SYMHC Classics: Palmer Raids Pt. 1

Summary

Stuff You Missed in History Class: SYMHC Classics - Palmer Raids Pt. 1

Release Date: May 24, 2025
Hosts: Holly Fry and Tracy B. Wilson
Producer: iHeartPodcasts

---

Introduction and Historical Context

In the premiere episode of the "Stuff You Missed in History Class" classics series, Holly Fry and Tracy B. Wilson delve into the tumultuous period following World War I in the United States. The nation was grappling with significant social unrest characterized by economic instability, rampant inflation, unemployment, labor strikes, and widespread fear of radical political movements inspired by the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917.

Tracy sets the stage by highlighting the pervasive anxiety of the era:

"The US was in a state of feeling helpless and uncertain and uneasy all the time."
(04:05)

This environment of fear and uncertainty set the groundwork for the events surrounding the Palmer Raids, a controversial series of law enforcement actions aimed at combating perceived radical threats.

The Sedition Act of 1918

A critical legal backdrop to the Palmer Raids was the Sedition Act of 1918, an expansion of the Espionage Act of 1917. This legislation intensified the government's ability to suppress dissent by criminalizing:

• Making false statements that hindered the war effort.
• Insulting or abusing the U.S. Government or its symbols.
• Agitating against war material production.
• Defending actions deemed illegal by the act.

Tracy emphasizes the severity of the law:

"If anyone was found guilty of the crimes described, they could be fined up to $10,000 or jailed for 20 years."
(06:32)

This act provided the legal framework that Palmer would later exploit to justify aggressive actions against suspected radicals.

The Discovery of the Mail Bombs

The episode takes a dramatic turn with the recounting of a chilling event in April 1919. Charles Kaplan, a diligent postal clerk in New York City's main post office, intercepted 16 suspicious parcels labeled as "novelty samples" from Gimbel Brothers. His suspicions were confirmed when one such parcel exploded upon delivery to former U.S. Senator Thomas Hardwick in Atlanta, injuring Hardwick's maid and causing significant property damage.

Holly narrates Kaplan's frantic response:

"Kaplan immediately exited the train. He jumped off at the next stop and he ran back to the post office..."
(07:38)

This incident, later dubbed the Mayday Bomb Plot, ignited a nationwide panic about a potential radical conspiracy.

The Mayday Bomb Plot

The aftermath of the Hardwick bomb led to the discovery of more explosive devices across the country. Authorities identified three dozen mail bombs aimed at prominent figures, including businessmen, politicians, and judges. These devices were meticulously constructed with identical materials and unconventional typewriter signatures, indicating a coordinated effort.

Tracy outlines the extent of the bomb discoveries:

"In total, three dozen mail bombs were eventually found and identified."
(09:03)

The flyers accompanying the bombs bore a manifesto titled "Plain Words," which fervently declared:

"Long live social revolution. Down with tyranny. Signed, the Anarchist Fighters."
(22:04)

This manifesto underscored the perpetrators' ideological motivations and their intent to incite class warfare.

Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer: The Fighting Quaker

Central to the government's response was Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer, a charismatic figure with a strong anti-radical stance. Originally appointed in March 1919, Palmer sought to establish himself as a formidable opponent to perceived communist threats.

Tracy provides Palmer's background:

"Palmer was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1905... He was instrumental in securing the 1912 Democratic presidential nomination for Woodrow Wilson."
(16:39)

Palmer earned the moniker "the Fighting Quaker" due to his fervent crackdown on radicals, despite his Quaker upbringing advocating for peace.

Initial Bombings and Public Reaction

The discovery of the mail bombs triggered a media frenzy and heightened public fear. A New York Times headline proclaimed:

"There are more than 2,000 radical agitators in New York City who have been preaching Bolshevism and the overthrow of the United States government."
(15:05)

Palmer leveraged this panic to justify aggressive investigations and raids targeting suspected radicals, laying the foundation for what would become known as the Palmer Raids.

Tracy underscores the intensity of the public's apprehension:

"Palmer was utterly convinced that there was a Communist plot to overthrow the US Government and that there were tens of thousands of people in the US working to that end."
(32:49)

Rising Fear and the Perception of a Communist Threat

The Palmer Raids were not merely about identifying bombers but extended to a broad sweep against anyone suspected of radical leanings. Under Palmer's directive, spearheaded by J. Edgar Hoover and in collaboration with the FBI and Immigration Bureau, thousands were arrested, and many were deported without due process.

Holly reflects on the societal impact:

"There's a lot of fear that there are communists literally lurking everywhere in your neighborhoods, trying to slowly overtake the entire US Way of life."
(33:00)

This heightened fear set the stage for unparalleled government overreach and violations of civil liberties during the Red Scare.

