the record proves that Ones," and any news shows or talk he replied, "they used to renounce alien, the foreigner brought in to foster they don't • want very much. I used to shows, including "Meet the Press," power in order to reband. The provin- American paranoia about outside agita- have a hopeful view of resources in David Frost, Dick Cavett, Mery Griffin, cial general used to resign, become one tors, Eqbal Ahmad of. Pakistan has church or in student coalitions, or in and even Johnny Carson. of the boys, work behind the been given a role familiar to conspiracy minority group militants. This hope scenes...." Lynch's four assistant trials. During the voir dire, the hostili- was unfounded. We found these coali- The prosecutor of the Harrisburg prosecutors at Harrisburg are Catholics ty of the Harrisburg jurors, many of tions had no roots, that they died like case, William Sebastian Lynch, is a —two Irishmen, one Italian, one Pole— whom testify that they have barely a desert flower, bloomed and died short, fleshy, high-strung man with just as the Rosenbergs' prosecutors heard of the Vietnam war, centers not overnight, that there was no space for straw-colored hair, a rose-hued com- were all Jewish. around the defendants' ideologies but them to get any roots.... I have plexion, and an exceedingly curt hand- Lynch was well remembered for his upon the "spooky Asian" in their absolutely no regrets about what I shake. He exudes pugnaciousness, statement, during a pretrial motion in midst. One of the marshals refers to have done, and no regrets about doing craftsmanship, a fanatic professional- 1970, that the defendants were "more Eqbal as "that camel driver." Riding in it twice. But would I do it again? ism. He is a graduate of Brooklyn dangerous than the mafia." A few days the elevators of the Federal Building Probably not." He became silent, and I parochial schools, Fordham University, before his appointment as prosecutor one day, a Harrisburg citizen tells me sensed some loss of that great hopeful- and Harvard Law School, class of '53. of the Harrisburg case was announced, "that Pakistani should be shishkabobed ness which had shaped the savage His only private practice consisted of the Justice Department had shrewdly for bringing the country more trouble courage of his past five years. brief stints in stock market and switched Lynch from its Organized than it already has." In the Harrisburg jail Philip Berrigan admiralty law. His features are some- Crime Section—of which he was the Eqbal is an exquisitely polite man can receive visits only from co- what puffy, one can barely discern the head—to its Internal Security Division. with dazzling white teeth and large defendants and relatives. We occasion- pale blue of his spectacled eyes under- A matter of image. He would express, dark divergent eyes which give him an ally look at each other across the neath the heavy pink eyelid and the both in and out of court, his fervent abstracted look. The inclusion of this courtroom, and I flash him a peace streak of blond eyebrow. He favors belief that he was prosecuting danger- sophisticated, agnostic Third World sign as old and as worn as the decade. fastidiously traditional clothes. One of ous and common criminals, and de- radical in the unschooled Catholic Elizabeth McAlister sits next to his favorite costumes is a very pale fending not only his nation but his melee is another oddity of the Harris- Philip Berrigan every day in the Harris- gray suit, a white shirt, and a check- Church against the infidel. To someone burg trial. Eqbal traveled for a year burg courtroom, taking notes on the ered tie of two alternating hues of challenging his assertion that the chief with Mahatma Gandhi, writes and trial with academic punctiliousness. light silver, in which he presents a government witness, the informer Boyd speaks fluent English, French, Arabic, There, is wit and great stubbornness in spectral image of shimmering, flaxen Douglas, had a "sterling character": and Urdu, received his doctorate from- her mercurial blue eyes. Her hair has .roundness. "Boyd Douglas," Lynch countered «. • 36 r4-c The New York

growth." "There's cancerous growth, growth, cancerous "There's growth."

with unaccustomed softness in his his in softness unaccustomed with

said, his complexion rising, "as in the the in "as rising, complexion his said, voice, "is a man of compassion and and compassion of man a "is voice,

When I first watched Boyd Douglas Douglas Boyd watched first I When

too," someone quipped. "Yes," Lynch Lynch "Yes," quipped. someone too,"

an example of growth in violence." violence." in growth of example an

case of Philip Berrigan." "What do you you do "What Berrigan." Philip of case

mean, Mr. Lynch?" "Philip Berrigan is is Berrigan "Philip Lynch?" Mr. mean,

since entering FBI custody in January, January, in custody FBI entering since

some man. His expression remains remains expression His man. some

had last seen him. Stripped of this new new this of Stripped him. seen last had

lozenged tie. tie. lozenged

sionally becomes coquettish: when he he when coquettish: becomes sionally

corpulence he could be a very hand- very a be could he corpulence

predominantly arrogant and scowling scowling and arrogant predominantly of great confidence and surliness. His His surliness. and confidence great of

throughout the trial, although it occa- it although trial, the throughout

1970, when some of the defendants defendants the of some when 1970,

style jacket, an orange shirt, a purple- a shirt, orange an jacket, style lawyers read some document and his his and document some read lawyers

is not being questioned, when the the when questioned, being not is

old. He enlisted in the US Army in in Army US the in enlisted He old.

