Incident Summary:
12/2/1982: The Northridge home of Dr. George Ashley in Los Angeles, California, United States, was broken into and vandalized with slogans saying ""Never Again" and "No More Holocaust" spray painted on his walls. There were no casualties in the incident, but the amount of property damage is unknown. The perpetrators are suspected to be Jewish terrorists, but no group claimed responsibility or was conclusively identified. Ashley's home was also firebombed about six months prior to this incident, and then bombed again in 1985, along with many threatening phone calls from Jews that he received over the three years between the two bombings and even prior to the first one.
Overview
GTD ID:
198212020003
When:
1982-12-02
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
California
City:
Northridge
Location Details:
residence in suburban Northridge community in San Fernando Valley, about 24 miles northwest of Los Angeles
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Facility/Infrastructure Attack |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property |
Name of Entity |
Dr. George Ashley, high school teacher and advisor at the Institute for Historical Review |
Specific Description |
Dr. George Ashley, high school teacher and advisor at the Institute for Historical Review |
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 |
Sabotage Equipment |
|
Weapon Details |
perpetrators broke into home and vandalized property including spray-painting walls |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
On December 22, Mordechai Levy, leader of the Jewish Defense Organization (which is unrelated to the JDL) was arrested for investigation into the vandalism of Ashley's home; however, Levy claimed he had an alibi and was in New York on December 2, and that he was being framed and had the flight tickets and receipts to prove it. Additionally, on December 22, Irving Rubin, leader of the Jewish Defense League, was arrested on charges of making telephone threats against Ashley, when Rubin called him at his home after the May firebombing and after the vandalism earlier in December. However, Rubin claimed they had a cordial conversation in which Rubin told Ashley that all he had to do was publicly apologize to the Jewish community, and they would leave him alone. Rubin was later released on bail. In addition to this vandalism incident, Ashley's home was firebombed two times by Jewish terrorists, once in May 1982 (198205270004), and then again in May 1985. |
Who
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name |
Claimed Responsibility |
Jewish Extremists |
No |
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
"Jewish Defense League Leader 'Stunned' Over Arrest," The Associated Press, December 24, 1982. |
"Jewish Defense League leader is charged with making threat," The Baltimore Sun, December 25, 1982. |
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