Litton Industries bombing
Encyclopedia
In October, 1982, three members of the Direct Action
"urban guerrilla" group acted upon "their wish to end the arms race
" and filled a stolen pick-up truck with 550 kg of dynamite and drove from Vancouver to Toronto
, planting the bomb outside Litton Industries
, a manufacturer of American cruise missile
components many feared would increase the risk of nuclear war. Although the militants had phoned to evacuate the building, the bomb was accidentally detonated several minutes before its announced deadline, injuring several bomb squad police officers and civilians in the vicinity.
Due to the pressure exerted by protesters following the bombing, Litton Industries lost their government contract to build the weapons.
official with "all the right connections in the government and military", in 1956. Litton transformed into a military producer, building entire naval ships in their private shipyard
s and installing their privately-produced equipment including communications and navigation systems.
Described as "the best known economic link between Canada and the nuclear arms race", the Rexdale, Ontario plant of Litton Industries was announced in October 1978 as one of two locations in the world that would be responsible for the manufacture of the TERCOM
guidance systems of the American nuclear-tipped Tomahawk
cruise missile
. The Canadian federal government had given Litton a $26.4 million dollar grant
, in addition to a $22.5-million interest-free loan specifically to allow them to bid competitively for the contract, drawing complaints from some members of the public for using federal funds to further the arms race. The American contract called for approximately 407 cruise missiles to be fitted with navigation systems by Litton Canada,
On April 10, 1981 the Canadian government sent Jean Jacques Blais to oversee the proud presentation of the first Canadian-produced cruise missile guidance system to Rear Admiral Walter M. Locke.
The cruise missiles were being developed with the intention of testing them in Western Canada, to much controversy.
The three associates stole a GMC
van in the Greater Toronto Area
on September 30, as well as an Oldsmobile
and Chevrolet Chevelle
three and four nights later respectively.
On the morning of October 14, just hours before the bombing, the Ontario Court of Appeals ruled that five Litton executives from the plant could not be called to testify by the defence counsel of 22 anti-nuclear activists who had been arrested for trespassing one year earlier.
d to the hood, displaying a message, a digital clock counting down, and a single stick of dynamite to draw attention to the danger.
Belmas called the security desk and warned them that a dynamite bomb was placed in a van outside the building, and that it would detonate "in 15 to 20 minutes". She also told the guards to evacuate the plant, phone the local hotels to warn guests to stay away from windows to avoid injury and to have police close down passing roadways to limit the damage to Litton Industries.
However, the security guard either suspected the warning was a hoax, or simply failed to understand the instructions, and did not evacuate the building as advised.
The bomb detonated 12 minutes after the phone call, three minutes earlier than warned, although the bomb squad later suggested that it could have been their own radio communications that accidentally triggered the explosion. The explosion injured three members of the police bomb squad, three passing motorists driving on the highway which had not been shut down despite Belmas' advice, and five Litton employees who had also not been evacuated despite Belmas' advice. All injuries were listed as "not critical".
The bomb damaged two periphery buildings, and blew out a 50' section of wall on the main two-storey plant, indicating that the storagerooms of raw materiel bore the brunt of the damage, as well as the offices above and around the storage area. The cost of damages was described by police as being "in the millions" Damages were estimated anywhere from $3.87 million to $50 million. By comparison, the Litton contract for the cruise missiles was estimated to have been $80 million.
On October 19, a 9-page communique was mailed to various organisations and media outlets. The first six pages were titled "Direct Action" and explained the philosophy of the group's actions and their opposition to society's ills - and the remaining three pages were titled "Statement regarding the October 14 Litton Bombing" and included an explanation of the purpose of the bombing, and apologised, citing that both the bombers and the inept security response contributed to the unforeseen injuries.
later pointed to the fact that 15,000 people attended a "Refuse the Cruise" demonstration two weeks after the bombing as evidence it had forced the public to confront Canada's role in the Military-Industrial Complex
. Others have concurred that the bombing did galvanise the population, who viewed the bombing as controversial or unnecessary, but took to the streets in strongly-strengthened numbers to protest Canada complicity in the production of instruments of war. A month after the bombing, 700 people showed up at the Litton Industries plant to engage in "civil disobedience" despite police warnings.
Ronald Keating, the president of Litton Industries, released a statement following the event, stating that "Bombing is madness", a statement ridiculed as hypocritical for a man "overseeing the very profitable construction of U.S. bombs". Following the bombing, Litton increased their security budget by $2 million, money that Keating said "was money which could be put into our business to help make us more competitive".
