A Brief History
On November 7, 1983, the United States Capitol building was bombed by a female left wing group calling themselves the Armed Resistance Unit.
Digging Deeper
No people were injured or killed in this act of terror, an act mirrored by bombings by the same group at Fort Lesley J. McNair and the Washington Navy Yard, both in Washington, D.C., although on different days. The point of contention of the radical group was the US involvement in the invasion of Grenada and US military occupation in Lebanon. The group also planned to murder Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State.
The bomb was placed under a bench in a corridor, and the terrorists called in a bomb threat before the explosion. While no structural damage to the building occurred, damages were estimated at $1 million.
After five years of investigation, six people were arrested for the bombing, and two were sent to prison. President Clinton commuted the prison sentences in 2001.
(Note: The US Capitol was also bombed in 1971.)
Question for students (and subscribers): What other Washington, D.C. bombings are you aware of? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Downing, Taylor. 1983: The World at the Brink. Hachette Audio UK, 2018.
Moses, Edward. The Lost History of the Capitol: The Hidden and Tumultuous Saga of Congress and the Capitol Building. Lyons Press, 2021.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of damage of the November 7, 1983 bombing outside of the Chamber of the United States Senate, looking south from the Ohio Clock, is in the public domain in the United States because it is a work prepared by an officer or employee of the United States Government as part of that person’s official duties under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.
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