Page 168 - Encyclopedia Of Terrorism

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but it is hard to fight a war without bystanders getting
FPM. See MORAZANIST PATRIOTIC FRONT. injured.” Except for the Fraunces Tavern bombing,
most of the 130 bombings attributed to or claimed by
the FALN resulted in few deaths or injuries; damage
was done mostly to buildings—often banks and
FPMR. See MANUEL RODRIGUEZ PATRIOTIC government offices.
FRONT. The tavern itself is an icon of United States history.
Built in 1719 on the corner of Broad and Pearl Streets
in lower Manhattan, the bar was a favorite gathering
place during the Revolutionary War. There General
FRAUNCES TAVERN BOMBING George Washington bid farewell to the officers of the
Continental Army in 1783. Since 1904, the Sons of
the Revolution has owned and managed the establish-
In 1975, Puerto Rican nationalists bombed Fraunces ment, still in operation today. The tavern’s iconic
Tavern, a historic bar and restaurant in New York City.
status was acknowledged again after the September 11,
The attack was one of the bloodiest ever perpetrated
2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. In December
by the Puerto Rican nationalist group known by the
of 2001, a woman whose husband had been killed
acronym FALN, which eventually claimed responsibil-
on September 11 held his funeral reception at the
ity for more than 130 bombings during the late 1970s
tavern in recognition of the history of terrorism in
and 1980s.
New York City.
The Fraunces Tavern bombing was an early inci-
dent in the new wave of Puerto Rican nationalist See also FALN; PUERTO RICAN NATIONALIST TERRORISM
terrorism that flared up in the mid-1970s. The FALN
(Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional, in Spanish; Further Reading
Armed Forces of National Liberation, in English) had Fernandez, Ronald. Los Macheteros: The Wells Fargo
announced its presence in October 1974, claiming Robbery and the Violent Struggle for Puerto Rican
responsibility for bombings in New York City and Independence. New York: Prentice Hall, 1987.
Newark, New Jersey.
The Fraunces Tavern bomb, which was placed by
an unused exit door, went off during a busy lunch hour FREEDOM FIGHTERS
on the afternoon of January 24, 1975. Four people
died in the explosion, and more than 50 others, both
patrons and passers-by, were seriously injured. Much like the term terrorist, the term freedom
Investigators found that the bomb used propane gas fighter means many things to different people. This is
canisters to magnify the strength of the explosion. The why trying to define or classify freedom fighter to
tavern and the adjacent New York Angler’s Club sus- everyone’s satisfaction proves nearly impossible: thus
tained more than $300,000 of damage. the adage, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s free-
In a communiqué left in a nearby telephone booth, dom fighter.” According to that logic, one could theo-
the FALN claimed responsibility for the attack, retically label Yasir Arafat a freedom fighter and
stating that the bombing was in retaliation for a CIA- George Washington a terrorist. While it is conceivable
ordered bomb that had exploded in a restaurant in that comparing the first president of the Palestinian
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, killing two young indepen- Authority with the first president of the United States
dence activists and a 6-year-old child and injuring at might not raise eyebrows by the 22nd century, for now
least 10 others. the comparison is problematic.
Although no one has ever been formally charged Freedom fighters and terrorists can be distin-
with the bombing, federal investigators believe that guished from each other by taking into consi-
FALN leader Willie Morales was its mastermind. deration the targets of their operations. Freedom
Morales, who escaped from the Bellevue Hospital fighters predominantly concentrate on military targets,
prison ward and fled to Cuba in 1979, said in a 1993 whereas terrorists deliberately target civilians; for
interview: “It may sound heartless to say it that way, terrorists, inspiring fear in a general population is as