Incident Summary:

1/24/1971: At around 8:00 AM, a member of the Black Liberation Army flagged down a police officer driving his radio car in Manhattan, New York, United States. When the cop pulled over, the perpetrator began stabbing the officer with a knife. The officer then shot and killed the assailant. That morning, the New York Times received two anonymous calls stating that a New York policeman would be killed at 8:00 AM unless the BLA received $100,000.

GTD ID:
197101240002

When:
1971-01-24

Country:
United States

Region:
North America

Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:

New York

City:
New York City

Location Details:
Manhattan

Attack Information
Type of Attack (more) Armed Assault
Successful Attack? (more) Yes
Target Information (more)
Target Type: Police
Name of Entity New York Police Department
Specific Description Indiscriminate New York policeman
Nationality of Target United States
Additional Information
Hostages No
Ransom No
Property Damage No
Weapon Information
Type Sub-type
Melee Knife or Other Sharp Object
Weapon Details
Knife
Additional Information
Suicide Attack?No
Part of Multiple Incident?No
Criterion 1 (more) Yes
Criterion 2 (more) Yes
Criterion 3 (more) Yes
Additional Information The police officer recovered from his stab wounds. Josh Smith, a man purporting to be from the Black Liberation Army, called New York Channel 7 after the incident claiming that "no longer will the pig hatchet men plant their heels on our people." He stated that the next two people to be targeted would be the commissioner and deputy commissioner of the New York Police Department.
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name Claimed Responsibility
Black Liberation Army Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Call (pre-incident))
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators 1
Number of Captured Perpetrators 0
Casualty Information
Total Number of Casualties 1 Fatalities / 1 Injured
Total Number of Fatalities 1
Number of U.S. Fatalities 1
Number of Perpetrator Fatalities 1
Total Number of Injured 1
Number of U.S. Injured 1
Number of Perpetrators Injured 0
Sources
Robert Daley, "Target Blue," Delacorte Press, 1973.
Christopher Hewitt, "Political Violence and Terrorism in Modern America: A Chronology," Praeger Security International, 2005.