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Further Reading and sentenced to prison in 1972. While incarcerated,
she grew increasingly depressed and on May 9, 1976,
Alali, A. Odasuo, and Kenoye Kelvin Eke, eds. Media
Coverage of Terrorism: Methods of Diffusion. Newbury Ulrike Meinhof committed suicide.
Park, CA: Sage, 1991. See also ANDREAS BAADER; BAADER-MEINHOF GANG
Alexander, Yonah, and Richard Latter, eds. Terrorism & the
Media: Dilemmas for Government, Journalists & the Further Reading
Public. Washington, DC: Brassey’s, 1990.
Picard, Robert G. Media Portrayal of Terrorism: Functions Aust, Stefan. The Baader-Meinhof Group: The Inside Story
and Meaning of News Coverage. Ames: Iowa State of a Phenomenon. Translated from the German by Anthea
University Press, 1993. Bell. London: Bodley Head, 1987.
Schmid, Alex P., and Janny de Graaf. Violence as Becker, Jillian. Hitler’s Children: The Story of the Baader-
Communication: Insurgent Terrorism and the Western Meinhof Terrorist Gang. 3rd ed. Collingdale, PA: Diane,
News Media. London: Sage, 1982. 1998.

MEK. See MUJAHEDIN-E-KHALQ
MEINHOF, ULRIKE (1934–1976)
ORGANIZATION.
Left-wing journalist Ulrike Meinhof was known
for her affiliation with the West German Red Army
Faction (RAF), later nicknamed the Baader-Meinhof METESKY, GEORGE (1904–1994)
Gang after its two most prominent members.
aka the Mad Bomber
Her parents were killed when she was young, so
Ulrike Meinhof was raised in West Germany by her
foster mother, Renate Riemack, who was a socialist During the 1940s and 1950s, George Metesky,
and profoundly influenced Meinhof’s political known at the time only as the “Mad Bomber,” set
views. As a college student, Meinhof married Klaus more than 30 bombs in the New York area. The 16-
Rainer Rohl and became an editor and journalist for year hunt for the Mad Bomber was solved using one
his left-wing student newspaper. They had twin girls of the first applications of criminal profiling.
together but then separated in the late 1960s. Metesky’s first bomb was found on November 16,
At that time, Meinhof was becoming more 1940, on a window ledge of the Consolidated Edison
involved in the radical-left student movement. She building on West 64th Street. The small, crudely made
joined the RAF after she interviewed their leader, pipe bomb never exploded. A note on the outside of
Andreas Baader, while he was in prison for arson. The the bomb read, “Con Edison crooks, this is for you!”
aims of RAF were to revolutionize the working peo- Police believed that the note’s placement suggested it
ple, to convert the capitalist society, and to eliminate was never intended to detonate.
U.S. presence in West Germany, which they believed After a cursory investigation of disgruntled emp-
to be the cause of many injustices. They committed loyees and other possible suspects, the police dropped
several bank robberies, murders, kidnapping, and the case. Nearly a year later, in September 1941,
bombings to forward their cause. another unexploded bomb was found on 19th Street, a
Meinhof became infamous on May 14, 1970, few blocks from the Con Edison office at Irving Plaza.
when she helped free Baader from prison in Berlin. The bomb, which was similar in construction to the
After this event, journalists began calling RAF the November 1940 bomb, was found in an old sock, with
Baader-Meinhof Gang. This name stuck, and has led no note. The following December, shortly after the
to the frequent incorrect assumption that Meinhof bombing of Pearl Harbor, a letter bearing the same
was a coleader of the group. In fact, the coleader block-style handwriting of the initial note arrived at
was not Meinhof but Baader’s girlfriend, Gudrun police headquarters. The bomber claimed he would
Ensslin. stop his activities for the duration of the war. He also
Meinhof evaded the law for two years after she wrote, “I will bring the Con Edison to justice. They
aided Baader’s escape. In these years, she continued will pay for their dastardly deeds,” and signed the
to rob banks and bomb buildings before being caught letter, “F. P.”