Incident Summary:
05/22/1978: A pipe bomb, detonated by a timing device, exploded in the shrubbery outside of the east entrance to the Department of Justice headquarters on Constitution Avenue, between Ninth and 10th Streets in Washington, D.C. in the United States. No damage and no casualties resulted from the explosion. The blast was claimed by members of the Armed Forces for National Liberation (FALN) by way of a telephone call to the United Press International. This incident is linked to three other bombings on this day, one each at John F. Kennedy airport and LaGuardia airport in Queens, New York, and one at Newark airport in New Jersey (197805220004, 197805220005,197805220006), all of which were claimed by FALN members in the phone call.
Overview
GTD ID:
197805220007
When:
1978-05-22
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
District of Columbia
City:
Washington
Location Details:
1 outside Department of Justice headquarters on Constitution Avenue midway between Ninth and 10th Streets; bomb was placed in shrubbery eat of the building entrance
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
U.S. government |
Specific Description |
Department of Justice headquarters |
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 |
pipe bomb, detonated by a timing device |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | Yes |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
This incident is linked to three other bombings on this day, one each at John F. Kennedy airport and LaGuardia airport in Queens, New York, and one at Newark airport in New Jersey (197805220004, 197805220005, 197805220006), all of which were claimed by FALN members in the phone call. In their phone call the to the United Press International, FALN members also stated that a bomb was placed at the O'Hare Hilton Hotel near O'Hare International airport in Chicago, Illinois, but there was no explosion and no bomb was found at the hotel. Employees at the O'Hare Hilton Hotel also received bomb warnings by phone, but the caller never mentioned the other attacks that day. Additionally, the caller stated that a communiqué would be left in "a Park in front of City Hall," claiming responsibility, but no notes were ever found. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
Unknown |
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
Stephen J. Lynton and Alfred E. Lewis, "Bomb Here Is Tied to 3 In N.Y. Area," The Washington Post, May 23, 1978. |
Patrick Breslin, The Associated Press, May 22, 1978. |
"3 Blasts claimed," The Baltimore Sun, May 23, 1978. |
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