TONIGHT WE BOMBED THE U.S. CAPITOL

A terrorism expert recounts the actions of a group “unlike any other American terrorist group,” one “created and led by women.”

Rosenau (US Internal Security Assistance to South Vietnam, 2005, etc.), a senior research scientist at RAND who also served as a counterterrorism expert at the State Department, traces the seven-year run (1978-1985) of the May 19th Communist Organization (M19), a group of (mostly) women who banded together to oppose U.S. government policies of domestic oppression and international imperialism. Because these individuals—not “automata, relics, or spooks but agents of history willing to sacrifice everything to transform the world”—often relied on weapons to accomplish their goals, the author terms their activities “terrorism,” but he uses the term “violent extremism” interchangeably. Rosenau begins by introducing the original brain trust, Judith Clark (b. 1949) and Susan Rosenberg (b. 1955). Later, the narrative takes on further complexity as the cast of characters and related revolutionary groups expands. The author eventually focuses on six additional women, as well as two men, as the linchpins of M19. All of them used one or more aliases hoping to avoid capture by law enforcement agencies; the welter of names can feel difficult to track, though the list of members and associates helps. Then Rosenau introduces “The Family,” an associate group. Their names, plus their aliases, as well as their intermingling with M19 further complicate the narrative. Nonetheless, the author relies on skilled, detailed research to outline both the goals and violent practices of the revolutionaries. The titular bombing of the U.S. Capitol occurred on Nov. 7, 1983; less than a year later, M19 also bombed the South African consulate in New York City. Various bank robberies receive attention, some of which resulted in serious injuries or death. Most of the revolutionaries introduced end up apprehended and imprisoned, and Rosenau concludes that “the far-left terrorist project that began with the Weathermen in 1969…and continued…with May 19th ended in abject failure.”

An intriguing history that holds relevance to domestic terrorism in our current era.