Incident Summary:
10/22/1973: An assailant raped a white female psychology student, identified as "Ellen Linder," at gunpoint (this name is a pseudonym given to conceal the victim's identity) in San Francisco, California, in the United States. During the attack the assailant told Linder that racism and oppression of black people needed to stop, and he threatened to kill her and told her that others would be killed. The perpetrator was later identified as Jesse Lee Cooks, one of the eight men who came to be known as the Zebra killers, and this was the second of 20 racially motivated attacks (with 23 victims) committed by the Zebra murderers, a group of black Muslims who belonged to the Nation of Islam religious sect.
Overview
GTD ID:
197310220003
When:
1973-10-22
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
California
City:
San Francisco
Location Details:
Market Street
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
Type of Attack () |
Hostage Taking (Kidnapping) |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Not applicable |
Specific Description |
white female student, "Ellen Linder" |
Nationality of Target |
United States |
Additional Information
Hostages |
Yes |
Number of Hostages |
1 |
US Hostages |
1 |
Hours of Kidnapping |
2 |
Days of Kidnapping |
0 |
Outcome |
Hostage(s) released by perpetrators |
Ransom |
No |
Property Damage |
No |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Firearms |
Unknown Gun Type |
Weapon Details |
gun |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | Yes |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
Jesse Cooks was not indicted for the rape of "Ellen Linder" after Linder agreed not to press charges in exchange for Cooks' guilty plea for first-degree murder of another victim, which prosecutors told her would result in the same life sentence as if he were also charged and convicted on the four charges involved with Linder's kidnapping and rape. This victim's real name was not disclosed and thus, the pseudonym "Ellen Linder" was used. The eight Zebra killers were black Muslims, who belonged to the San Francisco chapter of the independent socio-religious sect, the Nation of Islam. The perpetrators followed the teachings of Elijah Muhammad, and believed that their deity motivated them to kill the "devil," which the men interpreted to mean white people. The Nation of Islam paid for the legal representation of most members during their trials for these attacks. This was the second in a series of 20 racially motivated attacks (with 23 victims) by the perpetrators who came to be known as the Zebra killers. See also events 197310200002, 197310290003, 197311250004, 197312110002, 197312130001, 197312130002, 197312200003, 197312200004, 197312220002, 197312220003, 197312230001, 197401280001, 197401280002, 197401280003, 197401280004, 197404010003, 197401280005, 197402030002, 197402240005, 197403070002, 197403090001, 197403070004, 197403000001, 197403000002, 197403210002, 197404140003, and 197404160003 |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Zebra killers |
No |
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
1 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
1 |
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 1 Injured |
Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
Total Number of Injured |
1 |
Number of U.S. Injured |
1 |
Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
Prentice Earl Sanders and Bennett Cohen, "The Zebra Murders: A Season of Killing, Racial Madness, and Civil Rights," Arcade Publishing, Inc., 2006. |
Clark Howard, "Zebra: The true account of the 179 days of terror in San Francisco," Richard Marek Publishers, 1979. |
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