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Bomb Explodes in U.S. Capitol Building

March 1, 1971

Logo of the Weather Underground, the American radical new left group which existed in the 1970s
Logo of the Weather Underground, the American radical new left group which existed in the 1970s
Logo of the Weather Underground, the American radical new left group which existed in the 1970s

A bomb explodes in the Capitol building in Washington D.C., near the Senate chambers. It causes an estimated $300,000 in damage. No one is hurt in the blast. A group known as the Weather Underground claims credit for the bombing. The Weather Underground is a radical organization that advocates violence as a legitimate means to change American society. They assert that the bombing is in protest of the ongoing U.S.-supported South Vietnamese invasion of Laos.1

Stephen Sloan and Sean K. Anderson, Historical Dictionary of Modern Terrorism (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2009), 698; David H. McElreath, et. al., Introduction to Homeland Security (2nd edition; Boca Raton, FL: Taylor and Francis, 2014), 364; Jussi M. Hanhimaki, The Flawed Architect: Henry Kissinger and American Foreign Policy (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004); David Stout, “Capitol Hill Slayings: The Security; Despite History of Violence, Capitol is a Very Public Place,” New York Times, July 25, 1998 http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/25/us/capitol-hill-slayings-security-despite-history-violence-capitol-very-public.html (link is external) (accessed 10/22/14); Spencer C. Tucker, ed., The Encyclopedia of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social, and Military History (2nd edition; Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011), 1329–30.