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The Wallstreet Bombing

The Reaction

They observed that the Wall Street bomb was packed with heavy sash weights designed to act as shrapnel, then detonated on the street in order to increase casualties among financial workers and institutions during the busy lunch hour. Officials eventually blamed anarchists and communists. The Washington Post called the bombing an "act of war."

Investigators were puzzled by the number of innocent people killed and the lack of a specific target, other than buildings that suffered relatively superficial, non-structural damage.

The Attack

The 38 victims, most of whom died within moments of the blast, were mostly young people who worked as messengers, clerks and brokers. Many of the wounded suffered severe injuries. The bomb caused more than $2 million in property damage ($23 in our time).

The Wall Street bombing occurred at 12:01 pm on Thursday, September 16, 1920, in the Financial District of New York City. A horse-drawn wagon was carrying 100 pounds of dynamite with 500 pounds of heavy, cast-iron sash weights. They exploded in a timer-set detonation sending the slugs tearing through the air. The horse and wagon were blasted into small fragments, but the driver was believed to have left the vehicle and escaped.

After The Bombing

Wall Street itself, eager to minimize fears of a stock market crash, swiftly returned to"business as usual." The New York Stock Exchange opened at its normal time on the next day, September 17, and the market continued the previous day's upward climb.

The blast resulted in serious consequences for American democracy. Fear of further violence boosted nativist campaigns for immigration restriction, which discriminated against groups (Italians, Russians, Jews) suspected of harboring radical ideas.

Who Did It

Mario Buda, an associate of Sacco and Vanzetti, and the owner of a car which led to the arrest of the latter for a separate robbery and murder, is alleged by some historians, including Paul Avrich, to be the man most likely to have planted the bomb. Avrich and other historians theorize that Buda acted in revenge for the arrest and indictment of his fellow Galleanists, Sacco and Vanzetti. Buda's involvement as the Wall Street bombmaker was confirmed by statements made by his nephew Frank Maffi and fellow anarchist Charles Poggi, who interviewed Buda in Savignano, Italy, in 1955.

The New York assistant district attorney noted that the timing, location, and method of delivery all pointed to Wall Street as the target of the bomb, suggesting in turn that it was planted by radical opponents of capitalism such as anarchists, communists, or militant socialists.

Investigations

The Bureau of Investigation and local police investigated the case for over three years without success. Occasional arrests garnered headlines but each time they failed to support indictments. Most of the investigation focused on anarchists and communists, including the Galleanist group, who authorities believed were involved in the 1919 bombings

The investigation conducted by the Bureau of Investigation stalled when none of the victims turned out to be the driver of the wagon.