scrutinizes the jurors with a sly, flirta- sly, a with jurors the scrutinizes ally handsome nose, sharp and fine. He He fine. and sharp nose, handsome ally chest was thrust rigorously forward, his his forward, rigorously thrust was chest

out whose mother committed suicide suicide committed mother whose out

mouth twisted into a defiant pout. He He pout. defiant a into twisted mouth

eyes are free to roam the room, he he room, the roam to free are eyes

brown hair, the beginning of sideburns. sideburns. of beginning the hair, brown

medium-cut, neatly parted, glossy dark dark glossy parted, neatly medium-cut, of him is in a Chagall-blue hunting hunting Chagall-blue a in is him of is about five feet nine and solidly solidly and nine feet five about is

lidded chestnut brown eyes, an unusu- an eyes, brown chestnut lidded by drowning when he was eight years years eight was he when drowning by

built, has a strong rectangular face, face, rectangular strong a has built,

He has a slightly jutting chin, heavy- chin, jutting slightly a has He

sexuality. He favors flamboyant flamboyant favors He sexuality. tious look. look. tious

walk into court, he gave the impression impression the gave he court, into walk

emanates a powerful all-American-boy all-American-boy powerful a emanates

TIPI1Pr corn corn TIPI1Pr

clothes, and my most vivid recollection recollection vivid most my and clothes,

1959, at the age of eighteen. His His eighteen. of age the at 1959,

father, a restless, itinerant pipeline pipeline itinerant restless, a father, he joined the army, and whom he he whom and army, the joined he

work

He has gained some thirty pounds pounds thirty some gained has He

Boyd Douglas is a high-school drop- high-school a is Douglas Boyd

r with Nvh^nt Nvh^nt with r

qffnin aftPr th•21- tinna tinna th•21- aftPr qffnin

V V

Boyd Boyd

tray.1

-d u"*" u"*" -d

arrived at the Federal Penitentiary at at Penitentiary Federal the at arrived

arms. Having sued the government for for government the sued Having arms.

shuttling between the American Dream Dream American the between shuttling escape from the Federal Reformatory in in Reformatory Federal the from escape

swindler who had spent the Sixties Sixties the spent had who swindler

charge from the army, Douglas first first Douglas army, the from charge study genetic properties of human human of properties genetic study tions of emulsions into his muscles. His His muscles. his into emulsions of tions

reactions were severe, and he was left left was he and severe, were reactions

Institutes of Health experiment to to experiment Health of Institutes with long deep scars on his legs and and legs his on scars deep long with

proteins, which called for several injec- several for called which proteins,

states and for pulling a Beretta gun on on gun Beretta a pulling for and states

James Scranton. Scranton. James the FBI agent who apprehended him in in him apprehended who agent FBI the

aliases of William Cook, Robert Hall, Hall, Robert Cook, William of aliases

erick Gordon, David Summerfield, Summerfield, David Gordon, erick

three charges. After another attempted attempted another After charges. three

places and prison is a curious mixture mixture curious a is prison and places

years, to run concurrently, on each of of each on concurrently, run to years,

Milwaukee. Milwaukee.

from the institute illegally a few few a illegally institute the from teered as guinea pig for a National National a for pig guinea as teered

Robert Edward Gray, Donald Rogers, Rogers, Donald Gray, Edward Robert

interstate transportation of some some of transportation interstate Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, in April, April, in Pennsylvania, Lewisburg,

1963. While in Lewisburg he volun- he Lewisburg in While 1963.

"The Wall"—in January, 1968. For the the For 1968. January, Wall"—in "The

freedom. He was again arrested for for arrested again was He freedom.

Meredith Dickinson, Charles Gray, Gray, Charles Dickinson, Meredith

Dr. James Link Shipley, Carl Strand, Strand, Carl Shipley, Link James Dr.

months before he could have had his his had have could he before months

Reno, Nevada, he returned to Lewis- to returned he Nevada, Reno, cashiers or bank clerks that he was a a was he that clerks bank or cashiers

of successes and defeats. It seemed seemed It defeats. and successes of

brief periods of freedom under the the under freedom of periods brief Robert Blake, James Brow, Captain Captain Brow, James Blake, Robert $20,000 worth of forged checks in two two in checks forged of worth $20,000

easy for Douglas to persuade hotel hotel persuade to Douglas for easy

Ronald Gray, Bob C. Hill, Jr., Fred- Jr., Hill, C. Bob Gray, Ronald rich playboy, but impossible for him him for impossible but playboy, rich

to continue to play the role con- role the play to continue to $2 million in damages, he absconded absconded he damages, in million $2

previous eight years, he had lived his his lived had he years, eight previous

burg Federal Penitentiary—known as as Penitentiary—known Federal burg

vincingly for more than a few months. months. few a than more for vincingly

future role, Douglas would overstep his his overstep would Douglas role, future

Always living in the fantasy of a still still a of fantasy the in living Always

The career of this shrewd, handsome handsome shrewd, this of career The

Having received an unsuitable dis- unsuitable an received Having

Douglas received sentences of five five of sentences received Douglas

um um

NOW IN PRINT.. PRINT.. IN NOW

A QUARTER MILLION MILLION QUARTER A

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MOO ti OMER MEMO MOM MIMI MOM OMEN MENEM= MEM MOMS - Mil OMEN OMEN Mil - MOMS MEM MENEM= OMEN MOM MIMI MOM MEMO OMER ti MOO

A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO A NEW WAY OF TEACHING TEACHING OF WAY NEW A TO GUIDE PRACTICAL A

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postpaid. postpaid.

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Caribbean islands, and Miami. Usually Usually Miami. and islands, Caribbean

fly from Mexico to Canada, to live it it live to Canada, to Mexico from fly

up at hotels in Acapulco, Reno, the the Reno, Acapulco, in hotels at up

he was unmasked and sent back to to back sent and unmasked was he

stolen money to go bear hunting in the the in hunting bear go to money stolen

prison. prison.

