Frisco police union accuses Ayers of 1970 bombing
posted at 8:55 am on March 12, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn may have another round in the media spotlight coming. The police union in San Francisco has accused the radical couple and allies of Barack Obama of setting a bomb in 1970 that killed a police sergeant. The union cites testimony from a former government informant (via The College Politico):
A San Francisco police union has accused former domestic terrorist William Ayers, co-founder of the Weather Underground, and his wife in a 1970 bombing that killed one sergeant, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
The union, in a letter to a conservative organization lobbying for arrests in the case, accused Ayers and wife Bernardine Dohrn of bombing a city police station.
On Feb. 16, 1970, a bomb placed on a window ledge of Park Station killed Sgt. Brian McDonnell and injured eight other officers, the Chronicle reported.
The union said it had not been in contact with investigators nor did it have new evidence, but it cited Larry Grathwohl, who works with the conservative organization America’s Survival of Maryland and claims that he infiltrated Weather Underground as an FBI informant and heard Ayers confess, the Chronicle reported.
“There are irrefutable and compelling reasons to believe that Bill Ayers and his wife Bernardine Dohrn … are largely responsible for the bombing of Park Police Station,” the Feb. 24 letter reads, according to the Chronicle.
Ayers and Dohrn deny any involvement in the Park Station bombing. They dismissed Gratwohl as a “paid dishonest person”. Obviously, the police union disagrees, and seem to be pushing harder to get this case re-opened. If they can make a case, though, it would refute one of Ayers’ defenses — that the only people his group killed were their own members, referring to an accidental explosion when building a bomb in New York.
I’d say they’ll need more than this. If Gratwohl heard Ayers confess, it would have been decades ago. Why is he now just coming forward to talk about it? And if Gratwohl did give this information to the FBI, why wouldn’t they have acted on it? After all, they had to watch their case against Ayers go up in smoke for their own misconduct in investigating other Ayers crimes. They would have loved an opportunity to go after Ayers again.
On the other hand, there also doesn’t seem to be much reason for the San Francisco police union to lie about it, either. They’re not going to make themselves popular by accusing Ayers and Dohrn in that city.










Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »
No statute of limitations on murder hippie.
Larry Grathwohl is a hero and his testimony about the Weather Underground is chilling.
Well, we know who will get Obama’s presidential pardons if justice is served.
RobCon on March 12, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Just some guy in the neighborhood.
artist on March 12, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Wish there was some solid evidence to arrest and convict these anti-American murdering a$$holes with.
OmahaConservative on March 12, 2009 at 9:00 AM
If these terrorists need a lawyer, they can look up their old friend at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC.
jgapinoy on March 12, 2009 at 9:02 AM
It is possible that after the bungled attempt at prosecution, they were told by people higher up in the food chain to drop it so as to avoid further embarassment.
I think though, that making a case after so much time has passed, based only on the word of an informant and long past the “rehabilitation” of Ayers and Dohrn, will prove too difficult.
myrenovations on March 12, 2009 at 9:02 AM
i agree with Ed. this seems like a thin line leading to Ayers if indeed it leads to him at all. but anti-ayers (& bambi) noise coming out of SF is great news.
kelley in virginia on March 12, 2009 at 9:03 AM
This will not matter to the MSM, the cult followers that chant, “Yes we can” and “O-ba-ma”! They love The Messiah, he’s paying for their mortgage and gasoline, remember?
Obama is and was a radical, he associated with radicals that hate America, still do… The One is now in the White House thru fraud, malpracticve of the MSM and LIES, but this will cause the wagons to circle…
Nothing will stop the agenda of the far left Soros funded radical, we have too many weak wussified RINO’s and Rpeublicans, like Newt, Steele, Brooks, Fraum, Allah, Noonan, Will and others that are boot licking and butt boys for the Messiah. We have noone with the guts to reject Socialism, denounce it, point it out, make bold contrasts against it, demonize it and defeat it, except for Rush, Mark Levin, Glenn Beck and a very few others…
The MSM will, along with The One, tell his flock to “move on, nothing to see here”, and they will….
