Weathermen Violence: Someone Remembers

I received a comment from the daughter of police officer who lost his friend and fellow officer in a Black Liberation Army murder, known as the Brinks robbery of 1981, in Nyack, New York. Bill Ayers' fellow Weather Underground bomber, Kathy Boudin, as well as other Weathermen, was involved in the Nyack shootings. I've asked for permission to add the comment here, so let's begin with this from Christine:

The first time I ever saw my Father cry was the day his friend Officer Brown was shot in the line of duty by the Weather Underground, in my hometown of Nyack NY. Later, Dad was asked to serve as a sharpshooter on the courthouse roof at the arraignment of the survivors (several of them died too at the shootout over a Brinks truck they were trying to steal). Dad refused that job, he didn't trust himself to be just to the Greenwich Village protesters who'd traveled up from the city to hurl racial slurs at our dead in support of the criminals. Officer Brown's fiancee worked at Nyack hospital with my Mom. The whole hospital was convulsed as they had to care for the wounded killers as well as their neighbors. How ironic that a movement supposedly in favor of lifting up African Americans did their work by shooting an African American man well known for mentoring young men in our town. Has Ayers repented from his works, or merely implemented them in a respectable place? I was in 6th grade when I saw where his ideas lead.

Christine has further clarified to me that it was not the Weather Underground but the Black Liberation Army that caused the deaths, but as I told her, there is a definite connection between the two. William Ayers continues to say that the Weathermen ALWAYS notified their bomb targets that a bomb would be exploding within minutes. Hofstra University Professor Alan Singer, a spokesman for a recent petition in support of Bill Ayers' "character," a petition with some-3200 signatures, recently said in an interview that Ayers' actions placed no one's life was in jeopardy. We know that is not true. Here is how Christine's story is related to Bill Ayers? After the Weather Underground's extensive and successful bombings of U.S. Federal buildings, the group's bomb makers huddled in a New York townhouse basement, building a bomb to blow up a military dance at Fort Dix, NJ. The bomb blew early...killing three Weathermen - one of which was Bill Ayers' love interest, and sending one occupant who was taking a shower at the time of the explosion, into the streets, naked and bleeding. Her name is Kathy Boudin and she is a Weather Undergrounder. The townhouse owner, and also a Weatherman, Cathy Wilkerson, also survived.

The Townhouse No lives at jeopardy?

Meanwhile, the fire consumed the townhouse as gas lines exploded and windows shattered into the street. But firefighters were able to get hoses on the inferno quickly and soon, it was brought under control. In the early evening, a man's body was found in the basement and a short time later, a woman's torso was discovered on the first floor. Police also found several handbags with personal identifications that were stolen from college students over the previous few months. Late that same night, cops located at least 60 sticks of dynamite, a live military antitank shell, blasting caps and several large metal pipes packed solid with explosives. Neighbors, including actor Dustin Hoffman, who lived next door, began leaving in droves. Read here.

Boudin and the Weather Underground were now forever tied with the first domestic terrorism building bombing in New York City. Eleven years after the self-detonation of the bomb makers in the townhouse, Boudin came out of hiding and for whatever reasons, and joined the Black Liberation Army. In Nyack, New York the plan was to hold up a Brinks security truck. Boudin was slated to drive the getaway vehicle, and David Gilbert (at times identified as Boudin's husband) was there also. The heavily armed and trigger-happy Black Liberation Army quickly shot one security guard dead and critically wounded a second, took the money, and jumped in the back of Boudin's getaway truck.

Kathy Boudin

They sped away with the BLA in the back of the truck. In the resulting chaos, Gilbert was at the wheel and Boudin in the passenger seat. Two police officers stopped the getaway truck. Members of the Black Liberation Army broke from the back of the truck and mowed down the officers in cold blood. The dead were Sergeant Edward O'Grady, and Officer Waverly Brown. Officer Brown was Christine's father's friend and fellow officer. He was an Air Force veteran of the Korean War. He was the first Black American member of Nyack's police department, and had served his community as a policeman for 15 years at the time of his murder. His friends called him "Chipper."

Later, Dad was asked to serve as a sharpshooter on the courthouse roof at the arraignment of the survivors (several of them died too at the shootout over a Brinks truck they were trying to steal). Dad refused that job, he didn't trust himself to be "just" to the Greenwich Village protesters who'd traveled up from the city to hurl racial slurs at our dead in support of the criminals. Officer Brown's fiancee worked at Nyack hospital with my Mom. The whole hospital was convulsed as they had to care for the wounded killers as well as their neighbors. How ironic that a movement supposedly in favor of lifting up African Americans [BLA] did their work by shooting an African American man well known for mentoring young men in our town. Has Ayers repented from his works, or merely implemented them in a respectable place? I was in 6th grade when I saw where his ideas lead.

Kathy Boudin said she was just a "white decoy" in the whole affair. She had a 14 month old son at the time of the Black Liberation Army murders. Boudin spent 22 years of a 20 years-to-life sentence. She was paroled in Fall of 2003 to loud protests. Her son, Chesa Boudin, was raised by Weather Undergrounders, Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. From Outlaws of America, by Dan Berger,

In a communique, Weather urged people to support the BLA as one of many righteous expressions of Black anger at racism.

Notes: Sgt. Edward O'Grady II was the other Nyack policeman shot to death that day. He was a former U.S. Marine, he served two tours in Vietnam, he worked as a volunteer fire fighter, and he was the youngest member of the police force to achieve the rank of Sergeant. His son went on to graduate the U.S. Naval Academy. The Black Liberation Army armed robbers were: Mutulu Shakur, Duwasi Balagoon, Sekou Odinga, Cecilio Fergusan, Solomon Bouines Former Weather Undergrounders and May 19th Communist Organization involved: David Gilbert, Samuel Brown, Judith Alice Clark, Kathy Boudin, Marilyn Buck Related Research: Guardian Observer Ambush: The Brinks Robbery of 1981 Officer Down Memorial Page - Officer Waverly L. Brown Officer Down Memorial Page - Sergeant Edwar J. O'Grady, Jr. Megyn Kelly Levels Hofstra Professor