Northwest, to charter private planes to to planes private charter to Northwest, sonated others and lived out numerous numerous out lived and others sonated officer. He used forged checks and and checks forged used He officer.

dreams of power. He posed as an army army an as posed He power. of dreams Throughout the Sixties Douglas imper- Douglas Sixties the Throughout

stockade, was charged with AWOL, AWOL, with charged was stockade, of aliases, passed $60,000 worth of of worth $60,000 passed aliases, of

was caught in December, 1962. 1962. December, in caught was

bad checks in nine states before skip- before states nine in checks bad

defrauded hotels, and, under a variety variety a under and, hotels, defrauded

B days later. Within the following two two following the Within later. days years he escaped from another military military another from escaped he years

ping to the Acapulco Hilton, where he he where Hilton, Acapulco the to ping

Stockade for inquiry, and escaped six six escaped and inquiry, for Stockade

Kong, he was sent to the Presidio Presidio the to sent was he Kong,

first serious conviction occurred while while occurred conviction serious first he was stationed in Korea. Charged Charged Korea. in stationed was he

with committing larceny in Hong Hong in larceny committing with

money while still of school age, but his his but age, school of still while money

Jurie1;11

knowledge to experience guilt. guilt. experience to knowledge

difference between truth and lying, lying, and truth between difference

estranged from reality to know the the know to reality from estranged

who did not have enough self- self- enough have not did who

logical story of a child who had never never had who child a of story logical

could only see his life as the patho- the as life his see only could

revealed in the Harrisburg courtroom, I I courtroom, Harrisburg the in revealed

crime, fraud, and impersonation were were impersonation and fraud, crime,

never saw again after that time, once once time, that after again saw never

he joined the army, and whom he he whom and army, the joined he old. He enlisted in the US Army in in Army US the in enlisted He old.

father, a restless, itinerant pipeline pipeline itinerant restless, a father,

been loved by anyone, a man too too man a anyone, by loved been

commented that his son had never told told never had son his that commented the truth in his life. As the facts of of facts the As life. his in truth the

this informer's astonishing record of of record astonishing informer's this

worker with whom Boyd traveled until until traveled Boyd whom with worker

1959, at the age of eighteen. His His eighteen. of age the at 1959,

by drowning when he was eight years years eight was he when drowning by

out whose mother committed suicide suicide committed mother whose out

oyd oyd

Boyd Douglas Douglas Boyd

Douglas had already stolen stolen already had Douglas

912‘ 912‘

is is

a high-school drop- high-school a

Berrigan was captured and sent to to sent and captured was Berrigan

against the National Insitutes of of Insitutes National the against

apartment off campus for which he he which for campus off apartment

Health. Health.

Bucknell, three months before Philip Philip before months three Bucknell,

paid with money earned from his suit suit his from earned money with paid

of prison six days a week from 7 A.M. A.M. 7 from week a days six prison of

to stay at the college until later hours. hours. later until college the at stay to

He was even allowed to rent an an rent to allowed even was He to 6 P.M., and often given dispensation dispensation given often and P.M., 6 to

his criminal record: he was allowed out out allowed was he record: criminal his

from the prison. He was admitted admitted was He prison. the from

of the Susquehanna River, two miles miles two River, Susquehanna the of

him were extraordinary for a man with with man a for extraordinary were him

there as a "special student" in January, January, in student" "special a as there

a small liberal arts college by the bank bank the by college arts liberal small a

1970. The privileges conferred upon upon conferred privileges The 1970. sheltering security he never experi- never he security sheltering system seemed to offer him his first first his him offer to seemed system

enced as a child. child. a as enced

release program at Bucknell University, University, Bucknell at program release someone who perpetually needs to to needs perpetually who someone

for Boyd Douglas, and the prison prison the and Douglas, Boyd for

chance at rehabilitation. The previous previous The rehabilitation. at chance

the only protection he knows, the the knows, he protection only the

lonely, motherless childhood; also as as also childhood; motherless lonely,

fall, while still in medium security at at security medium in still while fall,

which had been tragically lacking in his his in lacking tragically been had which

return to jail as if prison prison if as jail to return

In 1970 life suddenly changed changed suddenly life 1970 In Lewisburg, he applied for the student student the for applied he Lewisburg,

fantasies of power and self-indulgence self-indulgence and power of fantasies

Boyd Douglas as a man driven by by driven man a as Douglas Boyd

rested and unmasked. One could see see could One unmasked. and rested

bounds, become too greedy, get ar- get greedy, too become bounds, cashiers or bank clerks that he was a a was he that clerks bank or cashiers future role, Douglas would overstep his his overstep would Douglas role, future

vincingly for more than a few months. months. few a than more for vincingly

easy for Douglas to persuade hotel hotel persuade to Douglas for easy

of successes and defeats. It seemed seemed It defeats. and successes of

pidL,es pidL,es

rich playboy, but impossible for him him for impossible but playboy, rich to continue to play the role con- role the play to continue to

Always living in the fantasy of a still still a of fantasy the in living Always

Immediately upon his arrival at at arrival his upon Immediately

alai alai

prison is a curious mixture mixture curious a is prison

VI VI

offers him him offers

STATE STATE

Now in its Third Printing Printing Third its in Now

TELLS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AT AT HAPPENED REALLY WHAT TELLS

EXPOSE OF 1970." 1970." OF EXPOSE

OF WHAT 'JUSTICE' CAN MEAN IN IN MEAN CAN 'JUSTICE' WHAT OF

THIS COUNTRY." COUNTRY." THIS

"...A DEVASTATING CASE STUDY STUDY CASE DEVASTATING "...A 1.