Sheeple
Mark Garnett on March 12, 2009 at 9:04 AM
If anyone ever accused ME of working for the New York Times, I’d make them eat those words.
Kent18 on March 12, 2009 at 9:05 AM
I smell another Chicago Citizen of the Year citation for Ayers from Mayor Daley. What a guy!!
Western_Civ on March 12, 2009 at 9:06 AM
Boggles the mind; a man who is good friends with a guy who led a terrorist organization that bombed the Pentagon and killed innocent people, is potus… Simply boggles the mind.
Keemo on March 12, 2009 at 9:08 AM
I don’t think so. Obama threw his own grandmother under a bus for political reasons. There is no way he would risk upsetting a large percentage of the US giving this guy a pardon. The pardon might come at the end of his second term, but after the damage this tool is doing in his first term I can’t imagine him getting a second term.
Buford on March 12, 2009 at 9:08 AM
What do you mean why did he just come forward? He’s been trying to tell this to anybody who would listen for years, especially last year. Where were you?
And the San Francisco Police Union are a bunch of pussies. They refused to make a public statement until now because they didn’t want to hurt Obama.
Dohrn planted this bomb at a police station where you have officers and civilians present round the clock. This was more proof that Ayers statement that they didn’t intend to hurt people was b.s. Besides the officer that was killed, other officers were severely injured. But, the police union kept silent. The Obamaa and donks kept silent. And our “betters” kept telling us to drop it, too. Screw you all.
Blake on March 12, 2009 at 9:09 AM
uh um uh…er I was uh I uh thought he was erm rehabilitated…
sven10077 on March 12, 2009 at 9:10 AM
They may not be able to prosecute, but why the hell are they glorified and paid with taxpayer money? They should be shunned.
Blake on March 12, 2009 at 9:11 AM
“Typical white person.”
Kent18 on March 12, 2009 at 9:12 AM
strong similarities with last night’s CSI NY… radicals bombing… just ‘do-gooders’ in the neighborhood I’m sure
gatorboy on March 12, 2009 at 9:13 AM
I’m still in complete amazement that those two are in the positions they are today. Sure, yes, I understand the case was dismissed, technicalities in the investigation, all that, as it should have been if I understood what the authorities did.
So fine, yes, they are free, but must we have our faces rubbed in it? Must they be held up as some sort of sick heroes? And on top of it all, they work with children!! What kind of sick society do we live in?
JamesLee on March 12, 2009 at 9:13 AM
Yeah, me too. But even if there isn’t anything solid opening an investigation may get a lot of rocks kicked over and bring some ugly slime out into the open. Dump that can of worms out on the table and let us look at them. I say go for it.
Oldnuke on March 12, 2009 at 9:17 AM
The DA in San Fran would never find a jury to convict these two murderers. Nothing but hero worshipers there.
BrianA on March 12, 2009 at 9:17 AM
After amazement comes projectile vomiting.
Blake on March 12, 2009 at 9:17 AM
I love how pacifists often use violence to make their point.
haikusrock on March 12, 2009 at 9:18 AM
You know, if the University of Alabama-Birmingham employed professors who had any connection whatsoever to the bombings and burnings of black churches in the South, there would be such an outcry that the professors would have to be dismissed. But if the University of Illinois-Chicago has a professor who bombed the Pentagon during the Vietname War era, it causes barely a whimper. That’s an improper double standard; all people who set bombs in the U.S. are enemies of liberty regardless of their cause
radjah shelduck on March 12, 2009 at 9:18 AM
Uh oh, the libs are going to be torn apart over this one. On the one hand you have a union in San Francisco, but on the other hand it’s the fuzz and they’re accusing a
terroristcommunity activist.Which side do the libs root for?
And I do wish there was more solid evidence. Throw those two freaking terrorists in jail. for life.
rbj on March 12, 2009 at 9:19 AM
Note to Ed: Nobody says “Frisco”. If you want to abbreviate it, it’s “San Fran”. If you’re in the Bay Area, it’s just “The City”.
flipflop on March 12, 2009 at 9:20 AM
Also remember that during this time SF area was sending people like Ron “Red” Dellums to congress. Look at the local government structure there and wonder how any law would be upheld.
