Before the first World Trade Center Bombing in 1993, before the attack 9/11, Islamic terrorist struck the United States on our own soil for the first time, though I doubt anyone knows or remembers,that in April of 1990 a terrorist's bomb went off in Manhattan. There was no outrage, no flags raised, no monuments built in remembrance, instead we looked away.
Still today you would be hard pressed to find even a shred of information on the Internet about this attack, why? Why would this country seemingly ignore a terrorist attack in the United States? How would history have been change had people taken the attack more seriously? Would we still have two towers standing at the edge of Manhattan? Alas, no one can answer that, because almost no one voiced concern. On April 28, 1990 at 12:10a.m. a pipe bomb exploded at the gay bar, Uncle Charlie’s located at 56 Greenwich Avenue which subsequently was determined to be part of a Muslim terrorist ring targeting New York City landmarks and other venues – such as gay bars – which offended their religious beliefs. An April 28, 1990 article (“At Least 3 Injured in Blast At Bar in Greenwich Village”) from the New York Times states:
An explosion, possibly caused by a pipe bomb, injured at least three people early this morning at a bar in Greenwich Village, the police said. The blast occurred about 12:10 A.M. at Uncle Charlie's Downtown Bar at 56 Greenwich Avenue, said a police spokeswoman, Sergeant Tina S. Mohrmann. She described damage to the building as ''minor.'' Three men were taken to St. Vincent's Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition and expected to be released shortly . . . . The bomb squad was investigating, and initial reports indicated a pipe bomb may have caused the damage, Sergeant Mohrmann said. One patron at the nightspot, Frizzell Green, said he was standing at the bar when the blast went off in a trash can five to six feet from him, producing a cloud of smoke and sending debris in all directions. ''It was like a loud firecracker,'' he said. A bartender, who would not give his name, said he saw a pipe in the trash can after the explosion.
A January 14, 1995 article (“Man Accused in Terror Plot Bombed Gay Bar, U.S. Says”) by James C. McKinley Jr. from the New York Times states:
Federal prosecutors plan to present evidence that some of the 12 men charged in a terrorist conspiracy to blow up New York City landmarks were also responsible for a host of other crimes, including the 1990 bombing of a gay bar, international arms smuggling, drug trafficking and the attempted murder of Mikhail S. Gorbachev. In a letter from prosecutors to defense lawyers released yesterday, the prosecutors accuse El Sayyid A. Nosair, one of the alleged leaders of the terrorist ring, of bombing a Greenwich Village gay bar, Uncle Charlie's, on April 28, 1990, injuring three people. Mr. Nosair, who like the other defendants is Muslim, attacked the bar because he objected to homosexuality on religious grounds, according to the letter.
When will this country realize what happens to us happens to all of us.
