[2 articles]
Radical jailed for role in deadly heist dies in NY
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i_CfjZWrOWV6DyrBJN5-74TDT5kwD9HEAHMG1
By DAVID B. CARUSO
8/7/10
NEW YORK Marilyn Buck, a violent leftist incarcerated for 25 years
for her role in some of the most notorious radical acts of the 1980s,
including the bombing of the U.S. Capitol and a deadly armored car
heist, has died in Brooklyn. She was 62.
Buck had been paroled July 15 from a federal prison hospital in Fort
Worth, Texas. Her death Tuesday was confirmed by federal probation
and parole agencies. Friends and supporters wrote that the cause of
death was uterine cancer.
Buck belonged to a clique of anti-war and civil rights activists who
took up arms in the 1970s and became involved in a series of
politically motivated attacks on government and corporate targets.
On Oct. 20, 1981, she was part of a group of Weather Underground and
Black Liberation Army members who ambushed a Brink's armored car
carrying $1.6 million at a mall in Nanuet, N.Y.
One guard was killed at the scene. A second was badly wounded. Two
police officers were subsequently killed after they pulled over one
of the getaway cars.
Buck accidentally shot herself in the leg during the gunbattle with
police, but she escaped and remained free for four years.
During that time, she was involved in a series of bombings that
included a 1983 nighttime blast at the Capitol that didn't hurt
anyone but damaged Senate offices. The bomb was purportedly placed to
protest the U.S. invasion of Grenada.
After her 1985 capture in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., she was convicted in the
Brink's robbery and a string of other crimes.
Prosecutors said she helped Black Liberation Army leader Joanne
Chesimard, who had been convicted of killing a New Jersey state
trooper, escape from prison and flee to Cuba in 1979. Buck also was
implicated in another armored car robbery in 1981 in which a guard was killed.
She pleaded guilty to playing a role in Capitol bombing in 1988,
though she later said she only took the deal to spare fellow radicals
from lengthy prison terms.
Other bombings covered by her plea agreement included attacks on a
federal building, a police union and the South African consulate in
New York City and at the National War College and Washington Navy
Yard in Washington.
For the rest of her life, Buck insisted she was a victim of state oppression.
"I am a political prisoner, not a terrorist," Buck said at a court
appearance in 1988.
In jail, she wrote poetry and continued to enjoy the support of
left-wing radicals who occasionally called for her release. Her
writings earned recognition several times from the PEN American
Center, a literary group that sponsors a prison writing program.
Citing privacy rules, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Parole Commission
declined to say why Buck was released from prison. It was clear,
however, that she had been gravely ill at the time.
In a brief interview broadcast on KPFA FM Radio in Berkeley, Calif.,
on July 19, Buck said it was "pretty amazing to walk out into the
world," after so long in prison, but "I've been quite ill, so that's
the main thing I have to concentrate on: trying to get well, to stay alive."
Buck added that she was uplifted to see that there were still many
people interested in rebuilding a world "stifled by imperialism."
Born in 1947, Buck discovered leftist politics as a student at the
University of California, Berkeley, then joined the Students for a
Democratic Society after transferring to the University of Texas.
By 1973, she was in serious legal trouble for her affiliation with
the Black Liberation Army. At age 26, she was sentenced to 10 years
in prison on charges that she bought guns and ammunition for the
group. Buck was four years into that term in 1977 when she failed to
return from a prison furlough and became a fugitive.
She would ultimately be free for eight, crime-filled years before her
recapture.
--------
Marilyn Buck dies at 62; leftist incarcerated for 25 years for role
in violent attacks in the 1980s
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-marilyn-buck-20100807,0,5351063.story
She belonged to a clique of antiwar and civil rights extremists who
participated in politically motivated attacks on government and
corporate targets, including a deadly ambush of a Brink's truck.
August 7, 2010
Marilyn Buck, a violent leftist incarcerated for 25 years for her
role in some of the most notorious radical acts of the 1980s,
including the bombing of the U.S. Capitol and a deadly armored car
heist, died Tuesday in New York. She was 62.
Buck had been paroled July 15 from a federal prison hospital in Fort
Worth. Her death was confirmed by federal probation and parole
agencies. Friends and supporters wrote that the cause of death was
uterine cancer.
Buck belonged to a clique of antiwar and civil rights activists who
took up arms in the 1970s and participated in a series of politically
motivated attacks on government and corporate targets.
On Oct. 20, 1981, she was part of a group of Weather Underground and
Black Liberation Army members who ambushed a Brink's armored car
carrying $1.6 million at a mall in Nanuet, N.Y.
One guard was killed at the scene and a second was badly wounded. Two
police officers were subsequently killed after they pulled over one
of the getaway cars.
Buck accidentally shot herself in the leg during the gun battle with
police, but she escaped and remained at large for four years.
During that time, she was involved in a series of bombings that
included a 1983 nighttime blast at the Capitol that didn't injure
anyone but damaged Senate offices. The bomb purportedly was placed to
protest the U.S. invasion of Grenada.
After her 1985 capture in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., Buck was convicted in
the Brink's robbery and other crimes.
Prosecutors said she helped Black Liberation Army leader Joanne
Chesimard, who had been convicted of killing a New Jersey state
trooper, escape from prison and flee to Cuba in 1979. Buck also was
implicated in another armored car robbery in 1981 in which a guard was killed.
She pleaded guilty in 1988 to playing a role in the Capitol bombing,
though she later said she took the deal to spare fellow radicals from
lengthy prison terms.
Other bombings covered by her plea agreement included attacks on a
federal building, a police union and the South African Consulate in
New York City and at the National War College and Washington Navy
Yard in Washington.
For the rest of her life, Buck insisted she was a victim of state oppression.
"I am a political prisoner, not a terrorist," Buck said at a court
appearance in 1988.
In jail, she wrote poetry and enjoyed the support of left-wing
radicals who occasionally called for her release. Her writings earned
recognition several times from the PEN American Center, a literary
group that sponsors a prison writing program.
Born in Texas in 1947, Buck embraced leftist politics as a student at
UC Berkeley, then joined Students for a Democratic Society after
transferring to the University of Texas.
By 1973, she was in serious legal trouble for her affiliation with
the Black Liberation Army. At age 26, she was sentenced to 10 years
in prison on charges that she bought guns and ammunition for the
group. Buck was four years into that term in 1977 when she failed to
return from a prison furlough and became a fugitive.
.
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