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The Killings at Kent State State Kent at Killings The

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37 37 4

Lewisburg, Douglas went out of his clamped a heavy lid on Douglas's ular had been thrown into a state of meddlesome, perpetually offering his way to frequent antiwar students and federal records? Why were other cru- turmoil when one Berrigan went under- services, constantly producing more teachers, particularly Professor Richard cial FBI memos on Douglas never ground and the other was finally than he was asked for, a real Move- Drinnon, chairman of Bucknell's his- released to the defense? imprisoned, held incommunicado in a ment busybody, Douglas instigated tory department, and Professor Gene One of the most interesting theories maximum security cell. Many Catholic many of his Catholic friends' conversa- Chenoweth, head of political science. is that the government offered Douglas radicals were beginning to sense the tions about antiwar actions. He also In his métier of impostor, Douglas had the privileges of being an informer in futility of the draft board raids which organized many of the visitors' meet- always been most skillfUl at the first order to silence his suit against the they had been the first to carry out. ings at Bucknell which would later be stages of conning—charming and seduc- National Institutes of Health, which The raids were being ignored both by cited in the indictment of the Harris- ing his victims. Introducing himself to had ended in a $15,000 settlement too the government, which did not wish to burg Seven as conspiratorial acts. Philip Berrigan after chapel the first measly for Douglas. (The (defense dramatize their frequency by prose- It is interesting to note that the Sunday after the priest's arrival at sugg6sted in 'court that he had cuting them, and by the satiated press. person most heavily implicated by Lewisburg Prison, Douglas posed as a scratched his scars to initiate the suit.) There was alSo the growing realiza- Boyd's testimony at the trial, next to fervent new convert to the peace Other theories argue that he was a CIA tion that the tactics of 1968 had Philip Berrigan and Elizabeth Mc- movement. And he became the courier or a CIA-FBI informer of the kind brought pitifully little change. The Alister, was Joseph Wenderoth, Doug- for the unauthorized and wildly in- common to many universities. Still mystique of bearing witness by going las's most frequent visitor. Whereas cautious correspondence between Eliza- others speculate that he was originally to jail was also losing its force. Many Mary and Anthony Scoblick, who beth McAlister and Philip Berrigan a Federal Bureau of Prisons-FBI plant of the men who had sacrificed their came to Bucknell only two or three within a week of the priest's arrival at assigned to survey the community of - freedom had come out of prison with times, were the least implicated of the prison. Berrigan had been placed in antiwar resisters at Lewisburg and their shattered marriages, shattered lives, lost group, along with Eqbal Ahmad, who maximum security, and denied the supporters outside the wall, and only to the Movement. About ten of the never came to Bucknell at all, and right to any correspondence beyond later enlisted to run down Daniel original draft board raiders, including never even heard of Boyd Douglas his immediate family. Boyd Douglas, Berrigan. Mary Moylan of the Catonsville Nine, until after the indictment came down. who bicycled between prison and cam- had chosen to go underground and It was a most untraditional conspiracy. pus, carried the letters out in his In the first political impersonation were at large, extolling a new strategy Eqbal had never even heard of the college notebook, had them copied by of his life—that of the convict eager to of underground aqion. The Catholic tunnel project until after the indict- two of his Bucknell girlfriends, and work in the antiwar movement- left was attempting alliances with mili- ment. "Why didn't you tell me about made- Xerox copies which he later gave that idiotic tunnel idea?" he asked to the FBI. Joseph Wenderoth when they met after "Quite a witness you have there," the indictment. "How could we, Eq," someone says to Lynch at a court Joe had replied, "we were never seri- recess during Boyd Douglas's testi- ous about it." mony. "We didn't choose him," the prosecutor snaps. He points to the defendants. "They did." VII However tortured 1970 may have he government at the Harrisburg T been for the Berrigans' friends and the trial, and Douglas himself, argued that Catholic left, it was the cushiest year he had frequented antiwar persons at of Boyd Douglas's life. After a decade Bucknell because he wanted "freedom of impersonating at great risk, he of movement." He said he had copied could, for the first time, impersonate the Berrigan-McAlister letters for a with no risk at all under the govern- while out of patriotic duty, because he ment's protection, and even be paid was alarmed by their implications, with for it. For the first time, lying offered the eventual prospect of turning them him unmitigated freedom. Besides, he over to the FBI when there was must have liked the campus's Move- enough evidence; and that he was ment life, with its easy access to pot, forced to turn informer to avoid liquor. and chicks—three important in- prosecution for contraband, after one gredients in Douglas's periods of free- of the letters he had smuggled was .inn, Pnr ilnnnlo do t, lant ff-tr eu.,11,11 01 impeistindult6 al gicai 11Jn , ac of movement. " He said he had copied could, for the first time, impersonate the Berrigan-McAlister letters for a with no risk at all under the govern- while out of patriotic duty, because he ment 's protection, and even be paid was alarmed by their implications, with for it. For the first time, lying offered the eventual prospect of turning them him unmitigated freedom. Besides, he over to the FBI when there was must have liked the campus's Move- enough evidence; and that he was ment life, with its easy access to pot, forced to turn informer to avoid liquor, and chicks— three important in- prosecution for contraband, after one gredients in Douglas's periods of free- of the letters he had smuggled was dom. For Douglas's talent for sexual found inside a copy of Time Magazine seduction seemed as great as his gift during a routine shakedown of Philip for role-playing. According to a Buck- Berrigan 's cell. nell professor, Douglas "prided himself I believe, along with many of the Douglas was quickly and remarkably tant ethnic and student coalitions on being a cocksman." Bucknell and Lewisburg people, that successful in making his way into the which did not share the Catholics' views on nonviolence. In Bucknell 's small antiwar com- the government 's story is untrue, that Berrigan milieu. Within a week of the munity Douglas shrewdly used his girls Boyd Douglas was a plant from many priest 's arrival at Lewisburg on April t is in this period of great dishevel- to build himself up as a Movement months back — not necessarily a plant 30, 1970, he had not only talked with I ment that the Berrigan milieu had hero. He told them that he was serving to keep watch on the Berrigans, but to Berrigan but had become a trusted entered into discussions about new sentence for conspiring to blow up an infiltrate the general campus and prison member of Berrigan 's inner circle. methods of escalation, attempting to army convoy in the California desert, complex in a small university town Meeting daily with Berrigan in prison, evolve nonviolent but more dramatic and that he had been given away by a with a tiny but fairly vigorous antiwar Douglas also met at Bucknell with methods of sabotage than were offered girl friend turned informer. He ex- community. There are simply too Elizabeth McAlister, Neil McLaughlin, by the previous draft board raids. And plained that he had received his scars many unanswered questions, which re- Anthony and Mary Scoblick — all of it is in this setting of desperate in a jeep in Vietnam from an explosion main all the more obscure because of whom visited the campus from time to confusion that Boyd Douglas, only which had killed his best buddy. He the defense 's decision not to call any time. He talked even more frequently months after he arrived at Bucknell, gave one of his girls, Jane Hoover, witnesses. with Joseph Wenderoth, who had de- was able to participate in the rambling Willard Gaylin 's book In the Service of How could a high-school dropout cided to serve as liaison man between colloquies that Philip Berrigan and his and told her that part with a criminal record of violence and the Bucknell community and the Their Country, of it was about him. ("I felt that this three evasions, who had emerged from Catholic left at large. Wenderoth made friends had initiated about several was a good thing to tell the Move- maximum to medium security in the the hour and a half drive from his bizarre methods of action. Prominent ment," he would testify in court, "that spring of 1969, be the only one of Baltimore parish to Lewisburg every among these was a discussion — which, I was involved in political crime rather Lewisburg's 1,400 inmates admitted to fortnight or so during that spring and however extensive, never seems to have than in criminal crime.") His political the student release program that same summer to meet with Douglas, and gone beyond the investigative stage - lies were mixed with many others: He year? (The only prisoners admitted to evolved what he thought was a deep concerning -the possibility of destroying had been football hero at Ohio State, the program during The preceding two friendship with the convict. heating tunnels in Washington, DC, he had cancer and six months to live years were two disbarred lawyers in It is possible that Boyd Douglas, federal buildings. Later, as we shall see, and wished Jane Hoover to marry him minimum security.) a master at fraud, could have deceived he was able to report to the FBI an

