Incident Summary:
1/7/1972: In a series of nine related incidents, Ronald Kaufman placed a time bomb in a security deposit box at a Wells Fargo Bank branch in San Francisco, California, United States in July 1971. Six months later, Kaufman sent an anonymous letter to various media outlets notifying the authorities of the location of the explosive device. Subsequently, the bomb was discovered and removed. Ronald Kaufman hoped to use this incident to show the government that he should be considered a serious threat. He warned that he would plan bombings in the future to leverage the federal government into releasing political prisoners.
Overview
GTD ID:
197201070002
When:
1972-01-07
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
California
City:
San Francisco
Location Details:
Intersection of Market St. and Montgomery St.
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
No |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Business |
Name of Entity |
Wells Fargo Bank |
Specific Description |
Wells Fargo Bank branch, San Francisco California |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Time Fuse |
Weapon Details |
Clock connected to a battery recharger with a half-pound of smokeless black powder wrapped in a styrofoam set to detonate after 217 days |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | Yes |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
This is part of a multiple attack with 197109070001, 197201070001, 197201070003, 197201070004, 197201070005, 197201070006, 197201070007, and 197201070008. Ronald Kaufman associated with the Students for a Democratic Society. Within the letters notifying the authorities of the explosive devices, he claimed to represent the "Movement in Amerika" and the missives ended "Remember George Jackson and Sam Melville." The letters were sent to the Chicago Daily News, Chicago Today, Chicago Sun-Times, The Seed, WMAQ-TV (Chicago), San Francisco Chronicle, Berkeley Tribe, and KSAN-TV (San Francisco). Kaufman was eventually captured in 1986. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Left-Wing Militants |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Letter) |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
1 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
0 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
0 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Jonathan Kandell, "Police in 3 Cities Defuse Bombs Placed in 8 Banks," New York Times, January 8, 1972. |
John Corry, "G.I. With a Ph.D. Planted 9 Bank Bombs, F.B.I. Says," New York Times, January 14, 1972. |
Lester A. Sobel, "Political Terrorism," Facts on File, Inc., 1975. |
Criteria
Criteria 1
The act must be aimed at attaining a political, economic, religious, or social goal. In terms of economic goals, the exclusive pursuit of profit does not satisfy this criterion. It must involve the pursuit of more profound, systemic economic change.
Criterion 2
There must be evidence of an intention to coerce, intimidate, or convey some other message to a larger audience (or audiences) than the immediate victims. It is the act taken as a totality that is considered, irrespective if every individual involved in carrying out the act was aware of this intention. As long as any of the planners or decision-makers behind the attack intended to coerce, intimidate or publicize, the intentionality criterion is met.
Criterion 3
The action must be outside the context of legitimate warfare activities. That is, the act must be outside the parameters permitted by international humanitarian law (particularly the prohibition against deliberately targeting civilians or non-combatants.
Doubt Terrorism Proper
The existence of a "Yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper?" records reservation, in the eyes of GTD analysts, that the incident in question is truly terrorism. Such uncertainty, however, was not deemed to be sufficient to disqualify the incident from inclusion into the GTD. Furthermore, such a determination of doubt is subsequently coded by GTD analysts as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Alternate Designation
The determination of "yes" for "Doubt Terrorism Proper" by GTD analysts is coded as conforming to one of four possible alternative designations: 1) Insurgency/Guerilla Action; 2) Internecine Conflict Action; 3) Mass Murder; or 4) Purely Criminal Act.
Successful Attack
Success of a terrorist strike is defined according to the tangible effects of the attack. For example, in a typical successful bombing, the bomb detonates and destroys property and/or kills individuals, whereas an unsuccessful bombing is one in which the bomb is discovered and defused or detonates early and kills the perpetrators. Success is not judged in terms of the larger goals of the perpetrators. For example, a bomb that exploded in a building would be counted as a success even if it did not, for example, succeed in bringing the building down or inducing government repression.
Type of Attack
This field captures the general method of attack and often reflects the broad class of tactics used. It consists of the following nine categories:
- Assassination
- Armed Assault
- Unarmed Assault
- Bombing/Explosion
- Hijacking
- Hostage taking (Barricade Incident)
- Hostage taking (Kidnapping)
- Facility / Infrastructure Attack
- Unknown
Target Information
This field captures the general type of target. It consists of the following 22 categories:
- Abortion Related
- Airports & Airlines
- Business
- Government (General)
- Government (Diplomatic)
- Educational Institution
- Food or Water Supply
- Journalists & Media
- Maritime (includes Ports and Maritime facilities)
- Military
- NGO
- Other
- Police
- Private Citizens & Property
- Religious Figures/Institutions
- Telecommunication
- Terrorists
- Tourists
- Transportation (other than aviation)
- Unknown
- Utilities
- Violent Political Parties