TugboatPhil on March 12, 2009 at 9:21 AM
ff, speaking for many hicks in America, lots of us still say Frisco. No offense meant, it’s just shorter than “that cesspool north of LA.”
TugboatPhil on March 12, 2009 at 9:22 AM
It’s pretty amazing what we might know about Ayers if the media saw fit to do their job.
anniekc on March 12, 2009 at 9:23 AM
I do. It pisses off people. Especially those who live in Frisco.
Blake on March 12, 2009 at 9:24 AM
Words just words
Wade on March 12, 2009 at 9:24 AM
Let me see. City: San Francisco. Location: opposite end of the country. Party: union. Circumstances: Obama administration floundering (maybe foundering) in economic troubles.
Nobody wants this POS’s head on a stick more than I, but I think I see this as a stick that Obama’s people may be sending the media to go fetch, while they turn around and yell at the GOP for chasing after red herrings.
One thing about childish people seeking attention: if you ignore them, they eventually shut up.
Keep the bright lights, microscopes, magnifying glasses, and sights directed on Obama.
BuckeyeSam on March 12, 2009 at 9:25 AM
That horse left the barn
yearsdecades ago. This will go nowhere fast.redfoxbluestate on March 12, 2009 at 9:25 AM
It’s Frisco. The land of fruits and nuts.
Wade on March 12, 2009 at 9:26 AM
“Granola City”
sven10077 on March 12, 2009 at 9:27 AM
Hmmm, would Barry’s coddling of terrorists be in any way influenced by his friendship with this scumbag?
Is that kinda a critical question that should have been asked of him, or just BS?
Ridiculous media never bothered linking the two.
Idiots.
benrand on March 12, 2009 at 9:28 AM
They used to make fun of President Reagan for making movies with Bonzo the Chimp.
I would sooner be a friend of Bonzo than this murdering, traitorous piece of trash.
What kind of person did the clueless and easily mislead in this country elect as President?
kingsjester on March 12, 2009 at 9:30 AM
Ayers has found another way to drop bombs on America without threat of prosecution. He’s poisoning the minds of our youth with his commie manifesto, posing as a college professor. There ought to be a law that would allow us to incarcerate him for that crime.
Free speech, it’s gonna kill all of us some day.
fogw on March 12, 2009 at 9:30 AM
You ain’t kiddin’. My company is HQ’d in the Bay Area, so I’m out there about once a month. I’ll go up to San Fran/Frisco/The City with colleagues once in a while for dinner or just to drink and despite the freakazoids there, it’s still a fun place to visit. But I’m damned glad I live in Virginia.
flipflop on March 12, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Baxter Greene on March 12, 2009 at 9:33 AM
When the lights
Go down
In the City…
jgapinoy on March 12, 2009 at 9:35 AM
flipflop on March 12, 2009 at 9:31 AM
Genentech perhaps?
flyfisher on March 12, 2009 at 9:35 AM
The increasingly feminine-looking Bill Ayers…What’s up with that?
whitetop on March 12, 2009 at 9:36 AM
“I’d say they’ll need more than this. If Gratwohl heard Ayers confess, it would have been decades ago. Why is he now just coming forward to talk about it? And if Gratwohl did give this information to the FBI, why wouldn’t they have acted on it?”
I see a book deal in his future. This is looks to me like it is all about cashing in while he can.
LevStrauss on March 12, 2009 at 9:37 AM
I know it’s a longshot, but wouldn’t it be great to see Ayers and Dorn tried, convicted, and jailed a la OJ Simpson. All three are murderers who evaded justice for years.
Sweet_Thang on March 12, 2009 at 9:38 AM
I’d love to see this pan out. If those two murderous bastards could get put on death row, that would definitely be striking a blow for justice. It would also be yet another black eye for the Obama Administration, which claims no knowledge of one of America’s most infamous domestic terrorists. It would also throw the leftist university he teaches at in quite the tizzy, too.
Virus-X on March 12, 2009 at 9:40 AM
Obama “Bill who?” “I never really knew Bill!” “My association with Bill was part of the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy!”
sabbott on March 12, 2009 at 9:41 AM
Perhaps they, (the FBI), were still using the Hoover technics of gathering illegally obtained information which may not be “usable” in today’s courts?