Without an intimate connection with a group of trusting religious even more ephemeral fantasy about and give him six months of happiness.

FBI and prison authorities, how could people at any moment in the past kidnaping Henry Kissinger. Living an 8 A.M. to 6 P.M. life at

Douglas get access to the highly classi- years. But the cunning of government Boyd Douglas is remembered by the Bucknell, where he ate his meals at the

fied prison records which he brought and of informer were sharpened by a peace people at Bucknell as a mild- Phi Lambda Theta fraternity, Douglas

Professor Drinnon between February curious historical coincidence: Boyd mannered, quiet, pleasant though oc- became a big man on campus by

and April? These included photocopies Douglas had infiltrated the Catholic casionally moody man who always talking profusely about his antiwar

of his list of convictions, of the ethnic left at its moment of greatest disarray, wore dark glasses. To Philip Berrigan 's activism and his friendship with Philip

breakdown at Lewisburg Prison, and of and was able to exploit its bitter friends he was a desperately needed Berrigan. He also had an off-campus

special processing orders for Philip and confusion. In May and June, 1970, link to the imprisoned priest. Inside apartment, which he shared with a

Daniel Berrigan which Douglas brought after the invasion of Cambodia and the The Wall this convict who bicycled out draft card 'burner named Tom Love,

to Drinnon before Philip had even Kent State killings, the peace move- of jail every morning seems to have asking no rent. Douglas took easily to

arrived at "The Wall." ment in general was in a mood of become the priest 's alter ego, a substi- Movement sloganeering. He wrote a

Why has the Justice Department desperation. The Catholic left in partic- tute for his lost freedom. Amiably letter to Susan Williams, a Rochester

