The Brink's robbery 1981 was an armed robbery and three related murders committed on October 20, 1981, conducted by six members of the Black Liberation Army: Jeral Wayne Williams (Mutulu Shakur), Donald Weems (Kuwasi) Balagoon), Samuel Brown (Solomon Bouines), Samuel Smith, Edward Joseph, and Cecilio "Chui" Ferguson; and four former Weather Underground members, now belonging to the 19th Communist Organization, consisting of David Gilbert, Judith Alice Clark, Kathy Boudin, and Marilyn Buck.
They stole $ 1.6 million in cash from Brink's armored car at Nanuet Mall, in Nanuet, New York, killing Brink guard Peter Paige seriously injuring Brinks, guarding Joseph Trombino, and then killing two Nyack police officers, Edward O'Grady and Waverly Brown (the first African American member of Nyack, New York police). Trombino recovered from the injuries he received in this incident but was killed in 2001 in the September 11 attacks.
Video Brink's robbery (1981)
Robbery
The robbery began with Boudin escorting his infant son, Chesa Boudin, to the babysitter before taking the wheel of a vacation vehicle, a U-Haul truck. He waited in the nearby parking lot as his well-armed troopers drove a red van to Nanuet Mall, where a Brink truck was picking up.
At 3:55 pm, Brink guards Peter Paige and Joseph Trombino emerged from the mall carrying money bags. When they put money into the truck, the robbers stormed out of their van and attacked. One fired two rifle blasts at the bulletproof van, while the others opened fire with M16 rifles. Paige was beaten several times and died instantly. Trombino was able to fire one shot from his pistol, but was struck on his shoulders and arms by several rounds, almost cutting his arm from his body. The truck driver, who watched the shooting behind him, shot several bullets at the robbers through the port of the rifle at the door of his truck, but was shot down, and took shelter under the dashboard. The criminals won $ 1.6 million in cash, returned to their van, and escaped from the scene.
Trombino survived the injury, and continued to work for the Brink company for the next 20 years; he was almost killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and was eventually killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks while shipping at the North World Trade Center Tower.
Maps Brink's robbery (1981)
Swap cars and second shootout
After escaping from the scene, the robbers drove to the parking lot where the yellow Honda and U-Haul truck, manned by members of the Communist Organization May 19, are waiting. The robbers quickly threw the money bags into cars and trucks and drove away. In a house across the street, a vigilant college student saw them as they changed vehicles and called the police.
Meanwhile, police units from across the region gathered at the mall where gunfire occurred and attempted to cut off all possible escape routes. Shortly thereafter, Edward O'Grady, Waverly Brown, Brian Lennon and Artie Keenan's policemen watched and pulled over to the U-Haul truck, with Boudin in the front seat, along with the yellow Honda at the entrance to the New York State Thruway off the New York State Route 59. Police are not sure if they have the right truck, because it has been reported that the robbers are all black, while the passengers of this vehicle are white (the deliberate part of the initial plan by the robbers, hoping to fool the police). Since the truck fitted into the description of the holiday vehicle they were looking for, the officer pulled him up and approached with the drawn weapon.
The police officers who arrested them testified that Boudin, pretending to be innocent, pleaded with them to lay down their arms and convince them to release their guard; Boudin said he remained silent, that the officers were relaxed spontaneously. After the police lowered their weapons, six people armed with automatic weapons and wearing body armor emerged from behind the truck and started firing at four police officers. Officer Brown managed to fire two or three rounds at the robber before he was beaten repeatedly by a riffle rifle and fell on the ground. A robber then walks into his vulnerable body and fires a few more shots into him with a 9mm pistol, ensuring his death. Keenan was shot in the leg, but managed to hide behind a tree and shot back. O'Grady's clerk lived long enough to empty his gun, but when he refilled, he was shot several times with the M16. Ninety minutes later, he died at the hospital operating table. Meanwhile, Lennon, who was in his car when the firefight started, tried to get out of the front passenger door, but O'Grady's body was wedged in the door. He watches the suspects jump back to the U-Haul and darts straight at him. Lennon fired his rifle several times to the oncoming truck as it collided with a police car, then fired two rounds from his pistol.
The residents of U-Haul are scattered, some climb to yellow Honda, others hijack the nearest rider's car while Boudin is trying to escape on foot. An off-duty officer arrested him shortly after the firefight. When he was arrested, Boudin gave his name as Barbara Edson.
Capture
19 May Communists Gilbert, Brown, and Clark crash into Honda during a sharp turn, wounding Brown's neck, and dropping Clark's gun to the floor of the car. South Nyack police chief Alan Colsey was the only officer initially at the crash site, but managed to hold them at gunpoint until the backup arrived. After the trio were arrested, police found $ 800,000 of robbery and a 9mm Clark pistol on the back seat of the car.
The police tracked the license plate on one of the vacation vehicles to an apartment in New Jersey. Inside, police found weapons, bomb-making materials, and a detailed blueprint of six Manhattan police territories. The investigation later revealed the apartment was rented by Buck, who had previously been arrested for providing weapons to the BLA. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but in 1977, he was granted leave and never returned.
While in the apartment, police also found a newspaper that listed the address at Mt. Vernon, New York, a small town in Westchester County, about 20 miles from the mall where the robbery took place. When police raided the apartment, they found bloody clothing, ammunition, more weapons, and ski masks. The investigation later revealed that Buck's clothed suit, which accidentally shot himself in the leg when he tried to pull his weapon during an exchange of fire with the police.