Rovin on March 12, 2009 at 9:41 AM
Can a President issue a pardon for a garden variety murderer charged under California law? I don’t believe he can. According to Article II Section 2 of the Constitution, POTUS has the power to pardon for “offenses against the United States.”
flyfisher on March 12, 2009 at 9:42 AM
Justice is way overdue for these despicable domestic terrorists. I hope to hell this turns into something huge but I won’t hold my breath. I don’t even like to think about those smug rumps.
Hey,flipflop, I’m in Virginia too!
scalleywag on March 12, 2009 at 9:45 AM
I’m no lawyer, but 40 year old heresay evidence is hardly irrefutable and compelling. Unless there is something else, is this worth ink (pixels)?
swede7 on March 12, 2009 at 9:45 AM
I would love to see this case reopened. I’d love to see the entire history of the WUO investigated by some journalist in the way that they would if the group had ties to a Republican politician. I would then love to see the whole thing put together into a five part expose on prime time for a week until authorities would have no choice but to prosecute, Ayers, Dohrn and even the ones that didn’t die in the Greenwich Village explosion.
I would love it. Then I remember I live in a country where the media didn’t report the news about obama, they made it.
hawkdriver on March 12, 2009 at 9:45 AM
Ayers? Obama?
What? there is no mention of this Ayers fellow on Wikipedia’s Obama page. How could they possibly be connected?
Wiki – “ALL YOUR HISTORIES NOW BELONG TO US.”
batterup on March 12, 2009 at 9:47 AM
Bill Ayers for supreme court.
Bishop on March 12, 2009 at 9:49 AM
What part? I’m in the Fredericksburg area.
flipflop on March 12, 2009 at 9:50 AM
Or did you mean Initech?
flipflop on March 12, 2009 at 9:56 AM
I’m glad you’re covering this cause we know the MSM will not.
I can’t find this story at that College Politico link, but I know that Cliff Kincaid of A.I.M., Trevor Loudon of New Zeal (who has an enormous dossier on Barack’s Leftist/Socialist/Communist/Terrorist friends) and others, are participating in this conference, and presumably this is the source:
Campaign for Justice for Victims of Weather Underground Terrorism
Sponsored by America’s Survival, Inc.
March 12 National Press Club / First Amendment Lounge 12:30 – 2:30*
Keep hope alive!
Buy Danish on March 12, 2009 at 9:56 AM
I’m sure the San Fran Police Union’s credibility will rise now that Van Jones has Barack’s ear…
DamnYankee on March 12, 2009 at 9:58 AM
Genentech perhaps?
flyfisher on March 12, 2009 at 9:35 AM
Or did you mean Initech?
flipflop on March 12, 2009 at 9:56 AM
Nope I meant Genentech, but that was a decent flick.
flyfisher on March 12, 2009 at 9:59 AM
Note to Ed: Nobody says “Frisco”. If you want to abbreviate it, it’s “San Fran”. If you’re in the Bay Area, it’s just “The City”.
flipflop on March 12, 2009 at 9:20 AM
I say Frisco…
max1 on March 12, 2009 at 9:59 AM
Never cross Princess Pelosi. Any light shined on the bomber Ayers and his assistant Bernadine will reflect badly on Obama.
What will the pres, have to caugh up to get the Princess to pull off her dogs?
FireBlogger on March 12, 2009 at 10:04 AM
Good gawd, this information was available waaaaaay before the s-election, but like the rest of the Soetoro-Obama story, it was ignored by the MSM.
I’ve had this for months.
What’s next? “LA Times May Have Some Kind of Rashid Khalid-Obama Tape”
Sheesh.
ex-Democrat on March 12, 2009 at 10:12 AM
It’s ‘Frisco because it’s a homo and Illegal Alien cesspool!!!
RealDemocrat on March 12, 2009 at 10:12 AM
I say Frisco…
max1 on March 12, 2009 at 9:59 AM
While in the service and stationed in the Bay Area, we always referred to it as ‘Frisco.
