Incident Summary:
09/21/1976: A bomb exploded on the 24th floor of the Hilton Hotel in New York in the United States. An hour after the blast, a caller to the New York Post, claiming to be a member of the Armed Forces for Liberation (FALN) claimed responsibility for the attack. Additionally, a written message was taped to a telephone booth at 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue, about a block away from the hotel, in which FALN stated that the blast was an attempt to protest the appearance of Rafael Hernandez Colon, the Governor of Puerto Rico, who was attending a political fund-raising dinner on the second floor of the hotel to raise funds for his re-election. The bombing caused minor damage to the hotel, but there were no casualties in the blast.
Overview
GTD ID:
197609210001
When:
1976-09-21
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
New York
City:
New York City
Location Details:
Manhattan; 1 at hotel; between 53rd and 54th Streets
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Government (General) |
Name of Entity |
Puerto Rican Governor, Rafael Hernandez Colon, who was holding a fund-raiser for re-election at the New York Hilton Hotel |
Specific Description |
Puerto Rican Governor, Rafael Hernandez Colon |
Nationality of Target |
Puerto Rico |
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 |
Explosives |
Time Fuse |
Weapon Details |
it was unclear what type of explosive material was used for the device; however, a brown leather handle of an attaché case was found by police, which is suspected to have been the container for the bomb. Additionally, police found parts of a clock, which were probably used as part of the detonator |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
The device exploded shortly after 8pm; FALN members claimed the attack by way of both a post-incident phone call to a wire service and a note left at a phone booth by the hotel. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
Unknown |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
Unknown |
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
Sources
John D. McQuiston, "Small Bomb Set Off at New York Hilton," New York Times, September 22, 1976. |
Joseph B. Treaster, "No Leads in Bombing at New York Hilton," New York Times, September 23, 1976. |
William Sater, "Puerto Rican Terrorists: A Possible Threat to U.S. Energy Installations?," RAND, October 1981. |
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