All the plates in the vehicle are seen near Mt. The Vernon address is entered into the NCIC system. Two days later, the NYPD detectives found Chrysler 1978 with the number plate ever seen at Mt. Apartment Vernon. The vehicle, driven by Samuel and Nathanial Burns, escaped from the police as they tried to pull it. After the vehicle crashed, the two occupants involved the police in a gun battle that caused Smith to be killed and Odinga arrested. Inside Smith's pockets, police found a 0.38 caliber bullet which they believed were fired from the weapons of O'Grady's officers. Three other participants were arrested a few months later, including Weems.
Investigations for participants in robberies will continue for many years. Buck was arrested in 1985. The last person arrested in connection with it was Williams, the leader of the robbery, in 1986.
Exam and verdict
Gilbert, Weems, and Clark were Brink's first robbers to go to court. Because BLA is known for trying to break their members out of jail (as in the case of Assata Shakur), massive security precautions were taken, turning the courthouse in Goshen, New York into a fully armed compound. The task of leading what was expected to be a difficult and potentially dangerous trial was given to Judge David S. Ritter who tried to balance the rights of unpopular defendants by keeping the peace in the courtroom while they used an unconventional approach to making the case. The three defendants refused help from defense lawyers and chose to represent themselves. Their opinion is that they do not recognize the authority of the United States, the government has no right to try them. During the trial, they repeatedly disrupted the process by shouting anti-US slogans, which claimed "fighting" with the government and refused to respect any aspect of the US legal system. They call robbery "the plunder" of the funds necessary to form a new state in certain southern states ideally populated only by African Americans.
When it was time for the defendants to file their case, they only summoned one witness, Nathaniel Burns (Sekou Odinga), who had been convicted of several bank robberies. He said that his organization "is fighting for the liberation and self-determination of blacks in this country." Burns testified that the killings were appropriate because the three victims had disturbed the "takeover". According to him, money theft is justified morally because the funds are "robbed of forced labor forced on them and their ancestors." After his testimony, he was praised by the defendants and taken out of the courtroom to serve a 40-year federal prison term. The jury was unsure of Burns's considerations and at the end of the trial, it took only four hours of consideration to return a verdict that sentenced the three defendants to armed robbery and three counts of murder. When the verdict was announced, Clark, Gilbert, and Weems refused to appear in court. They remain in the cellar holding cell, drinking coffee and railing, what they feel, the racist court system. "I do not think any flowers are served by forcing them to be here," Judge Ritter said.
Rockland County D.A. Kenneth Gribetz told reporters: "Our goal is to see that these people, who have insulted society and have not shown remorse, will never see the streets of society again!" Judge Ritter seemed to agree. On October 6, 1983, he sentenced each defendant to three consecutive twenty-five years a life sentence, making them eligible for parole in 2058. After the trial, Weems claimed, "Regarding seventy-five years in prison I'm not really worried, not just because I am in the habit of not completing a sentence or waiting for parole or all that nonsense, but also because the State simply will not last for seventy-five or even fifty years. "He died in prison because of AIDS in 1986. Gilbert and Clark remain in jail. In September 2006, Clark was given a new court by a judge (Shira Scheindlin) in the district court on the grounds that he had no representation in court. On January 3, 2008, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, by a unanimous decision, canceled the decision of the district court which gave a new trial. The Second Circuit Panel notes that he chose to represent himself and nullify any claim by not appealing until after the time of appeal ends. In December 2016, Andrew Cuomo transferred Clark's sentence to 35 years, citing "extraordinary steps in self-development," Clark qualified for parole in 2017.
Unlike their raiders, Boudin and Brown are trying to install a legal defense. Boudin hired Leonard Weinglass to defend him. Weinglass, a legal partner of Boudin's father, arranged a defense bargain and Boudin pleaded guilty to one count of murder and crime robbery, in exchange for a lifetime of one-and-a-half years. He was released in 2003. However, Brown could not reach any agreement that would prevent him from life imprisonment. Since he had nothing to lose by going to court, he decided to have it. In his trial, he claimed to have only a small participation in the robbery and never fired a gun at anyone. The jury is not sure. In addition to being caught in an attempt to escape with other robbers, the witness identified him as a participant in both shootouts. He was sentenced to 75 years in prison for life.
Buck was later convicted of several allegations related to Brink's robbery and other crimes and was sentenced to 50 years in federal prison. He was released from prison in July 2010, and died of cancer in August 2010. Williams, the alleged group leader, was the last on trial for robbery-related allegations. In 1988, he received a 60-year sentence. His parole is rejected for unspecified reasons in 2016 and he will be eligible for another in 2018.
Legacy
In 2004, the Nyack post office was officially renamed after two police officers and guard Brink were killed in a gunbattle. In 2008, Kathy Boudin was appointed professor at Columbia University School of Social Work, which sparked criticism of people at Orangetown City in 2013 for university action and calls for his termination as professor.
Further reading
- Jacobs, Ron (1997). The Way The Wind Blew: A History of the Weather Underground . New York: Verso. ISBNÃ, 1859841678.
- Gilbert, David (2012) Love and Struggle: My Life in SDS, Weather Underground, and Beyond . Oakland: PM Press. ISBN: 9781604863192.
- Castellucci, John (1986) Great Dance: Kathy Boudin's Weather-Man Unsealed Story and Family of Terrorists Who Murder Brinks Robbery ; Dodd Mead; February 1986 ISBN: 978-0396087137
References
External links
- O'Grady Brown Memorial Scholarship Fund
- "Bullets from Underground". Time . 2 November 1981.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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