Bishop on March 12, 2009 at 10:14 AM
Down in the Shenandoah Valley, Harrisonburg area. Nice country I guess, but I’m really just a displaced Texan.
scalleywag on March 12, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Me too, it p!*sses the residents off when you do.
thomasaur on March 12, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Mark Garnett on March 12, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Johan Klaus on March 12, 2009 at 10:16 AM
so do most the
malesahhmenahh…whateverWade on March 12, 2009 at 10:17 AM
Obama doesn’t know Ayers. “He’s just a guy who lives in the neighborhood.” “Our kids go to the same school.” – except, they stole money from the Annenberg Foundation together, and worked closely for a long time. Unless Obama’s kids skipped 11 grades, their kids never went to school together either. Obama is a radical, a racist, a liar, and probably more dangerous than Ayers.
marklmail on March 12, 2009 at 10:21 AM
I hope that the two San Francisco Police Department cops who arrest Ayers and Dohrn are Lt. Frank Bullitt and Inspector Harry Callaghan.
KillerKane on March 12, 2009 at 10:24 AM
I would say no, because the Constitution uses different terminology like “the several States” to refer to states as individual entities, and “the United States” when talking about the national (now horribly misnamed “Federal”) government.
But the Constitution is a Living Document, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Supremes had ruled otherwise.
The Monster on March 12, 2009 at 10:27 AM
Frisco rhymes with Crisco.
jeff_from_mpls on March 12, 2009 at 10:28 AM
Well said.
Be sure to visit http://www.PatDollard.com and look for his new org which goes by the mnemonic “Active”….we’re gonna take on the leftists mano-a-mano.
btw, don’t forget this. I said it first.
Let’s roll.
ex-Democrat on March 12, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Thank god there is no statute of limitation on MURDER.
I hope the Fargin bastadge gets convicted.
TheSitRep on March 12, 2009 at 10:34 AM
why are ayers & his POS wife still walking around upright? Domestic terrorists from the 70′s should’ve been dealt with back in the day…..with the death penalty, enacted within one year of sentencing.
Ris4victory on March 12, 2009 at 10:34 AM
For more info about Ayers, a couple of recent articles:
Justice for Victims of the Weather Underground
March 3, 2009
and
Ayers Under Fire
February 26, 2009
Xiphos on March 12, 2009 at 10:34 AM
It’s Frisco, and should be pronounced “frith co“, with a decidedly accentuated lithp.
ornery_independent on March 12, 2009 at 10:37 AM
When you listen to David Horowitz, who knew Ayres, talk about him you know Ayres is a scumbag.
David has total disdain for him as a “man”, Ayres is a weasel according to Horowitz.
David doesn’t like the actions of most of his liberal buddies, but he will admit when someone was mis-guided, or was a good organizer, or did it out of true belief in a cause. But it appears Ayres was just a fool, not very bright, and let others take the fall for him.
Nothing could please me more then to have this idiot be run through the legal gauntlet…but of course he will be kept on as a prof…but if he would have been accused of saying something “sexist” he would be gone…accused of killing a policeman, he is a hero.
right2bright on March 12, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Wow. My posts keep failing to appear. They don’t even go into moderation. They just don’t show up.
Blake on March 12, 2009 at 10:45 AM
You’re full of shit. Grathwohl infiltrated the Weathermen. He belonged to a cell, I think, in Detroit. Ayers came calling and bitched the people out for being slackers. He complained that Dohrn was forced to procure the materials for the bomb and make it her self. She was also forced to plant the bomb at the Park Station. Ayers and Dohrn always tried to make other people do the dirty work in order to distance themselves from criminal liability and the fact that bomb making is a highly dangerous bizness.
Grathwohl testified before congress. He has given interviews and there are youtube copies on the internet. He didn’t just come forward to cash in on it, ahole. One of the problems is that it is constantly being supppressed. Searching the internet just now, a lot of the links to him have been removed. In fact, there has been a concerted effort to remove as much dirt about Obama’s terrorist connections as possible. Leftards are all about suppressing speech they disagree with.
Today, in is the SF Police Union coming forward. They’ve known about this stuff for years. They chose to not come forward last year when it was very relevant because the SF police union is in the donks pocket.
