McKinley's Assassination and the Creation of the FBI
The FBI is an illegal agency within our federal government
Doing research into this project, I had to engage in some serious tunnel vision. There was so much violence that compounded — a series of events that led into the next event and so on which ultimately led to the formation of the FBI and an accumulation of power by that particular institution. Whether this was by design with a puppet master pulling the strings or just a series of circumstances that were taken advantage of, I do not know.
I found myself sympathizing with the men and women of this time. They fought the same groups as we do ourselves today. It only became more apparent as time went on and as I read more of their own words.
I went down this rabbit hole and found that I am not impartial.
I am looking at the circumstances of the time and I see them mirror the circumstances of today. I see the same outcry of the people, the same issues plaguing society, and the same justifiable anger. The fight has never stopped. It has just been passed down through the generations. Have we not learned?
...It is not Alexander, Umberto, William, Nicholas, and Chamberlain who guide the oppressions and wars of the nations, or who are the authors of the oppressions of the masses and the murders in wars, but those who have put them in the positions of rulers over the lives of men, and support them in these positions. And so Alexander, Nicholas, William, and Umberto are not to be killed, but men are to stop supporting the order of society that produces them. What supports the present order of society is the egotism and stupidity of men who sell their freedom and honor for their insignificant material advantages...
Above all, we must not permit them to kill people; we must refuse to kill by their command.
— Errico Malatesta on Bresci's DeedInternet Archive: Gaetano Bresci: Tyrannicide and Defender of the People
There are admittedly many similarities between President McKinley and President Trump. In who they were and how they governed. They were both beloved by the people and were the People's Presidents. This is probably what touched me the most while doing this dig.
If I did not convey that in this thread, it was due to me trying to stick to the facts. Know my emotions now. These are two great men.
King Umberto I
Umberto I was born in 1844. He ascended to the Italian throne on January 9, 1878. This king was loathed for his policies.
The first assassination attempt on his life was on November 17, 1878. It was carried out by Giovanni Passasnnante, an Italian anarchist. Giovanni pulled out a knife and attacked him yelling "Long live Orsini! Long live the Universal Republic!"
Giovanni was arrested, tried, convicted, and sent hard labor for life. He died 3 decades later in a psychiatric institution.
The Bava Beccaris Massacre
In 1897, the price of food dramatically increased in Italy. With the people starving, demonstrations started in the streets of Southern Italy. People rose in mass demanding "bread and work!" Protests spread like wildfire. Widespread revolts took hold across Italy from a population who was on the brink of destruction. The whole country was a powder keg waiting to happen.
Police, outnumbered by the rising mobs, escalated the situation when protestors were shot.
On May 5, 1898, first blood was drawn when police shot the son of Giuseppe Mussi, who was a deputy in Milan. The next day, more riots broke out. Two more were killed. The next the riots went further reaching into Florence and Livorno.
On May 7 1898, over 60,000 people were demonstrating. Bava Beccaris, a general in the Royal Italian Army, sent out his troops in order to get the protestors to disperse.
Two days later, Bava Beccaris ordered his troops to fire on demonstrators. Guns and artillery were shot into the crowd. The repercussions were reported thusly.
The Italian Government: 80 dead, 450 wounded
The Italian Protestors: 400 dead, 2,000 wounded
The New York Times: 300 dead, 1,000 wounded
Military tribunals came shortly after. Bava Beccaris, the same man who shot at protestors, presided over them and sentencing 1,500 people to prison. Newspapers were suppressed from reporting any opposing views. History would later view these trials as a travesty of justice and a mockery of the legal system. (Military tribunals are the only way, huh? There was absolutely no conflict of interest here.)
Bava Beccaris ended up being award the Great Cross of the Order of Savoy by King Umberto I.
Gaetano Bresci
Gaetano Bresci was born in Prato, Tuscany, Italy in 1869 and immigrated to America to seek out a new life in the 1890s. He and his family like in Paterson, New Jersey. At the time, New Jersey was the center of Italian socialism and radicalism.
