Incident Summary:

8/10/1970: Four members of the White Panthers Party threw three firebombs through the windows of Oregon's Selective Service Headquarters in Portland, United States. There were no casualties but the resulting fire caused around $1,000 of damage to furniture within two offices.

GTD ID:
197008100001

When:
1970-08-10

Country:
United States

Region:
North America

Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:

Oregon

City:
Portland

Attack Information
Type of Attack (more) Facility/Infrastructure Attack
Successful Attack? (more) Yes
Target Information (more)
Target Type: Government (General)
Name of Entity Selective Service
Specific Description Selective Service Headquarters, Portland Oregon
Nationality of Target United States
Additional Information
Hostages No
Ransom No
Property Damage Yes
Extent of Property Damage Minor (likely < $1 million)
Value of Property Damage $1,000.00
Weapon Information
Type Sub-type
Incendiary Molotov Cocktail/Petrol Bomb
Weapon Details
Three Molotov cocktails consisting of wine bottles and gasoline
Additional Information
Suicide Attack?No
Part of Multiple Incident?No
Criterion 1 (more) Yes
Criterion 2 (more) Yes
Criterion 3 (more) Yes
Additional Information An alert custodian extinguished the fires before they had a chance to cause significant damages. In a sixth month period, the Oregon Selective Service Headquarters was firebombed three other times (197002010001, 197005060006, and 197006030001).
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name Claimed Responsibility
White Panther Party No
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators 4
Number of Captured Perpetrators 4
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
"Draft Office Bombed 4th Time," Washington Post, August 11, 1970.
450 F.2d 308, "United States of America v. Robert Gerrahan Yaple Jr.," United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, October 14, 1971.
"Selective Service Office Damaged By 3 Firebombs," Eugene Register-Guard, August 10, 1970.