Test
Blake on March 12, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Yep. The second post didn’t show up, too.
It’s do or die time!
Blake on March 12, 2009 at 10:46 AM
Ed, thanks for spot-lighting this. But you were once a Californian, so please; never, ever, “Frisco“. You know better than that.
juanito on March 12, 2009 at 10:49 AM
I bet there is much more on this. Remember, this is a murder case. It will be pursued. Maybe the union is having voter’s remorse.
bloggless on March 12, 2009 at 10:56 AM
OT, but sorta related…
I caught an episode of the tv show Life on Mars a couple weeks ago that had the Weather Underground as the basis for a story line. Its a detective show show set in 1973 NYC (I think). The WU was assassinating cops with bombs, and the fingers were pointed at the WU, so I had hope for a decent story, however it quickly devolved into a revenge killing plot against a gang of rogue “Red Squad” cops, who did their own brand of vigiante justice outside the law. Long story short…it turned out to be just a big mistake, as the murdered WU leader that was being avenged was actually killed in a lover’s triangle thing. But during the course of events, it just really pissed me off that Harvey Keitel “confessed” his knowledge of the “Red Squad”, making the cops as “bad” as the WU terrorists.
Farking Hollywood.
/OT
ornery_independent on March 12, 2009 at 11:05 AM
Is he guilty? Hell yeah he is, however, the FBI acquired evidence against him illegally, so it will get thrown out in court. It’s the same reason why we shouldn’t have Islamic Terrorist tried in our Criminal Justice System.
Cr4sh Dummy on March 12, 2009 at 11:20 AM
Pastor Wright was right. chickens come home to roost
OJ was laughing until the last time. Laughed at the murder trial, the civil trrial and asset hearings. Eventually we hear no laughter.
seven on March 12, 2009 at 11:20 AM
Can’t O find a cabinet spot for Ayers?
C’mon, how about security chief?
ObamatheMessiah on March 12, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Here in Northern Nevada, the cespool is known as the “Gay Bay” or the “Gay Area”. And we’re still waiting for the big quake to flush the cespool out to sea
Ltmousseman on March 12, 2009 at 11:52 AM
I would have to agree…”Frisco” is so 1950s. I have several relatives in the Bay area.
I hope someone plasters the whole Ayers story all over the place for the next few years. They might can escape justice by technicality but they should never have been able to ecsape public opinion. OJ escaped justice too. But his didn’t keep his reputation. These terrorists did.
petunia on March 12, 2009 at 12:23 PM
By popular demand Frisco is now the official term for the city by the bay.This will remain so until people are not p***ed off by it. It’s the little things that are most enjoyable.
Fuquay Steve on March 12, 2009 at 12:27 PM
Because the fix was in before. That’s why the terrorist and his homicidal maniac wife got off, in the first place.
They were instructed to drop it, and probably not due to any “embarrassment”. I would lay money that that “embarrassment” was manufactured by some well-paid connections.
Ayers and Dorn should fry … slowly. I wonder if The Precedent would attend the executions?
progressoverpeace on March 12, 2009 at 12:57 PM
Is that David Frum in the background?
(j/k)
Tzetzes on March 12, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Fascist Pigs Harass Noted Educator Over 40-Year-Old Littering Offense
Jim Treacher on March 12, 2009 at 1:01 PM
I don’t know the facts about this bombing; but, from this quote, it sounds like this Terrorist/Friend of the Socialist should’ve been prosecuted under a felony murder theory. Hell, he’s even admitted his guilt.
OhEssYouCowboys on March 12, 2009 at 1:05 PM
Hear, hear…frisco it is.
right2bright on March 12, 2009 at 1:06 PM
Time for the media to confront Ayers relentlessly about whether he’ll volunteer to take a polygraph to confirm his claims of innocence, along with Gratwohl.
Not admissible in court, perhaps, but definitely effective in flushing out the truth of the situation. Would Gratwohl agree to a polygraph first, perhaps? (Or is he the one full of B.S.? Enquiring minds want to know…)
RD on March 12, 2009 at 1:37 PM
Comment pages: 1 2 Next »