Incident Summary:
5/19/1971: Members of the Black Liberation Army shot and wounded two police officers, Thomas P. Curry and Nicholas J. Binetti, in Manhattan, New York, United States. The officers were guarding the home of New York District Attorney Frank Hogan when they saw a car going the wrong way down a one-way street. When the officers caught up with the vehicle six blocks away, the perpetrators fired shots into the police car. The radio car was riddled with bullets and the windshield was shattered.
Overview
GTD ID:
197105190001
When:
1971-05-19
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
New York
City:
New York City
Location Details:
Manhattan
What
Attack Information
| Type of Attack () |
Armed Assault |
| Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
| Target Type: Police |
|---|
| Name of Entity |
New York Police Department |
| Specific Description |
Police officers guarding the home of New York District Attorney Frank Horgan |
| 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 |
Unknown |
How
Weapon Information
| Type |
Sub-type |
| Firearms |
Automatic Weapon |
| Weapon Details |
|---|
| .45 caliber submachine gun |
Additional Information
| Suicide Attack? | No |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
| Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
| Additional Information |
The Black Liberation Army claimed the attack in letters to the New York Times and New York radio station WLIB. The machine gun used in the incident was discovered by police while arresting members of the Black Liberation Army in a robbery two weeks later (197106050002). Richard Moore (Dhoruba al-Mujahid Bin Walid) was convicted of the incident in 1973 after two previous trials went to hung juries. However, the New York Supreme Court reversed the conviction in 1990 due to the prosecutions failure to disclose evidence to the defense. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
| Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
| Black Liberation Army |
Yes (Confirmed: Unknown; Mode: Letter) |
Perpetrator Statistics
| Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Casualty Information
| Total Number of Casualties |
0 Fatalities / 2 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities |
0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities |
0 |
| Total Number of Injured |
2 |
| Number of U.S. Injured |
2 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured |
0 |
Sources
Sources
| Robert Daley, "Target Blue," Delacorte Press, 1973. |
| Martin Arnold, "Hunto On for 2 Would-Be 'Cop Killers,'" New York Times, May 21, 1971. |
| Ronald Sullivan, "Court Erupts As Judge Frees An Ex-Panther," New York Times, March 23, 1990. |
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
Back to Search Results