Terrorism on American Soil Pricecise History of Plots and Perpetrators from the Famous to the Forgotten

by McCann, Joseph T.

• ISBN13: 9781591810490
• ISBN10: 1591810493
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-09-25
• Publisher: Sentient Publications

Summary

The terrorist attacks of September 11 2001 led most American citizens to feel that we are no longer safe and secure in our communities. However, terrorism is not a new phenomenon in the United States. This book chronicles 37 such assaults on American soil from the end of the Civil War to the present day. Not only are the most infamous attacks discussed; events that are obscure and relatively unknown-but fascinating nonetheless-are detailed as well. These accounts illustrate important lessons about the changing nature of terrorism; methods for coping with the threat; and the psychological, political, and legal principles that help us understand the issues involved. Not a technical or scholarly treatise, "Terrorism on American Soil" deals with this provocative subject in a highly readable style, using a narrative case-study format that has been successful in the popular true crime genre. The author provides details of the perpetrators, their motives, and the social and political context in which each event took place, and offers a new perspective on some of the attacks.

Author Biography

Joseph McCann teaches a course on the psychological and legal aspects of terrorism at the State University of New York at Binghamton.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION	1	(8)
LOST-CAUSE TERRORISM	9	(9)
The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
BEGINNING THE DYNAMITE ERA	18	(6)
The Haymarket Bombing
A FALSE SENSE OF COMMUNITY	24	(9)
The Assassination of William McKinley
STOP THE PRESSES	33	(8)
The Los Angeles Times Bombing of 1910
AN ECLECTIC CRIMINAL	41	(5)
The Case of Erich Muenter
A QUESTION OF INNOCENCE	46	(8)
The San Francisco Preparedness Day Bombing
OUTRAGE	54	(8)
The Anarchist Bombings of 1919
PROPAGANDA BY THE DEED	62	(7)
The Wall Street Bombing of 1920
RUSH TO JUSTICE	69	(8)
The Case of Giuseppe Zangara
DOOMED FROM THE START	77	(9)
The Nazi Sabotage Plot of 1942
DRAWING ATTENTION TO A CAUSE	86	(7)
The Assassination Attempt on Harry S. Truman
A SECOND WAVE OF FOREIGN POLICY PROTESTS	93	(5)
The 1954 Attack on the House of Representatives
FIRST IN FLIGHT	98	(5)
America's First Airline Hijacking
JUSTICE DELAYED	103	(8)
Bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church
AN UNSHAKEABLE OBSESSION	111	(7)
The Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy
A YEAR OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY	118	(5)
The Bombing Attacks of 1975
FAKE BOMBS	123	(8)
The Hijacking of TWA Flight	355
SPILLOVER EFFECT	131	(9)
The Assassination of Orlando Letelier
BACKLASH	140	(5)
An Alleged Plot to Kidnap the Governor of Minnesota
GROUP REMNANTS	145	(6)
The U. Capitol Bombing of 1983
INFLUENCING AN ELECTION	151	(8)
America's First Modern Bioterrorist Attack
A MEETING OF THE TERRORIST MINDS	159	(11)
The Case of Yu Kikumura
FLASHPOINT	170	(7)
The Assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane
INTERNATIONAL MANHUNT	177	(7)
The Case of Mir Aimal Kasi
A NEEDLE IN A HAYSTACK	184	(9)
Investigating the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing
OVERZEALOUSNESS	193	(8)
The Case of the Sheik and His Lawyer
THOU SHALT KILL	201	(5)
The Paradox of Religiously Motivated Assassination
REVERBERATIONS	206	(5)
The Political Context of a New York City Homicide
CONSPIRACY THEORIES	211	(10)
The Oklahoma City Bombing
COMPULSORY NONSUIT?	221	(10)
The Case of the Unabomber
REGIONAL MANHUNT	231	(8)
The Case of Eric Rudolph
A FINGER ON THE TRIGGER	239	(10)
America's First Suicide Terrorist Bombers
OUT OF THE BLUE	249	(7)
Shooting Attack at the Empire State Building
LEADERLESS RESISTANCE	256	(7)
The Arson Fires of Vail Ski Resort
OPPORTUNITIES LOST AND FOUND	263	(11)
The Attempted Millennial Bombing
CONNECTING THE DOTS	274	(8)
September 11, 2001
ARE YOU AFRAID?	282	(6)
The Anthrax Letters
EPILOGUE	288	(4)
ENDNOTES	292	(45)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR	337