The day after the bombing, an anonymous male telephoned Garrett Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Litton housed several blocks away in the same Toronto neighbourhood, to report that a bomb had been placed in the building; leading to an evacuation of the 15 personnel on-shift.
Due to the pressure exerted by protesters following the bombing, Litton Industries lost their government contract to build the navigation systems to Kearfott Guidance & Navigation
.
In October 1984, the Litton headquarters in Brussels
were bombed by the Communist Combatant Cells
led by Pierre Carrette.
and Central Intelligence Agency
to help "hunt [the] terrorists".
In the days following the bombing, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
obtained approval for a 90-day Level IV operation against the Cruise Missile Conversion Project, intended to determine the level of influence among known "subversives". The telephones of CMPC members, including Ken Hancock, were wiretapped for "some considerable time" according to Roy McMurtry
, the Attorney General of Ontario
. Hancock was also the subject of a police raid that seized four bags of documents, after his name surfaced in the diary of Ivan LeCouvie, another man who was arrested and then released by police.
Some defenders of the group have suggested that the accused plead guilty to ensure the trial was not about who committed the action, but "to turn the trials into a political showcase, trotting out the evils of nuclear power, pornography and cruise missiles for all to see".
The judge ruled that Hansen's life sentence was merited because "[her] only remorse or regret is for the injury you caused the ten Litton Systems victims" and that she did not apologise for any of the group's property damage.
In arriving at the sentencing for the group, the judge declared "I have no doubt that all of these people are well-motivated people working, if not struggling, against unfavourable odds to promote their respective causes...[but] the message must be crystal clear. Our Canadian way of life will not tolerate the use of fire, explosive substances or weapons as a means to furthering even worthy objectives".
Squamish Five
The Squamish Five were a group of self-styled "urban guerrillas" active in Canada during the early 1980s. Their chosen name was Direct Action....
"urban guerrilla" group acted upon "their wish to end the arms race
Arms race
The term arms race, in its original usage, describes a competition between two or more parties for the best armed forces. Each party competes to produce larger numbers of weapons, greater armies, or superior military technology in a technological escalation...
" and filled a stolen pick-up truck with 550 kg of dynamite and drove from Vancouver to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, planting the bomb outside Litton Industries
Litton Industries
Named after inventor Charles Litton, Sr., Litton Industries was a large defense contractor in the United States, bought by the Northrop Grumman Corporation in 2001.-History:...
, a manufacturer of American cruise missile
Cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
components many feared would increase the risk of nuclear war. Although the militants had phoned to evacuate the building, the bomb was accidentally detonated several minutes before its announced deadline, injuring several bomb squad police officers and civilians in the vicinity.
Due to the pressure exerted by protesters following the bombing, Litton Industries lost their government contract to build the weapons.
Litton Industries' role
Litton Industries was conceived as a radio-engineering firm in 1934, but was purchased by Charles Bates Thornton, a PentagonThe Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
official with "all the right connections in the government and military", in 1956. Litton transformed into a military producer, building entire naval ships in their private shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
s and installing their privately-produced equipment including communications and navigation systems.
Described as "the best known economic link between Canada and the nuclear arms race", the Rexdale, Ontario plant of Litton Industries was announced in October 1978 as one of two locations in the world that would be responsible for the manufacture of the TERCOM
TERCOM
Terrain Contour Matching, or TERCOM, is a navigation system used primarily by cruise missiles. It uses a pre-recorded contour map of the terrain that is compared to measurements made during flight by an on-board radar altimeter. A TERCOM system considerably increases the accuracy of a missile...
guidance systems of the American nuclear-tipped Tomahawk
BGM-109 Tomahawk
The Tomahawk is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile. Introduced by General Dynamics in the 1970s, it was designed as a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a surface platform. It has been improved several times and, by way of corporate divestitures...
cruise missile
Cruise missile
A cruise missile is a guided missile that carries an explosive payload and is propelled, usually by a jet engine, towards a land-based or sea-based target. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy...
. The Canadian federal government had given Litton a $26.4 million dollar grant
Grant (money)
Grants are funds disbursed by one party , often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal...
, in addition to a $22.5-million interest-free loan specifically to allow them to bid competitively for the contract, drawing complaints from some members of the public for using federal funds to further the arms race. The American contract called for approximately 407 cruise missiles to be fitted with navigation systems by Litton Canada,
On April 10, 1981 the Canadian government sent Jean Jacques Blais to oversee the proud presentation of the first Canadian-produced cruise missile guidance system to Rear Admiral Walter M. Locke.
