The Chicago Eight
On September 23, 1969, the "Chicago Eight" trial begins. Eight antiwar activists had been arrested and charged with instigating the violent demonstrations at the August 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
On September 21, 1780, American General Benedict Arnold meets with British Major John Andre to discuss handing over West Point to the British, in return for the promise of a large sum of money and a high position in the British army. The plot was foiled and Arnold became synonymous with the word "traitor."
On September 19, 1881, President James A. Garfield succumbs to wounds inflicted by an assassin 80 days earlier. Garfield's assassin was an attorney and political office-seeker named Charles Guiteau. Guiteau was a relative stranger to the president and his administration in an era when federal positions were doled out on a "who you know" basis. When his requests for an appointment were ignored, a furious Guiteau stalked the president, vowing revenge.
Patty Hearst
On September 18, 1975, newspaper heiress and wanted fugitive Patty Hearst is captured in a San Francisco apartment and arrested for armed robbery. On February 4, 1974, Patricia Hearst, the 19-year-old daughter of newspaper publisher Randolph Hearst, was kidnapped from her apartment in Berkeley, California. Her fiancé, Stephen Weed, was beaten and tied up along with a neighbor who tried to help.
On September 17, 1884, Judge Allen disposes of the 13 criminal cases on his Oakland, California, docket in only six minutes. Although he set a new record for speed, defendants in Oakland's criminal court did not stand much of a chance of gaining an acquittal.
Brigham Young
On September 16, 1845, Phineas Wilcox is stabbed to death on orders of Brigham Young in Nauvoo, Illinois, because he is believed to be a spy. The murder of Wilcox reflected the serious and often violent conflict between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the surrounding communities.
On September 14, 1901, President William McKinley succumbs to gunshot wounds inflicted by an assassin on September 6th. According to witnesses, McKinley's last words were those of the hymn "Nearer My God to Thee." McKinley was shaking hands in reception line at the Pan-American Exhibition in Buffalo, New York, when a 28-year-old anarchist named Leon Czolgosz approached him with a gun concealed in a handkerchief in his right hand.
On the night of November 29, 1988, near the impoverished Marlborough neighborhood in south Kansas City, an explosion at a construction site killed six of the city’s firefighters. It was a clear case of arson, and five people from Marlborough were duly convicted of the crime. But for veteran crime writer and crusading editor J. Patrick O’Connor, the facts—or a lack of them—didn’t add up. Justice on Fire is OConnor’s detailed account of the terrible explosion that led to the firefighters’ deaths and the terrible injustice that followed. Also available from Amazon