Gaetano became the cofounder of an anarchist newspaper called La Questione Sociale. He was described by his associates as a committed anarchist.
When he read the horror of the events surrounding the Bava Beccaris Massacre a plan formed in his head. He asked for the money back that he had invested in the newspaper he cofounded and headed to Italy.
It was in Milan where Gaetano's plan came to fruition. At a sporting event on July 29, 1900, Gaetano shot 4 rounds at Umberto. Three hit his chest and the fourth went wide. Umberto died within seconds.
Gaetano was arrested, tried, found guilty, and given a life sentence at a hard labor camp. On May 22, 1901, he was found dead within his cell. He allegedly committed suicide but the circumstances around his death were suspicious.
Only a few months later, in May 1901, the New York Times reported that he had been found hanged in his cell—almost certainly murdered by the prison guards. According to some accounts, they threw his body into the sea; others maintain he was buried in the cemetery of San Ercolano di S. Stefano.
The word “vengeance” remained etched into the wall of his cell. Bresci had scratched it there with his fingernail.
Internet Archive: Gaetano Bresci: Tyrannicide and Defender of the People
Leon Czolgosz, Factory Worker and Anarchist
1901. 28-year-old Leon Czolgosz had just lost his factory job at the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company. The Great Panic of 1893 had left him and many workers just like him without employment and unable to survive.
Growing social and economic turmoil caused Leon to search for other answers. Fraternal orders, like the Knights of the Golden Eagle where Leon was a member of, offered financial assistance to unemployed members. However, that only answered the economic issues of the time and only temporary. Leon looked for more drastic action. He found it in the warm embrace of the anarchist group, the Sila Club.
Author's Note: Interestingly enough, I am unable to find information about any anarchist group called the Sila Club. This in itself is intriguing to me that I would see references to it but no information as to what it is. The only reference I was able to find was on Page 60 in the book The President and The Assassin by Scott Miller on the Internet Archive.
Leon is recorded by history to have been a loner. He sought few personal relationships. As such, he was awkward and often labeled a recluse by his peers. Even amongst the anarchists, he didn't fit in.
Leon believed that the government was responsible for allowing the wealthy to exploit the poor. After reading about the assassination of King Umberto I of Italy on July 29, 1900, a plan began to hatch.
I don’t believe in the Republican form of government, and I don’t believe we should have any rulers. It is right to kill them.
— Leon Czolgosz
The World's Fair Pan-America Exposition
The Pan-American Exposition took place in Buffalo, New York from May 1 until November 2, 1901. It promised to bring many firsts. The first massive display of electric power as hundreds of thousands of light bulbs outlined buildings, reflecting pools, and sculptures. This was all powered by the genius of Nikola Tesla and the power plants at Niagara Falls, New York. Thomas Edison recorded the event with one of his early moving picture cameras. The newest engines were on display as well as the newly invented x-ray machine, infant incubators, a new type of phonograph, a typesetting machine, and an electrograph. Even the famous Indian chief Geronimo was an attraction at the exposition.
Of all the attractions and events, the two-day visit by President McKinley is what set the record attendance.
The timekeepers of progress. They record the world's advancement.
— President William McKinley, regarding World Fairs
Leon Czolgosz learned that President McKinley would be in attendance, bought a train ticket to Buffalo, New York, and purchased a gun. It was there that his plan would take place.
The Assassination of President McKinley
All of these people seemed bowing to the great ruler. I made up my mind to kill that ruler.
— Leon Czolgosz
By all accounts, President McKinley was a beloved president. He often met with the public at events, shook their hands, and was largely liked for his interactions with the public. McKinley was also very fond of red carnations. He wore them for luck.
After mounting the stairs of the Temple of Music at the World's Fair Pan-America Exposition, McKinley was approached by a little girl. She asked him for his red carnation.
McKinley, who was known for wearing a scarlet carnation on his lapel for luck, had just handed his flower to a 12-year-old girl named Myrtle Ledger saying, “I must give this flower to another little flower.” Just 3 feet away stood the slightly built assassin in line behind her with a small .38 hidden in his right hand under a white handkerchief.