The cruise missiles were being developed with the intention of testing them in Western Canada, to much controversy.
Planning
On the night of July 27, 1982, a British Columbia Department of Highways explosives storehouse north of Squamish was entered, and 38.5 cases of dynamite were stolen. On September 13, a local hunter came upon two wooden structures that had been built in the forests of Garibaldi, near the site of the theft. One contained four reels of detonating cord and three boxes of electric blasting caps, and the other building held 28.5 cases of dynamite, as well as explosive gelatins. This indicates that ten crates of dynamite were not stored in the wooden structures, to which Taylor and Hansen held keys.The three associates stole a GMC
GMC
GMC may refer to:* Ganglion mother cell, a cell in the developing nervous system that divides once to produce two neurons* General motion control, a field of motion control concerned with single- and multi-axis motion controllers, intelligent drives, servo and stepper motors* Generalized Method of...
van in the Greater Toronto Area
Greater Toronto Area
The Greater Toronto Area is the largest metropolitan area in Canada, with a 2006 census population of 5.5 million. The Greater Toronto Area is usually defined as the central city of Toronto, along with four regional municipalities surrounding it: Durham, Halton, Peel, and York...
on September 30, as well as an Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
and Chevrolet Chevelle
Chevrolet Chevelle
The Chevrolet Chevelle is a mid-sized automobile produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors in three generations for the 1964 through 1977 model years. Part of the GM A-Body platform, the Chevelle was one of Chevrolet's most successful nameplates. Body styles include coupes, sedans,...
three and four nights later respectively.
On the morning of October 14, just hours before the bombing, the Ontario Court of Appeals ruled that five Litton executives from the plant could not be called to testify by the defence counsel of 22 anti-nuclear activists who had been arrested for trespassing one year earlier.
Execution of the bombing
The bomb was detonated on October 14, 1982, and was intended to cause only property destruction. The van was parked in full view of corporate security, with an elaborate "warning box" duct tapeDuct tape
Duct tape, or duck tape, is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure sensitive tape often sealed with polyethylene. It is very similar to gaffer tape but differs in that gaffer tape was designed to be cleanly removed, while duct tape was not. It has a standard width of and is generally silver or black...
d to the hood, displaying a message, a digital clock counting down, and a single stick of dynamite to draw attention to the danger.
Belmas called the security desk and warned them that a dynamite bomb was placed in a van outside the building, and that it would detonate "in 15 to 20 minutes". She also told the guards to evacuate the plant, phone the local hotels to warn guests to stay away from windows to avoid injury and to have police close down passing roadways to limit the damage to Litton Industries.
However, the security guard either suspected the warning was a hoax, or simply failed to understand the instructions, and did not evacuate the building as advised.
The bomb detonated 12 minutes after the phone call, three minutes earlier than warned, although the bomb squad later suggested that it could have been their own radio communications that accidentally triggered the explosion. The explosion injured three members of the police bomb squad, three passing motorists driving on the highway which had not been shut down despite Belmas' advice, and five Litton employees who had also not been evacuated despite Belmas' advice. All injuries were listed as "not critical".
The bomb damaged two periphery buildings, and blew out a 50' section of wall on the main two-storey plant, indicating that the storagerooms of raw materiel bore the brunt of the damage, as well as the offices above and around the storage area. The cost of damages was described by police as being "in the millions" Damages were estimated anywhere from $3.87 million to $50 million. By comparison, the Litton contract for the cruise missiles was estimated to have been $80 million.
On October 19, a 9-page communique was mailed to various organisations and media outlets. The first six pages were titled "Direct Action" and explained the philosophy of the group's actions and their opposition to society's ills - and the remaining three pages were titled "Statement regarding the October 14 Litton Bombing" and included an explanation of the purpose of the bombing, and apologised, citing that both the bombers and the inept security response contributed to the unforeseen injuries.