38 The New lioric Review 4' .

activist, in which he described himself may sound a little high, but Boyd's most serious act as a pro- testify before the Harrisburg Grand as "a committed nonviolent revolu- considering everything, I feel it is vocateur was handing two ROTC man- Jury. tionary who believes in strategic sabo- worth it to the government and it uals on explosives to Joseph Wende- One wonders to what extent Boyd tage" (signing the letter, "Take care— will make a life for me. I will do roth, whose few fingerprints on these Douglas had been touched by the right on—peace—Boyd. P.S. Please all I can to help the government volumes became the principal material Movement people who had offered him destroy this"). In his notes to Move- obtain enough evidence to prose- evidence for the alleged tunnel plot. In affection and warmth, perhaps for the cute these people concerned. How- ment persons he also copied slogans accordance with Douglas's wish to pose ever, I don't want to feel that I first time of his life. Bucknell's head to the Berrigan milieu as an expert on librarian, Zoia Horn, says that he had from Elizabeth McAlister and Philip am just being used. I know these Berrigan which he had acquired from people may not bother me, but explosives, Molly Mayfield had non- always talked of Philip and Elizabeth, studying their letters, such as the the only way I will be able to feel chalantly acquired the manuals for the Joe and Neil, with tears in his eyes. phrase "Z lives." When asked in court comfortable, is to take some pre- informer from the Bucknell ROTC Was this simply brilliant acting? Or is what it stood for, he ventured: caution as they are the cream of office, an interesting instance of the Joe Wenderoth accurate in estimating "Zorro." the Catholic left. This figure government's uses of university facili- that Boyd had a strong and equal need doesn't account for expenses be- ties. According to Molly, Douglas did to form friendships and to destroy tween now and the time for hroughout the months of 1970 when not confess this act to the FBI until them? On February 15 he called Betsy T trial.... he was informing on the Berrigan March of 1971, when, in preparation Sandel, a Bucknell girl he'd offered to milieu, Boyd Douglas would report his Boyd Douglas was not always told for the second indictment, Molly and marry, and talked for forty-five min- findings to _a trio of Lewisburg FBI what specific disclosure he was being Boyd talked for five weeks in Phoenix, utes about the "patriotic duty" that agents: Richard Rogers, Philip Morris, paid for. The government's financial Arizona, to "straighten out dis- had compelled him to disclose the and Delmar (Molly) Mayfield. May- niggardliness toward its informer came I crepancies" in Boyd's testimony. Lewisburg events. He grew violently field, a tall, mournful, beaten-faced out most clearly when court testimony The FBI's indifference, its lack of - angry, Betsy reports, at her suggestion man of thirty-seven who looked fifty revealed that he had been awarded control over Douglas's acts, is appalling that he had acted for money, and hung and whose wife was a leader of the only $200 for enabling the FBI to even if it had not been aware that he up. League of Women Voters in Lewis- capture Daniel Berrigan through a hint was also a provocateur. This use of a Four weeks later—after a brief FBI- burg, was Boyd's "handling agent." dropped in one of Elizabeth McAlis- man with a pathological record of managed stay in Omaha, where he was Boyd and Molly—who referred to FBI ter's apprehended letters. A small pit- lying and violence, let loose upon a discovered by the press—Boyd Douglas headquarters as "SOG" ("seat of gov- tance, since the capture of Daniel sheltered campus, offering guns, ex- was married and living in Phoenix, ernment")—were each other's meal Berrigan had been the principal target plosives manuals, and advice for the Arizona, where the FBI had provided ticket. Molly had recently been trans- of the FBI's surveillance system at destruction of buildings to students, him with a job at Motorola and a ferred from Philadelphia to Lewisburg, Lewisburg throughout the spring and teachers, and visiting priests, seems to Master Charge Credit Card. Joseph hardly a promotion. He seemed to summer of 1970, and since all informa- me one of the shoddiest chapters to Wenderoth, who knew Boyd as inti- relish this first important assignment as tion compiled by Douglas had been date in the annals of government mately as any of the defendants, a great boost to his career, and said on placed in a "Daniel Berrigan file" at infiltration. believes that the FBI also suggested As for Boyd's conduct, it remains the stand that he hadn't been bothered FBI headquarters. that he get married, to keep him out singularly interesting even if the govern- by Douglas's criminal record. "This is the first time officially I of scrapes and improve his image. As for Boyd, he would pressure had any knowledge that I led to his ment had not been apprised of the Boyd's new alias was Robert Dunne, Molly to get him as much money as capture," Douglas announced on the ways he tried to incite people to take and he had grown a mustache. The possible from the FBI headquarters stand when he learned of this fact. violent action. It reveals the psycholo- FBI took him next to Des Moines, (the funds were paid for "information And his voice had that ambivalence of gy of the informer who, not sharing where it got him a job as a men's wear on crimes against the United States"). pride and petulance which seemed the language or values of the infiltrated salesman in a department store. In Molly would pass on Boyd's requests. characteristic of him, the fantasy of group, and threatened by mistrust, December, 1970, the government The FBI would then wheedle them self-importance mingled with anger may become a provocateur to prove started paying him a $36 a day witness down by a large percent, as in its toward the authorities who had duped his commitment. It also expresses that fee in preparation for the trial. In his payment for the disclosure of the him once again. Indeed, the way the simultaneous drive toward power and next role, that of government witness, Rochester draft board action, for government and Boyd Douglas conned self-defeat peculiar to Boyd. For Boyd Douglas seemed to enjoy imper- which Boyd had asked $2,000 and each other is one of the most inter- nothing more greatly weakened his sonating the conservative, law and received $1,500. In this soukh where esting and least revealed stories of the credibility as a government witness— order young American for the benefit they bargained over the price of Harrisburg case—one that we may ex- and his future as an informer—than his of the stolid Harrisburg jury. "What do others' freedom Floyd knew that hP pPrt to read when Boyd writes his admissions that he worked behind the you mean by the Movement?" he was was getting-the raw deal, and kept a memoirs. FBI's back. Given a blank check on once asked in court. "Panthers, freedom for the first time in his life, SDS all the nuts in this country " 1 few cards hidden up his sleeve. In (the funds were paw tor mot

on crimes against the United States").

payment for the disclosure of the The FBI would then wheedle them Rochester draft board action, for Molly would pass on Boyd's requests.

