Incident Summary:
08/04/1980: Eight white men, who were members of the Ku Klux Klan, opened shotgun fire on a black man, George Lester Stewart, while he was standing in a parking lot outside a west side bar in Detroit, Michigan in the United States. Stewart frequented the tavern which had a mostly white clientele and a white bartender, and the eight perpetrators conspired, prior to the incident, to kill Stewart because of his race, and had even threatened him the month prior to the attack. After the attack in the parking lot failed to injure him, the perpetrators attempted to shoot him with automatic rifles at his residence and altogether fired 27 shots. Neither Stewart, nor any other individuals were wounded in either attack. Charles Furtaw, Donald Johnson, Raymond Eugene Echlin, Eugene John, Walter Belcher, Richard Johnson, Ronald Bishop, and Joseph Greenwell were the eight arrested and charged in the attack, and four of them pleaded guilty in court.
Overview
GTD ID:
198008040008
When:
1980-08-04
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Michigan
City:
Detroit
Location Details:
outside a tavern on the west side of Detroit and also at residence
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
|
Specific Description |
black man, George Lester Stewart, who frequented a tavern with white clientele and white bartender |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
No |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
Unknown |
Extent of Property Damage |
Unknown |
Value of Property Damage |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Rifle/Shotgun (non-automatic) |
Firearms |
Automatic Weapon |
Weapon Details |
shotgun and an M-16 automatic rifle |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
Upon capturing the perpetrators in a series of early-morning raids, the FBI uncovered and seized about 50 handguns, shotguns, and rifles, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and a variety of KKK literature and other paraphernalia. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Ku Klux Klan |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
8 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
8 |
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
"Eight accused in racial shooting," Baltimore Afro-American, August 16, 1980. |
"Government wants stiff sentences for Klansmen," United Press International, January 1, 1981. |
Christopher Hewitt, "Political Violence and Terrorism in Modern America: A Chronology," Praeger Security International, 2005. |
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