Aftermath
Although Litton Industries indicated that the bombing had not slowed production by more than a week, the bombing was hailed as a "massive success" by the anarchist movement who saw it as "an act of sabotage" against the American military machine. Although there was not wide public support for the bombing, Ann HansenAnn Hansen
Ann Hansen is a Canadian anarchist and former member of Direct Action, a guerrilla organization famous for the 1982 bombing of a Litton Industries plant, which made components for American cruise missiles. She was sentenced to life in prison, but was released after eight years. Hansen wrote of her...
later pointed to the fact that 15,000 people attended a "Refuse the Cruise" demonstration two weeks after the bombing as evidence it had forced the public to confront Canada's role in the Military-Industrial Complex
Military-industrial complex
Military–industrial complex , or Military–industrial-congressional complex is a concept commonly used to refer to policy and monetary relationships between legislators, national armed forces, and the industrial sector that supports them...
. Others have concurred that the bombing did galvanise the population, who viewed the bombing as controversial or unnecessary, but took to the streets in strongly-strengthened numbers to protest Canada complicity in the production of instruments of war. A month after the bombing, 700 people showed up at the Litton Industries plant to engage in "civil disobedience" despite police warnings.
Ronald Keating, the president of Litton Industries, released a statement following the event, stating that "Bombing is madness", a statement ridiculed as hypocritical for a man "overseeing the very profitable construction of U.S. bombs". Following the bombing, Litton increased their security budget by $2 million, money that Keating said "was money which could be put into our business to help make us more competitive".
The day after the bombing, an anonymous male telephoned Garrett Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Litton housed several blocks away in the same Toronto neighbourhood, to report that a bomb had been placed in the building; leading to an evacuation of the 15 personnel on-shift.
Due to the pressure exerted by protesters following the bombing, Litton Industries lost their government contract to build the navigation systems to Kearfott Guidance & Navigation
Kearfott Guidance & Navigation
Kearfott was a defense equipment manufacturer founded in 1917. Today the electronics division is part of BAE Systems, while the remaining Kearfott Guidance & Navigation division is a subsidiary of the Astronautics Corporation of America...
.
In October 1984, the Litton headquarters in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
were bombed by the Communist Combatant Cells
Communist Combatant Cells
Cellules Communistes Combattantes was a Belgian terrorist organization committed to a Communist ideology....
led by Pierre Carrette.
Investigation
Sgt. William Deconkey, of the Toronto Police, was put in charge of the investigation; and was said to have accepted offers from the U.S. Federal Bureau of InvestigationFederal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
and Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
to help "hunt [the] terrorists".
In the days following the bombing, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
obtained approval for a 90-day Level IV operation against the Cruise Missile Conversion Project, intended to determine the level of influence among known "subversives". The telephones of CMPC members, including Ken Hancock, were wiretapped for "some considerable time" according to Roy McMurtry
Roy McMurtry
Roland "Roy" McMurtry, OC, OOnt is a judge and former politician in Ontario, Canada and the current Chancellor of York University.-Early life:McMurtry was born in Toronto and educated at St. Andrew's College, graduating in 1950...
, the Attorney General of Ontario
Attorney General of Ontario
The Attorney General of Ontario is a senior member of the Executive Council of Ontario and governs the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario - the department responsible for the oversight of the justice system within the province. The Attorney General is an elected Member of Provincial...
. Hancock was also the subject of a police raid that seized four bags of documents, after his name surfaced in the diary of Ivan LeCouvie, another man who was arrested and then released by police.
Trials
Taylor, hailed as the "intellectual leader of the group" due to having written about the philosophy of guerrilla tactics and revolution, was sentenced to 9 years for the Litton bombing, to be served concurrently with the 22-year sentence he received for his role robbing an armoured bank truck. Hansen, pleading guilty, was sentenced to 12 years for the Litton bombing, to be served concurrently with her life sentence for conspiracy to rob the bank truck, her six years for the bombing of the power station and several other mixed sentences for the firebombing of the pornography stores in Vancouver. Gerry Hannah and Doug Stewart, although sentenced to six and ten years respectively for other Direct Action activities, were not convicted of playing any role in the Litton bombing.Some defenders of the group have suggested that the accused plead guilty to ensure the trial was not about who committed the action, but "to turn the trials into a political showcase, trotting out the evils of nuclear power, pornography and cruise missiles for all to see".
The judge ruled that Hansen's life sentence was merited because "[her] only remorse or regret is for the injury you caused the ten Litton Systems victims" and that she did not apologise for any of the group's property damage.
In arriving at the sentencing for the group, the judge declared "I have no doubt that all of these people are well-motivated people working, if not struggling, against unfavourable odds to promote their respective causes...[but] the message must be crystal clear. Our Canadian way of life will not tolerate the use of fire, explosive substances or weapons as a means to furthering even worthy objectives".