which Boyd had asked $2,000 and

an honorable discharge from the army government released this embarrassing letter asking for $50,000 tax free and others' freedom, Boyd knew that he received $1,500. In this soukh where October, 1970, Boyd wrote Molly a few cards hidden up his sleeve. In they bargained over the price of was getting the raw deal, and kept a down by a large percent, as in its speculated, out of court, that Boyd

read, in part: letter during the trial, defense lawyers the government in mind. Boyd's letter had kept a copy of the letter and had in exchange for his services. When the with some form of blackmail toward

been threatening to release it himself,

.11frie. 14

used for a new car soon. I have Dear Molly.

never owned a car. Can you get ward and thank you. This will be

month. just returned from Asia, etc. I will semester, should I wish to con- obtain a transcript of my grades me some expense money this need an honorable discharge from the army so that I can settle out sity or go into a small business out here at Bucknell at the end of this west and it will look as though I

tinue at some university out west. or trials, I request a minimum west. I may either continue at a univer-

in December, 1970, and the rest at reward of $50,000 (tax free). through before and after the trial

the start of the trial or when $5,000 be paid me the first week things are blown wide open. With this I could start a small business

or continue at college. This figure

Thank the bureau for the re-

After my cover is gone, I will

Considering what I will go

1 97

mutton

characteristic of him, the fantasy of self-importance mingled with anger

pride and petulance which seemed him once again. Indeed, the way the toward the authorities who had duped government and Boyd Douglas conned each other is one of the most inter- T esting and least revealed stories of the

pect to read when Boyd writes his Harrisburg case—one that we may ex-

memoirs.

aware that Boyd Douglas was not only an informer but a provocateur? This

remains another one of the mysteries of the Harrisburg trial. Molly Mayfield

facts: mournfully claimed under oath that McAlister when he heard of the alleged the FBI did not know the following kidnaping project.

lic friends' dormant or rejected plans,

Boyd initiated most of the telephone ants from the Lewisburg laundromat conversations he had with the defend-

where he conducted much of his

a letter suggesting that he stage a The defense implied in cross-examina- business.

destruction of Bucknell's ROTC building, and verbally incited many other

Bucknell persons to civil disobedience. vania. state capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsyl-

Molly Mayfield—that Boyd had sub- tion that Boyd had even suggested to a mitted as his own, for ,publication in The Bucknellian, Bucknell coed that she blow up the asked that it be signed anonymously, Movement which had actually been written by Philip Berrigan. (Boyd had

"By a Revolutionary," yet with charac-

it be broadcast about campus that he

teristic panache he had also asked that was its author.)

o what extent was the government

Boyd offered a gun to Elizabeth

In an attempt to resurrect his Catho-

He wrote Professor Richard Drinnon

Nor did the FBI know—according to

an article about the

group, and threatened by mistrust,

the language or values of the infiltrated simultaneous drive toward power and may become a provocateur to prove his commitment. It also expresses that nothing more greatly weakened his self-defeat peculiar to Boyd. For

and his future as an informer—than his credibility as a government witness— admissions that he worked behind the

freedom for the first time in his life,

FBI's back. Given a blank check on Boyd again lapsed into fantasies of future power. He again ran grave risks

by raising the ante too fast, too high.

"wanted to get even with the United

the defense at the trial, that he

into his soul. For, as his record of the States," is one of the clearest windows

needed to beat the system every decade shows, he was a man who

minute of the day, and in the most menial of ways. According to one of himself frequently at Bucknell, he poured the Lewisburg residents who saw him student release privileges. "You're day a few hours before returning to

the prison, a flagrant violation of on your breath." "Never mind," Boyd

replied, "I chew Sen-Sen." mad," she once said, "they'll smell if

Bucknell overnight in early January, a few weeks after he was released from

a $4,000 light blue javelin sports car, prison: upon leaving jail he had bought and was carried out blind drunk from

went to Washington, DC, with Betsy the "coming out party" he had given librarian. A few days after the party he himself at the apartment of a Bucknell

Sandel to attend a demonstration at

Hoover's charges against the Berrigans the Justice Department _ protesting own work. Shortly after that event, unbeknown to his acquaintances, he

entered FBI custody and began to —charges overwhelmingly based on his

A remark of Douglas's quoted by

oyd Douglas disappeared from

tumbler of neat Scotch every

salesman in a department store. In

started paying him a $36 a day witness

December, 1970, the government

sonating the conservative, law and next role, that of government witness, fee in preparation for the trial. In his

of the stolid Harrisburg jury. "What do Boyd Douglas seemed to enjoy imper- order young American for the benefit once asked in court. "Panthers, you mean by the Movement?" he was

SDS, ... all the nuts in this country," he answered.

In his opening statement, William

reminiscent of a priest at the pulpit— his hands first clasped, then opened out in Lynch argued, with gestures curiously there was a "unitarian" character to

he claimed, were "training grounds" first count. The old draft board raids, the three objects of his indictment's that the Berrigan-McAlister corres- for the escalation of tactics to the tunnel and kidnapping plots. He then draft board raids had indeed existed,

hended at Lewisburg, and other wit- brought witnesses to testify that the nesses who testified that they remem- pondence had in fact been appre- of the desperate methods the govern- cuss something about tunnels.

bered hearing Joseph Wenderoth dis- antiwar meeting with Wenderoth, was witnesses. Kenneth Filarski, a student

and track star at Catholic University, ment had used to approach such

confronted right on the college track, and J. Philip Krajewski, Lynch's bland during practice, by William Connelly

who later testified he had attended an young assistant prosecutors. Filarski at first refused to talk to them, saying he

