Incident Summary:
04/29/1984: Two members of The Order, Richard Kemp and Bruce Carroll Pierce, placed a bomb in a crawl space under the kitchen near the rear of Congregation-Ahavath Israel Synagogue in Boise, Idaho, United States. The bomb, which was homemade by Pierce and consisted of three sticks of dynamite, an electric blasting cap, a battery, and a timer, caused minor damage to the synagogue's kitchen and heating equipment, in the amount of $4,000. No casualties resulted from the blast, which Pierce later described as an "act of war" to serve "the greater good," even though he initially intended the bombing to be a test of his homemade device. However, the bombing occurred at the start of a week-long national convention to commemorate victims of the Holocaust.
Overview
GTD ID:
198404290013
When:
1984-04-29
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Idaho
City:
Boise
Location Details:
corner of North 27th and West Bannock Streets
What
Attack Information
Type of Attack () |
Bombing/Explosion |
Successful Attack? () |
Yes |
Target Information ()
Target Type: Religious Figures/Institutions |
Name of Entity |
Congregation-Ahavath Israel Synagogue |
Specific Description |
synagogue |
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 |
$4,000.00 |
How
Weapon Information
Type |
Sub-type |
Explosives |
Dynamite/TNT |
Weapon Details |
three sticks of dynamite, an electric blasting cap, a battery, and a timer |
Additional Information
Suicide Attack? | No |
Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
Criterion 1 () |
Yes |
Criterion 2 () |
Yes |
Criterion 3 () |
Yes |
Additional Information |
The bombing occurred around 4:00pm, and coincided with the start of a week-long national convention to commemorate victims of the Holocaust; Pierce later described the attack as an "act of war" to serve "the greater good." During the trials for members of The Order, the judge stated that evidence about this bombing could not be presented in court, and prior testimony indicated that the bombing had not been sanctioned by Order leaders, it was an act conducted solely by Pierce and Kemp on their own to test the bomb, and other members of the group did not have prior knowledge of the incident; defense attorneys argued that it therefore could not be considered part of a racketeering conspiracy, and thus, it is doubtful that anyone was charged for this crime, but Pierce and Kemp were both later sentenced for their other crimes during their involvement with The Order. |
Who
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators |
2 |
Number of Captured Perpetrators |
2 |
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
Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt, "The Silent Brotherhood: Inside America's Racist Underground," The Free Press, Macmillan Inc., 1989. |
Rory Marshall, "Group's Leader Wanted To Declare War on Government, Former Member Says," The Associated Press, October 16, 1985. |
National News Briefs, United Press International, April 30, 1984. |
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