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The Wall Street bombing was a deadly terrorist incident that occurred at 12:05 pm on September 16, 1920 in the Financial District of New York City. It was the deadliest bomb attack on American soil for seven years, until the Bath School disaster.
The attack
At noon, a horse-drawn wagon passed by lunchtime crowds on Wall Street, in New York City. The wagon then stopped in front of the headquarters of the J.P. Morgan Inc. bank at 23 Wall Street, on the Financial District's busiest corner. Inside, 100 pounds (45 kg) of dynamite with 500 pounds (230 kg) of fragmented steel exploded, perhaps by remote control, sending the shrapnel tearing through crowds. An automobile was hurled into the air, and glass was shattered for blocks (the damage can still be seen on the buildings today *). Shortly before the bomb went off a warning note had been placed in a mailbox at the corner of Cedar Street and Broadway. The warning read: Remember we will not tolerate any longer. Free the political prisoners or it will be sure death for all of you. American Anarchists Fighters.
Casualties
Of the 400 persons injured by the blast, 33 died. People began to panic as word spread that another bomb would go off. Police were called, and they began to investigate the crime, the likes of which had not been seen on this scale in the country's history.
Reaction
The American public was unaccustomed to such acts; though eight Chicago police officers had been killed during the Haymarket Riot in 1886, President William McKinley had been assassinated in 1901, the Los Angeles Times offices were burnt down in 1910 (killing twenty), and bombs were mailed to government leaders, the Wall Street attack was unusual in that it was aimed at the public, and intended to kill large numbers of people.
Wall Street reopened the next day, with evidence of the bombing covered by cloths. The public was jittery: headlines warned that other buildings might be bombed, and that bridges on the West Coast would also be targeted by terrorists. Such acts never materialized.
The Washington Post called the bombing an "act of war," though it was not known who was responsible.
Perpetrators
No charges were ever filed in the bombing. Anarchists were suspected, especially followers of Luigi Galleani, and persecution of Eastern European and Sicilian immigrants increased after the attack. Investigators searched hundreds of stables to find who sent the horse, but nothing was uncovered. Despite vows that the police would catch the perpetrators, the FBI rendered the file inactive in 1940 and the crime remains unsolved to this day.
Anarchist Mario Buda (died 1963) -- whose car lead to the arrest of fellow anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti -- is alleged to have planted the bomb.
External links
Terrorist incidents in the United States | Disasters in New York City | Terrorist incidents before 1970 | Unsolved murders | Disasters in the United States
"Wall Street bombing"