Female Marxists Bombed The US Capitol in 1983

J6 was far from the first time the Capitol was  breached by a protest or rally group. Or a hostile mob. The Senate was bombed in 1983 by a radical marxist group that was mostly female, the May 19 Communist Organization. 

1983 US Capitol Bombing

The 1983 bombing of the U.S. Capitol was carried out by the May 19th Communist Organization (M19), a female-led domestic terrorist group. 

Named to honor the shared birthday of civil rights icon Malcolm X and Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh, M19 took its belief in “revolutionary anti-imperialism” to violent extremes: It is the first and only known women-created and women-led terrorist group. 

The attack occurred on November 7, 1983, when a bomb detonated on the second floor of the Capitol’s north wing, causing $1 million in damages but no injuries.

The group called itself the "Armed Resistance Unit" and issued a warning minutes before the explosion, citing U.S. military involvement in Grenada and Lebanon as their motivation.

After their formation in 1978, M19’s tactics escalated from picketing and poster-making to robbing armored trucks and abetting prison breaks. They became known as the first and only all-female terrorist group in U.S. history. Its members were primarily middle-class, well-educated white women who initially engaged in protests for civil rights and against war and sexism before quickly escalating to violent acts and terrorism.

In 1979, they helped spring explosives-builder William Morales of the Puerto Rican nationalist group FALN and Black Liberation Army organizer Assata Shakur (née Joanne Chesimard) from their respective prisons. 

The group was responsible for a series of bombings, including attacks on Fort McNair and the Washington Navy Yard, and was linked to armed robberies. 

Following a five-year investigation, six members of M19 were arrested in 1988 and charged with the Capitol bombing and other attacks. Among those arrested were Marilyn Buck, Linda Evans, Laura Whitehorn, Susan Rosenberg, Timothy Blunk, and Alan Berkman. In 1990, Evans and Whitehorn were sentenced to lengthy prison terms for conspiracy and destruction of government property, while others already served sentences for related crimes.

The bombing led to significant changes in Capitol security, including the permanent closure of areas near the Senate Chamber and the introduction of staff identification cards and metal detectors at building entrances.

M19 membership typically followed involvement with other far-left groups. New Yorker Susan Rosenberg, one of M19’s earliest members, traveled to Cuba with the Castro-friendly Venceremos Brigade, and Italian-born Silvia Baraldini was part of a front for the militant Weather Underground. Along with several others, Alan Berkman, a Columbia-trained doctor who was one of the few men in the M19 inner circle, was involved with the John Brown Anti-Klan Committee.

Karen Bass, current mayor of Los Angeles, was an organizer and leader in the Vinceremos Brigade in the 1980s. 

The group’s actions, though largely forgotten in mainstream history, were detailed in William Rosenau’s book Tonight We Bombed the U.S. Capitol, which explores M19’s transformation from activists to terrorists.

Link to the book: 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/1980s-far-left-female-led-domestic-terrorism-group-bombed-us-capitol-180973904/