Tribune Chronicle: The Assassination of President William McKinley
From the dais where McKinley was shaking hands with the public, the sound of a firecracker echoed in the great music hall. A second report soon followed. The president clutched at his chest and began to lean forward as his expression, not of pain, nor anger, but one of confusion. As [Leon] took aim for a third shot, a crashing wave of bodies descended on his small frame.
Tribune Chronicle: The Assassination of President William McKinley
Leon was quickly taken down and restrained by the crowd. Reportedly, they were beating him in anger.
The beating Czolgosz was taking displeased the president who was now seated, “Don’t let them hurt him,” he said and his order was obeyed.
Tribune Chronicle: The Assassination of President William McKinley
President McKinley was shot once in the stomach and once in the sternum. The sternum wound would prove superficial. However, the abdominal wound turned to gangrene. Eight days later, President McKinley died of his wounds.
Czolgosz had shot McKinley once in the stomach and once in the sternum. And though the sternum wound was superficial, the abdominal wound caused the president to succumb to gangrene on Sept. 14. He died whispering the words to his favorite hymn, “Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee.”
In the aftermath, Leon Czolgosz proudly declared that he’d killed the president in the name of anarchy.
Leon would go on to face trial and be executed by electric chair. His last words were:
For years I read books about Socialism and grown more radical after hearing Goldman. I am a disciple of Emma Goldman. Her words set me on fire. My name is Leon Czolgosz and I don’t regret my act because I have done my duty.
Tribune Chronicle: The Assassination of President William McKinley
President Theodore Roosevelt
President Theodore Roosevelt would replace President McKinley on September 14, 1901. He was the most progressive president these United States has ever seen, until the last few decades. He started the practice of trying to create a centralized government through consolidating all three branches of the government and the Democrat party. He also tried to run for a third term as president.
From his presidency, we have the expansion of the welfare state. He shifted government policy from individualism to collectivism, a practice that would continue on for decades.
Roosevelt engaged in locking up 120,000 Japanese Americans in internment camps through his executive orders.
Roosevelt's critics were labeled to be socialist, communist, or Soviet (Russian) espionage agents. Does this sound familiar? This in turn actually covered the tracks of actual spy rings infiltrating the US government in a classic "look here and not there" tactic.
Beyond all this, under his presidency some of the very institutions which have been weaponized against us today, such as the FBI, the FDA, the US Forest Service, and so on.
Charles Bonaparte, Grandnephew of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte
Charles Bonaparte was the grandson Jérôme Bonaparte, brother of Emperor Napoleon. Under President Roosevelt, he served as the US Secretary of Navy, the US Attorney General, and would become the founder of the Bureau of Investigations, which would become the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This is a fact that the FBI is quite proud of.
From the FBI's website:
It’s all up with the “black cabinet” of Washington,” read the Washington Evening Star. Congressional hearings were then underway into the practice by which the U.S. Secret Service loaned investigators to other federal agencies, primarily the Justice Department. As a result of these hearings, Rep. Walter Smith (R-IA) declared that “Nothing is more opposed to our race than a belief that a general system of espionage is being conducted by the general government,” and Rep. John Fitzgerald (D-NY) warned against the dangers of a federal secret police. As a result of these hearings Congress forbade the Secret Service from loaning investigators to other departments. Having lost access to those investigators, Attorney General Bonaparte created a small force of detectives for the Department of Justice (DOJ); this was the predecessor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Because Congress had condemned “secret services,” “black cabinets,” spies, and detectives at this time, many Bureau critics have charged that the FBI was created in opposition to Congress’s will and so was born illegitimately.
