San Francisco Police Department Park Station bombing
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| San Francisco Police Department Park Station bombing |
|
|---|---|
Brian V. McDonnell, a sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department who received fatal shrapnel wounds |
|
| Location | Golden Gate Park Police Station |
| Date | February 16, 1970 |
| Weapon(s) | A pipe bomb packed with heavy staples |
| Death(s) | 1 |
| Injured | 1 seriously: Robert Fogarty |
The San Francisco Police Department Park Station bombing occurred on February 16, 1970, when a pipe bomb filled with shrapnel detonated on the ledge of a window at the San Francisco Police Department's Golden Gate Park station. [1] Brian V. McDonnell, a police sergeant, was fatally wounded in its blast.[2] Robert Fogarty, another police officer, was severely wounded in his face and legs and was partially blinded.[3] In addition, eight other police officers were wounded.[1]
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "Investigators in the early '70s said the bombing likely was the work of the Weather Underground, and not the Black Liberation Army"[1]
An investigation was reopened in 1999. A San Francisco grand jury looked into the incident, but no indictments followed.[1][4]
In early 2009 conservative advocacy group America's Survival Inc. advocated for a murder charge against Ayers. In connection with a press release, the group released a letter from the San Francisco Police Officers Association endorsing an earlier allegation by Larry Grathwohl, a former FBI informant within the Weather Underground, that "there are “irrefutable and compelling reasons” that establish that Ayers and his wife, Bernadine Dohrn, are responsible for the bombing." [5] [6]
In 2009 an anonymous investigator stated that they "found no evidence that links the Weather Underground to the bombing".[7] The case has yet to be solved and remains an active case. [8] [7]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Zamora, Jim Herron, "Plaque honors slain police officer: Eight others injured in bomb attack that killed sergeant in 1970", The San Francisco Chronicle, February 17, 2007
- ^ "Police sergeant dies of wounds". UPI. 1970-02-19. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=NlwKAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3ksDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7116,2573043&dq=sgt-brian-mcdonnell. Retrieved 2009-03-13.
- ^ http://www.sfpoa.org/journal/journals/20070201.pdf
- ^ KRON 4, "30-Y.O. Unsolved SF Murders Reopen", November 10, 2003
- ^ "1970 Cold Case to Be Explored at San Francisco News Conference on April 23". Reuters. April 23, 2009. http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS156081+21-Apr-2009+PRN20090421.
- ^ "Police union targets ’60s radical". The Examiner. 2009-03-12. http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/Police-union-targets-60s-radical-41132907.html. Retrieved 2009-03-14.
- ^ a b Demian Bulwa, (2009-03-12). "S.F. police union accuses Ayers in 1970 bombing". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/12/BATK16DHA4.DTL&hw=ayers&sn=001&sc=1000.
- ^ "CHARGES IN KILLING OF S.F. OFFICER". San Francisco Chronicle. 2007-01-24. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/24/MNGDONO25J1.DTL. Retrieved 2009-03-13.