---

Looking Ahead

As Part 1 concludes, Holly and Tracy hint at deeper explorations into the methodologies and consequences of the Palmer Raids in the upcoming episodes. They emphasize the lasting impact these events had on American society and the legal system, drawing parallels to later events like the McCarthy era.

"The Palmer Raids are one of those points in history that does not often get a lot of attention."
(33:55)

Listeners are encouraged to reflect on the balance between national security and individual freedoms, a theme that remains relevant today.

---

Notable Quotes

• "The US was in a state of feeling helpless and uncertain and uneasy all the time."
  — Tracy B. Wilson (04:05)

• "If anyone was found guilty of the crimes described, they could be fined up to $10,000 or jailed for 20 years."
  — Tracy B. Wilson (06:32)

• "Kaplan immediately exited the train. He jumped off at the next stop and he ran back to the post office..."
  — Holly Fry (07:38)

• "Long live social revolution. Down with tyranny. Signed, the Anarchist Fighters."
  — Plain Words Manifesto (22:04)

• "Palmer was utterly convinced that there was a Communist plot to overthrow the US Government and that there were tens of thousands of people in the US working to that end."
  — Tracy B. Wilson (32:49)

• "There's a lot of fear that there are communists literally lurking everywhere in your neighborhoods, trying to slowly overtake the entire US Way of life."
  — Holly Fry (33:00)

---

Conclusion

Part 1 of the Palmer Raids series provides a comprehensive look into a pivotal yet often overlooked chapter of American history. Through meticulous research and engaging narration, Holly Fry and Tracy B. Wilson shed light on the events that fueled one of the most aggressive crackdowns on civil liberties in the early 20th century. As listeners await Part 2, the episode serves as a compelling reminder of the delicate balance between safeguarding the nation and preserving the freedoms that define it.

---

For those interested in further exploring this topic, stay tuned for the next installment of the Palmer Raids series, where Holly and Tracy will examine the federal response and the broader implications of Palmer's actions.

Transcript

[Holly Fry]

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[Amy Robach]

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Talkspace, the leading virtual therapy provider, is telling everyone let's face it in therapy, by talking or texting with a supportive licensed therapist at Talkspace, you can face whatever is holding you back, whether it's mental health symptoms, relationship drama, past trauma, bad habits or another challenge that you need support to work through. It's easy to sign up. Just go to talkspace.com and you'll be paired with a provider, typically within 48 hours. And because you'll meet your therapist online, you don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare. You'll meet on your schedule. Plus, talkspace is in network with most major insurers, and most insured members have a $0 copay. Make your mental health a priority and start today. If you're not covered by insurance, get $80 off your first month with Talkspace when you go to talkspace.com and enter promo code space80. That's S P A CE 80 to match with a licensed therapist today, go to talkspace.com and Enter promo code space80.

[Andrea Gunning]

I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone, most of all his wife, Caroline.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

He texted, I've ruined our lives. You're going to want to divorce me.

[Andrea Gunning]

How far would he go to cover up what he'd done.

[Holly Fry]

The fact that you lied is absolutely horrific. And quite frankly, I question how many other women are out there that may bring forward allegations in the future.

[Andrea Gunning]

Listen to betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Happy Saturday. Today's classic is a request from listener Amy, who asked us to replay it because of how applicable is to current events. This is our episode on the Palmer Raids, which originally came out in 2016.

[Holly Fry]

This is a two part episode and we haven't been rerunning two parters as Saturday classics lately. Unless the original episodes are so short, like from an earlier time when our episodes tended to run a little shorter that they could add up into one regular length episode today. But that's not really the case with these, so we're running the two parts on separate Saturdays. These episodes also each have their own arc, so today's involves some historical context and a series of bombings that were carried out in 1919. And then next week, part two on Saturday will cover the federal response to those bombings.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

So this first part of the Palmer Raids originally came out December 5, 2016.

[Holly Fry]

Welcome to Stuff youf Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Fry.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

And I'm Tracy B. Wilson.

[Holly Fry]

So after World War I, the United States was in the midst of a lot of social unrest. There were a lot of financial issues facing the nation in the form of inflation and unemployment and labor strikes. In 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution, which established the world's first communist nation, terrified Americans. And after the war ended In November of 1918, there was a very pervasive fear which came to be known as the Red Scare, that radicals in the United States would try to stage a similar revolution. Additionally, the Spanish flu pandemic that had started in 1918 also had people on edge. Additionally, there was a lot of racism that was blowing up in the form of violence. In short, the US Was in this state of feeling helpless and uncertain and uneasy all the time. And this is kind of the setting of what we are talking about today, which is the Palmer Raids. And this is gonna be a two part episode and there are a lot of moving parts to it. Like we're kind of jumping around a little bit where we'll talk about one thing for a moment and then another thing for a moment and then they're sort of in separate sections, but they eventually all become part of this bigger picture. And so the first thing that we're going to talk about is actually the sedition act of 1918.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

On May 16, 1918, the Sedition act was passed by the US Congress, and this act expanded on the previously existing espionage act of 1917. The Espionage act had made it a crime to traffic an information with the intention to that that sharing would harm the United States in the war effort or assist any enemies of the United States.

