Armed Resistance Unit bombing — Nov. 7, 1983 As with the 1971 explosion, a bomb planted just outside the Senate on Nov. 7, 1983, did not lead to any casualties, though the Associated Press reported that it blew out a wall, damaged five paintings and blew doors off hinges outside the office of Senate majority leader Robert Byrd. The estimated damage was $250,000.
The bombing was called in ahead of time by a group identifying itself as the Armed Resistance Unit. The group was protesting U.S. military involvement in Lebanon and Grenada.
A total of seven people said to be affiliated with the group, many who identified as Marxists or communists, were arrested beginning in 1985 for the D.C. crime as well as a Brinks truck robbery and bombings at military installations. Laura Whitehorn, Linda Evans and Marilyn Buck in 1990 would avoid trial by pleading guilty to charges that included conspiracy and destruction of government property.
According to an Associated Press recap of the court hearing, about 50 supporters of the defendants turned out and applauded after the judge recessed the hearing, with the three women raising their fists in a salute to their supporters.
Three more people, already in prison for some other offences connected to the group, saw their D.C. charges dropped. Elizabeth Ann Duke, who would be 80 if still alive today, remains a fugitive.
Whitehorn was released on parole in 1999. Days before leaving office in 2001, Bill Clinton commuted Evans's sentence to time served, which amounted to 16 years in prison. Buck was released on compassionate grounds in 2010 shortly before she died of cancer.
As a result of the attack, areas previously open to the public at the Capitol were closed, while additional metal detectors and a system of staff identification cards were instituted.
Though the Armed Resistance Unit bombing was the last actualized attack on the Capitol, the 9/11 commission report detailed the possibility that the hijacked plane piloted by Ziad Jarrah on Sept. 11, 2001, which crashed in Pennsylvania and killed all aboard, could have meant to target the Capitol.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/us-capitol-attack-history-1.5863856
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There was also... May 19th,1983
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