Political Assassins, Terrorists and Related Conspiracies in American History

Scott P. Johnson has been a professor of political science, coordinator of the Law & Society program, and pre-law advisor at Frostburg State University since 1999 and has authored numerous articles in law journals and law reviews. He received Faculty Achievement Awards for Academic Accomplishment in 2011 and 2014 and also received the FSU Outstanding Mentor Award in 2012.

“Readers will be hard-pressed to find a more exhaustive study than Johnson’s work examining many of the most notorious acts in American history. Providing theory and context for countless violent plots aimed to affect American politics, this work is a must read for those interested in fringe activities in the United States.”—Robert M. Alexander, founding director of the Ohio Northern Institute for Civics and Public Policy

• Table of ContentsAcknowledgmentsviiiPrefaceIntroductionPart 1—Domestic Assassins and TerroristsOne—Presidential AssassinsRichard LawrenceThe Lincoln Assassination ConspiratorsJohn Wilkes Booth 11 • Lewis Powell (Lewis Paine or Lewis Payne) 14 • David E. Herold 16 • George Atzerodt 17 • Michael O’Laughlen 19 • Mary Surratt 21 • John Surratt 23 • Samuel Arnold 25 • Dr. Samuel Mudd 26 • Edman Spangler 28The Lincoln Conspiracy TrialCharles GuiteauLeon CzolgoszJohn SchrankJoseph Giuseppe ZangaraOscar CollazoGriselio TorresolaLee Harvey OswaldSamuel ByckLynette “Squeaky” FrommeSara Jane MooreJohn W. Hinckley, Jr.Francisco Martin DuranTwo—Domestic Political AssassinsPatrick Eugene PrendergastCarl WeissJack “Ruby” RubensteinByron De La BeckwithThomas Hagan (a.k.a. Talmadge X Hayer and Mujahid Abdul Halim)John Patler (Yanacki “John” Patsalos)Sirhan Bishara SirhanJames Earl RayCharles HarrelsonArthur BremerDan WhiteCharles L. KosterWalter Leroy Moody, Jr.Byron (Low Tax) LooperSidney DorseyOthniel AskewJared Lee LoughnerThree—Domestic Political TerroristsWilliam “Bill” AyersBernardine DohrnTimothy McVeighTerry NicholsTheodore KaczynskiWade Michael PageAaron AlexisDylann RoofJames T. HodgkinsonRobert Gregory BowersPatrick CrusiusFour—­Anti-Abortion ExtremistsMichael Frederick GriffinRachelle Ranae “Shelley” ShannonPaul Jennings HillJohn C. Salvi IIIEric RudolphJames Charles KoppScott RoederRobert Lewis Dear, Jr.Part 2—Foreign Political TerrorismFive—The Nazi SaboteursGeorge DaschErnst BurgerHeinrich HeinckRichard QuirinEdward KerlingHerbert Hans HauptHerman NeubauerWerner ThielEx parte QuirinSix—Puerto Rican NationalistsLolita LebronRafael Cancel MirandaAndres Figueroa CorderoIrvin ­Flores-RodriguezOscar Lopez RiveraSeven—Islamic FundamentalistsRamzi Yousef (Abdul Basit Mahmoud Abdul Karim)September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks: PlannersOsama bin Laden 226 • Khalid Sheikh Mohammed 232September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks: American Airlines Flight 11Mohamed Atta 237 • Abdulaziz ­al-Omari 242 • Satam Muhammed Abdel Rahman ­al-Suqami 245 • Wail Mohammed ­al-Shehri 248 • Waleed Mohammed ­al-Shehri 250September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks: United Airlines Flight 175Marwan Yousef Mohamed Rashid Lekrab ­al-Shehhi 254 • Fayez Rashid Ahmed Hassan ­al-Qadi Banihammad 259 • Mohand Muhammad Fayiz ­al-Shehri 261 • Ahmed Salah Said ­al-Ghamdi 264 • Hamza Salih Ahmad ­al-Hamid ­al-Ghamdi 267September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks: American Airlines Flight 77Hani Saleh Hasan Hanjour 270 • Khalid Muhammad Abdallah ­al-Mihdhar 274 • Majed Mashaan Ghanem Moqed 279 • Nawaf Muhammed Salim ­al-Hazmi 281 • Salem ­al-Hazmi 286September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks: United Airlines Flight 93Ziad Samir Jarrah 289 • Saeed Abdallah Ali Sulayman ­al-Ghamdi 293 • Ahmed bin Abdullah ­al-Nami 296 • Ahmed Ibrahim ­al-Haznawi 2989/11 Conspiracy TheoriesEight—­Post-9/11 TerroristsRichard ReidZacarias MoussaouiUmar Farouk Abdulmutallab (a.k.a. Umar Abdul Mutallab and Omar Farooq ­al-Nigeri)Nidal Malik HasanTamerlan TsarnaevDzhokhar TsarnaevSyed Rizwan FarookTashfeen MalikOmar Mir Seddique (“Omar Mateen”)Mohammed Saeed AlshamraniConclusion and DiscussionPolitical and Religious ExtremismPsychological and Emotional DisordersInsanityDiscrimination Based Upon Race, Ethnicity and Sexual OrientationMoney and PowerMass MediaBibliographyIndex