Appropriations Committee chairman James Tawney (R-MN) complained that the Secret Service loan program gave “what Congress would never authorize …a secret-service bureau in every Department,” thereby creating “a system of espionage in this country which is entirely inconsistent with the theory of our government.” Glover insisted that the Department needed detectives to investigate “violations of the law” and Tawney backtracked. The Justice Department, he averred, “ought to be clothed with all the machinery necessary to conduct prosecutions,” adding, if other Departments need “to use secret-service men they should obtain authority from Congress …[so that] the advisability of maintaining the service throughout our Government would be determined by Congress.” Tawney’s concern could not have been of pressing importance. He did not seriously revisit the issue for two years, though he kept tabs on the use of Secret Service operatives during this time.
Given the track record of our current FBI, do you think Tawney had right to be concerned about "a general system of espionage is being conducted by the general government" or that the FBI would create an agency of "spies" whose sole purpose was to conduct operations on US soil against US citizens?
Surprisingly, Congress never approved the Federal Bureau of Investigation or its predecessor the Bureau of Investigations. Instead, the agency was created via executive order signed by President Theodore Roosevelt. This was all done behind closed doors and under very sketchy circumstances.
In early 1908, Attorney General Bonaparte wrote to Congress asking for the legal authority (and budget funds) to create a “permanent detective force” under the DOJ. Congress rebelled, denouncing it as a plan to create an American okhrana. Democrat Joseph Sherley wrote that “spying on men and prying into what would ordinarily be considered their private affairs” went against “American ideas of government”; Rep. George Waldo, a New York Republican, said the proposed FBI was a “great blow to freedom and to free institutions if there should arise in this country any such great central secret-service bureau as there is in Russia.”
So Congress’s response was the opposite, banning Bonaparte’s DOJ from spending any funds at all on a proposed FBI. Another Congressman wrote another provision into the budget bill banning the DOJ from hiring Secret Service employees for any sort of FBI type agency. So Bonaparte waited until Congress took its summer recess, set aside some DOJ funds, recruited some Secret Service agents, and created a new federal detective bureau with 34 agents. This was how the FBI was born. Congress wasn’t notified until the end of 1908.
Russia Blog #6: The FBI Has No Legal Charter But Lots of Kompromat
In other words, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is not a legal entity or legal federal agency.
In 1979, the Carter Administration sought to rectify this.
The Carter Administration will soon send to Congress the first governing charter for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The proposed charter imposes extensive but not absolute restrictions on the bureau's employment of controversial investigative techniques, .including the use of informers, undercover agents and covert criminal activity.
The charter also specifies the duties and powers of the bureau, setting precise standards and procedures for the initiation ,and conduct of investigations. It specifically requires the F.B.I. to observe constitutional rights and establishes safeguards against unchecked harassment, break‐ins and other abuses.
At the same time, it authorizes illegal actions in certain circumstances, and it expands access to private, confidential information, such as bank records, without the use of a grand jury subpoena.
New York Times: Draft of Charter For F.B.I. Limits Inquiry Methods
However, just as soon as it was brought to Congress, it was also forgotten in favor of presidential elections.
One little-noticed victim of election-year politicking by Congress and the White House has been urgently needed legislation to create a legal charter to govern the FBI. Languishing in both houses are bills that would spell out for the first time the duties and responsibilities of the federal law-enforcement agency and, equally important, provide specific guidelines for determining what conditions must exist for the bureau to launch an investigation. Nearly everyone in and out of government agrees some such statutory guidance is long overdue to protect the public from the kind of civil rights abuses FBI officials allowed to go unchecked in the latter days of J. Edgar Hoover's directorship.
However, with Senator Kennedy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a key proponent of charter legislation, still tied up on the presidential campaign trail and the Carter administration likewise making no push to get a charter enacted, Congress could easily let slip away an important opportunity for passage of a charter this year.
Further Reading and Sources
Pan American Exposition: World's Fair as Historical Metaphor
This next link was a really fantastic blog on the creation of the FBI. The author started from a different perspective and starting point than I. However, we both landed in the same place. I highly recommend reading it.
Russia Blog #6: The FBI Has No Legal Charter But Lots of Kompromat
FB1, C1A, DOD, DOJ, mossad.
What's the difference.
Excellent Ms Elizabeth!!!!