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Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R000100330001-5 SPECIAL EDITION -- TERRORISM -- CHICAGO TRIBUNE Terrorist Incidents 3 June 1984 Pg. 7 26 JUNE 1984 21 bombs trigger fears of more to come in Midwest By Douglas Frantz and Philip Wattley THE DISCOVERY of 21 small bombs in Illinois, Wisconsin and’ Minnesota has rompted warnings from federal and loca residents in eight Midwestern states that more of the potentially lethal devices might be planted. So far, bombs have been dis- covered in playgrounds, parking lots and shop ing centers. Six people have suffered minor injuries, but authorities said the devices could cause serious harm. The construction of the bombs has varied. The three earliest. were built, inside paper sacks, but the last 18 were more powerful bombs inside ieces of steel pipe about 6 inches ong. Some were designed to be _trig- gered when they were picked -up; others were set off by trip wires; and still others had electric circuits that would be completed when a dollar bill was pulled out. . 4 BOMB FOUND in Chicago was a bare steel pipe with a battery strap- ped to the side, while bombs baited with corer bills in Milwaukee were wra in plain brown paper... AL are believed by authorities to be the work of a single person or a group. _ Most have been concealed in pub- lie places, prompting authorities to warn citizens. to be wary of any suspicious package or object, from an apparently empty sack to what may look like a bag of money. -_ “If you see any suspicious object, don’t touch it, don’t throw rocks at it, don’t do anything except call your ‘police department,’’ said Peter Mastin, the Bureau of Alcohol, To- bacco and Firearms [ATF] agent who is heading the federal investiga- ion. Mastin and other. authorities said they fear more bombs will be dis- covered over the weekend, but they have been unable to come up with a suspect or a motive. . “We can’t discount anything at this time, and we have to follow ‘every lead, but we just don’t have a suspect,” said Mastin. ‘What we've Bot is a helluva mystery.” THE REMAINS of all 21 ‘bombs are being tested by the ATF labora-' tory in Rockville, Md., to determine’ whether the bombs were made with the same material. : The strongest evidence of. a link between the bombs is the virtually. identical notes attached to many of the pipe bombs. authorities to . y 27 & 28: May 6: 16 bombs found||1 sack bomb| discovered omb May 3 bombs found; 1 injured The notes read: ‘‘Violence by your: North Central Gay Strike Force against public and police oppres- sion.”’ Some notes also listed eight states, which police believe are tar- gets of the bomber or bombers: TIIli- nois, Indiana, lowa, Michigan, Min- nesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota. Police. and members of the gay community say they have never heard of the “strike force,” and some speculated that the bombs may be the work of an individual who is strongly antigay. ; . “It is conceivable that this vio- lence is aimed: at turning people away from the gay community and its recent progress; said Richard Wagner, cochairman of the Gover- nor’s Council for the Gay and Les- bjan Community in Wisconsin. WAGNER AND others speculated that the bombings may have started in Wisconsin because of the state’s: progress toward insuring gay rights. Federal authorities and police in three states are piecing together a trail of bombs and fear that appar- ently started in Eau Claire, Wis. On May 5, two paper sacks in the small Wisconsin town exploded when they were picked up, and four people Suffered slight injuries from flying metal, said Inspector William Fesen- maier of the Eau Claire police. No notes were found with the Eau Claire bombs or with a similar sack bomb discovered the following day in Chippewa Falls, Wis. 75 Approved For Release 2000/08/07 : CIA-RDP96-00788R000100330001-5 May 31 & June 1 Two bombs found Mastin said the sack bombs are considered part of the series, despite their differences with pipe bombs. discovered in the last nine days. ON FRIDAY, May 25, six powerful: ipe bombs were discovered in La Prose, Wis., including one-hidden at the base of a slide in a playground and three with trip wires stretched across alleys off downtown streets. One man was slightly injured when a bomb exploded as he opened the rear door of a Catholic church, said Michael Abraham, a La Crosse po- lice detective. The other, bombs were found by police before they went off. The first notes claiming responsi- bility were found in La Crosse. Abra- ham said three bombs were accom-. anied by hand-scrawled notes in black ink that said the bombs were the work of the ‘North Central Gay. Strike Force.” . The pipe bombs were about.6 inch- es long and 14-inch in diameter and loaded with gunpowder, screws and nails. All were set to be triggered by trip wires. ON SUNDAY, May 27, a cautious passerby saw what he believed was a trip wire hidden in some brush in Stillwater, Minn. He set off the bomb by throwing a rock at the wire, a tactic that authorities warn is dan- gerous. Later Sunday and early Monday, CONTINUED NEXT PAGE