VoL So. 17" May 27, 1966
FIRST MARTYR IN AMERICA'S ANTIWAR MOVEMENT
America's antiwar movement had its first martyr May 16 when Leo Bernard was assassinated by an anti-Communist gunman.
The 27-year-old socialist, a member of the Socialist Workers party and its candidate for Congress in the 1964 elections, was. murdered in the headquarters of the Detroit local of the American Trotskyist organization.
Jan Garrett, 22, Wayne County chairman of the SWP and a menber of the National Committee of the Young Socialist Alliance, and ~ Walter Graham, 19, a member of the YSA, were seriously wounded. According to the latest report they have been taken off the critical list.
The political assassin, Edward Waniolek, a 40-year-old cab
New York, N. Y. 10010. ! Ss
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driver told his wife, "I'm going to kill some Communists." She called the police. They did nothing, however, and Waniolek appeared at the Eugene V. Debs Hall, the headquarters of the SWP local, where he found the three young men.
He asked to see some books by Lenin. He then pulled out a gun and ordered the three socialists, "Line up against the wall. You're all a bunch of Commies."
As he fired at them with an automatic pistol and a rifle, they fell to the floor. Leo Bernard died from a bullet through the heart.
Both the Socialist Workers party and the Young Socialist Alliance have been prominent in the antiwar demonstrations that have swept the United States in the past year. The two organizations have. pressed in particular for the slogan, "Withdraw the U. 8. Troops Now!"
They have also been active in the civil-rights movement. Detroit was the main center of the efforts. to organize | a Freedom ‘Now’ party in the 1964 elections.
Several months ego the political assassin visited the consulate of the Union of South Africa seeking a visa. The consulate got in touch with U.S. authorities. Lt. Rollins of the Special Investigation Bureau of the Detroit police. said that the U.S. Secrét Service asked him about Waniolek March 4. According to Rollins, "Waniolek claimed that the United States was overrun with Communists. He told the people at the consulate that he was armed and prepared to fight against the Communists.
Evidently the racist-minded, ultrareactionary Waniolek had been attracted by the role of Verwoerd's South Africa in recruiting white mercenaries for use in places like the Congo.
The tragic death of Leo Bernard aroused the entire radical movement in the United States. Leading spokesmen of all groups sent messages of sympathy and solidarity and offered to participate in the memorial services planned in various cities.
The blow, it was felt universally, was symptomatic of the | war hysteria which the administration has been seeking to whip up . as part of its escalation of the war in Vietnam. While these propaganda efforts have not succeeded with the majority of the American people, who remain resistant to Johnson's war, it has heightened the inclination of the ultrarightists to engage in violence.
Recently the San Francisco headquarters of the DuBois Clubs | was bombed. No one was injured, since the blast went off during the night when the building was empty. Subsequently the headquarters of the Vietnam Day Committee in Berkeley was bombed, too. A number of people were in the building. By sheer chance, no one was killed.
The entire antiwar movement in the United States mourned the
death of Leo Bernard. Although everyone felt deeply moved, there were. no signs that the tragedy had aroused fear. On the contrary, the ...... immediate reaction was to rally and fight harder than ever. A clear ~ indication was the way students at Wayne University and others in > Detroit: appeared. at the. hospital spontaneously to offer blood for the victims.:
wiircAnd it: was -clear in the appeals from all.sectors of the antiwar “ovement to close ranks and step up the struggle against Johnson's "dirty war" in Vietnam.
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