Weathermen, the

Radical organization cofounded in 1969 by Bill Ayers, John Jacobs, Bernardine Dohrn, Kathy Boudin, and others as an offshoot of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), which was dedicated to the violent overthrow of American imperialism.

The Weathermen, or Weather Underground, emerged following a meeting in Flint, Michigan, at which cofounder John Jacobs said, “We are against everything that is good and decent in honky America. We will burn and loot and destroy.” Following a trip to Havana to plot strategy with representatives of other members of the global communist movement's terrorist fifth column, the Weather Underground turned radical thought into action.

In 1969, the Weather Underground organized Days of Rage in Chicago with other militant left-wing groups. During Days of Rage, hundreds of people stormed the city's downtown areas, smashing hotel and store windows to protest the Vietnam War. Dozens of people were injured in the melee, including a current Chicago judge who was crippled for life.

Between 1970 and 1972, the Weather Underground carried out bombings against targets that included the headquarters of the New York City Police Department, the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) buildings, draft offices, corporate headquarters, and even statues of “oppressors.” In March, 1970, three members of the group died in a Greenwich Village townhouse when a bomb they were working on exploded prematurely. The bomb was intended for a dance at nearby Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Kathy Boudin, who survived the Greenwich Village bombing, went on to join the Black Liberation Army, an ultraviolent wing associated with the Black Panther Party. She was on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) most wanted list for nearly a [Page 812]decade. Boudin was involved in the 1981 New York Brinks robbery that left two guards dead. The proceeds of the robbery were to fund the “republic of New Afrika” in the southwestern United States. When Boudin was arrested, she possessed bomb-making materials and plans for a bombing campaign against New York City police stations. She was sentenced to 20 years to life and was paroled in 2003.

Ayers and Dohrn were fugitives before surrendering in December 1980. Charges against them were dropped because of improper surveillance. Ayers, a professor at the University of Illinois-Chicago, has written a book about his experiences in the Weather Underground. Dohrn, now a law professor at Northwestern University, has been denied admittance to the bar because of her association with the Weather Underground.