They advised him he had better talk to

wanted to consult his own lawyers. his parents. The student received a

tearful call two hours later from his mother, a federal employee in Cleve-

Out of court, one learned of some

"orate Fratres"

V III

gestures—that

39 interim by the FBI to urge her son to

came to testify that she had once quandary when it offered as surprise land who had been called in the acquired overnight in Harrisburg—who cooperate. heard Elizabeth McAlister talking about civil disobedience at a women's antiwar meeting in a Westchester witness a young blond housewife— branch of Schrafft's. One wondered

why the government had taken such

W of meandering discussions—more often pains to call these witnesses at all, for

than not held at open public gatherings they mostly sounded like witnesses for the defense, testifying to the existence

stuck with an obvious lack of hard- as a remarkably skillful technician plans or solid agreements.

—that had never jelled into concrete

core evidence. His principal technique in the trial—one that could have been

brilliantly effective if Douglas had been

more believable—was to try to back up Boyd's testimony. Lynch would read the Berrigan-McAlister letters with

the letters in a clear, flat monotone, would look glumly at the floor. Then

during which time Philip and Elizabeth voice, would elaborate on the conversa- Douglas, in an equally flat, bored

tions and activities of the Catholic left that had been mentioned in the letters.

thirty hours previous to the trial, he long, extraordinarily glib and detailed Having met with Lynch for some

answers, such as the following testi- would deliver in direct examination

mony concerning the alleged tunnel plot:

One further sensed the government's

illiam Lynch struck me throughout

taken the stand, his testimony in sent a case, and Joseph Wenderoth had rebuttal would have been somewhat as turn to the tunnel theme we had summer. I'd tell him, 'We've scrapped follows: "Boyd would return and re- discussed and scrapped by mid-

the idea, Boyd, forget about it.' But scrapped, he said, 'I'll do it myself.' "

got it into his head that it was bring it up again and again and after

there was no telling Boyd no. He'd

months of persistence when we finally

was vastly, different. He was questioned,

knew the number of the genera-

and five. I asked Joseph Wende-

thought there were between three

me he did not know, but that he Joseph Wenderoth whether ten roth about the entrances to the into the tunnel during the day- feet wide and eight feet tall was tor plants in the tunnels. He told

there was no problem in going

that if it was all right, that we tunnel system. He told me that the correct dimension of the tunnel. Joseph Wenderoth told me time. I told Joseph Wenderoth

around in the tunnel. down in the tunnel, or walking that he had no problem in walking would use primer cord.... I asked

you discuss how much would be primer cord was discussed. Did

locations of the tunnel system. needed ... to effect what you in- tended to effect in this project?

roth told me that we would use

primer cord in approximately five

n cross-examination Douglas's- style If the defense had decided to pre-

I asked Joseph Wenderoth if he

Lynch: You mentioned that

Douglas: Yes. Joseph Wende-

Clark, Terry Lenzner, Thomas Menaker,

in turn, by defense lawyers Ramsey

William Cunningham, Si., Paul O'Dwy-

swering—understandably, for he often contradicted himself. Douglas had told er, and Leonard Boudin. He would offer interminable pauses before an- cock his head toward the ceiling, and

the grand jury that he himself offered

it had been Berrigan's idea. He had

to carry letters from Berrigan out of asked him to contact Elizabeth McAlis- the penitentiary: he told the court that

told the grand jury that Drinnon had

ter: he told the court that Berrigan had instructed him to do so.

testified that he had expressed al), mony with equal ease. One day he

proval for Philip Berrigan's antiwar position and his philosophy of draft

he had ever talked to the priest about few days later he vehemently denied board raids upon first meeting him. A

"played handball and went to movies." contradictions. "There's a lot of testi- the war in the first month of their acquaintanceship, and said that, although they met daily, they mostly He remained cool when faced with his he once explained, "that refreshes my Douglas the most grueling cross- memory when I testify." mony I'm giving in this courtroom," trial lawyer of the defense team, gave shielding his eyes, he would alternate a examination of his two and a half weeks in the courtroom. Standing by

the informer, his great black eyebrows

demanding, harassing tone with a patient, paternal one. Douglas, his chin

frequently glance toward Lynch. And thrust forward in an angry pout, would

He contradicted his own court testi-

Paul O'Dwyer, the most experienced

even in this most skillful of cross- examinations, the truth of Boyd's intentions—and of the FBI's—remained shrouded in the shrewd vagueness of

his adverbs. A typical example:

such frequent responses that several

as controlled as ever. One was dazzled impertinent and restless, but remained most gifted lawyers Douglas grew bly."

times Douglas slipped and said "Prossi- to trust Boyd Douglas so blindly? How by his resilience. I understood at add, who could no longer remain alive cool, accomplished artist. A man, they examination by some of the country's did Philip Berrigan and Elizabeth people outside Lewisburg prison come McAlister become his victims? for one hour in any of the nation's the end of the trial why some former jails.

Lewisburg convicts admire him as a (This is the first of two articles on the

Harrisburg trial.)

O'Dwyer: Did you tell them [the

out on parole? working for the FBI after you got

FBI] that you wished to continue

that.... Douglas: It's possible

O'Dwyer: Did you intend to make a career out of this?

O'Dwyer: Was the $1,500 you

Douglas: Possibly, yes. received for the Rochester disclosure an inspiration for the

"Probably" and "Possibly" were Molly letter?

Douglas: Partially.

Some questions remain: how did After almost two weeks of cross-

I said