Today in Madman history, a dozen terrorists stormed and occupied 3 government buildings in Washington DC! Broken off from the Nation of Islam, the gunmen killed at least 2 people, injured several others, including a then-unknown city councilman Marion Berry, and held hostages. Their demands were mostly standard requests, like freeing fellow compatriots held for previous crimes.
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| Marion Berry recovering from his gunshot wound. His role in the event fueled his rise to becoming DC's mayor. |
But there was one fairly odd demand- the destruction of a film starring Anthony Quinn called The Message. The movie was a biopic about the life of Mohammed and while several Muslim religions groups gave their blessing for the film's production, not everyone was happy about including the Hanafi Movement of which the terrorists were members of.
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| Police snipers poised for action during the stand-off. |
In my 39-years of life, how have I never heard of this event? You'd think in the wake of the
9-11 attacks or just our continual war on Islamic terrorism that there would be some documentary or even a memorial piece on this. Why, being a history major/ teacher I would've expected to have learned something about this. But it wasn't until my research for today's Madman post that I first learn of this siege.
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| Investigators mull over the crime scene after the terrorists surrender. |
I thought for today's post, you might want to hear more about the event straight from the horse's mouth. So I am including a March 9, 1977 taping of the WRAL-5 news from Raleigh, NC- my birthplace! Literally, as the studios were a mere 5 blocks from the hospital in which I was born.
Sorry that the quality stinks and that the sports section in virtually unwatchable. I didn't tape it!
I wasn't even born yet!
Until tomorrow...
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