Government Action
When the first few bombs went off, many wanted answers or at least a solution to this problem. Even though these bombs really didn't affect the public very much, many wanted an end to this nuisance. After all, the majority of the targets where politicians, and even then most of the intended targets where not killed. Special agent Todd Daniel and the Bureau of Investigation's acting director William Flynn would lead an extensive case on these bombings. William Flynn, said to be "The greatest anarchist expert" by Mitchel Palmer himself ("1919 Bombings" page 1) had Philadelphia made into the main headquarters for this investigation.
The department also wanted to take matters into their own hands by creating a division of intelligence, led by John Edgar Hoover in August 1919. A month after, one of the most devastating of the anarchist bombs was unleashed from a parked 14.5/15 |
horse-drawn carriage on Wall street the day of September 16, 1920. Said bomb was only 200 feet from the stock exchange and killed 30 people as well as damage to the city itself.("1919 May Day Bomb Plot Helped Spur 1920's Deadly Wall St. Blast." page 2) This was one of the underlying factors of the Palmer Raids, accelerating it further. This also secured the approval of most Americans at the time.
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