[Holly Fry]

And the Sedition act was both more expansive and more focused. Anti war activists, pacifists and socialists were all targeted in its wording. And under the Sedition act, it became illegal to make false statements that interfered with the war effort. It was illegal to insult or in any way abuse the US Government or its representative flag, military, or the Constitution. Agitating against the production of war materials was also covered, as well as teaching or defending any of the actions that were made illegal in the language of the act.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

The punishments outlined in the Sedition act were the same as those described in the Espionage Act. If anyone was found guilty of the crimes described, they could be fined up to $10,000 or jailed for 20 years. And both of these punishments could be sentenced at the same time.

[Holly Fry]

So keep the Sedition act and the Espionage act in mind. But next we are going to hop to a different thing, and we are going to talk briefly about a postal clerk. And that man was named Charles Kaplan, and he was a postal clerk working in New York City's main post office in 1919. And on April 27th of 1919, over the course of his normal work, he encountered 16 small parcels. And they were all virtually identical, both visually and in the fact that they all had insufficient postage. And Kaplan set these parcels aside to be returned to the sender at the return address on the package, which was an address that was Gimbel Brothers, 32nd street and Broadway, New York City. And they were marked novelty samples.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

A few days later, while riding the train home from work, in the wee hours of 4-30-1919, Kaplan read the paper. And one of the stories he read detailed a small parcel. And the description of this parcel was almost identical to these he had set aside. On the 27th, this parcel was delivered to former US Senator Thomas Hardwick in Atlanta, Georgia. And when Hardwick's maid opened the package, it exploded. Both the maid and Hardwick had survived, although the maid had been really injured by the blast and there was a lot of property damage.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, Descriptions of her injuries vary a little bit. They're pretty brief. Some will say that her hands were actually blown off. Others will say that they were crippled in some way. But she was very, very injured. Kaplan immediately exited the train. He jumped off at the next stop and he ran back to the post office and those 16 brown paper wrapped parcels that were in the storeroom that he had set aside. The parcels which indeed matched the description that Kaplan had just read in the paper, had not moved on to their next step in the process of being return. So Kaplan notified postal inspector W.E. cochran. And the authorities were immediately called the New York City Bureau of Combustibles, which is sort of a fabulous name and no longer exists in that particular nomenclature, opened some of the parcels along with Cochrane because he was extremely good at this.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Apparently upon examination by the Combustibles Bureau, these parcels were deemed infernal machines. Another kind of great name for something really terrible. They were today they would be labeled as incendiary devices. They were addressed to J.P. morgan Jr. John D. Rockefeller, Mayor John F. Hyland, Police Commissioner Richard Enright and a number of other well known businessmen, politician and judges. So Kaplan had unwittingly discovered a serial bombing.

[Holly Fry]

So after receiving all of this information, Postmaster General Albert Burleson sent out an alert to all postal offices describing these bomb parcels with instructions to be on the lookout for similar packages. The next day, one turned up in Salisbury, North Carolina, addressed to State Senator Lee Slater Overman. Additional parcels that all were identical were identified in Nebraska and Utah. In total, three dozen mail bombs were eventually found and identified.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

When the bombs were taken apart, they were all identical in construction. And experts were unable to find a single fingerprint on any of the components. Manufacturers of the type of paper that was used to wrap the boxes shared a list of all the dealers who had been sold that type of paper in the preceding 12 months. And the government authorities followed up on all of those leads in an effort to identify who ultimately bought the paper paper from the dealers.

[Holly Fry]

And it was determined as well that an Oliver brand typewriter with a misaligned lowercase W key and a defective lowercase K key was used to type the address labels on the boxes. The labels with the novelty samples, Gimbal Brothers return address were determined to be forgeries and not the actual stationery of that company. The investigation next led to a house on West 45th street where a number of other explosives were cached. But what wasn't clear was who was collecting all this material. Although investigations continued.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

We'll talk more about the mailbombs and their coverage in the press in just a moment, but first we are going to pause for a word from a sponsor.

[Andrea Gunning]

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[Andrea Gunning]

I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone, most of all his wife, Caroline.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

He texted, I've ruined our lives. You're going to want to divorce me.

[Andrea Gunning]

Caroline's husband was living another life behind the scenes. He betrayed his oath to his family and to his community.

[Holly Fry]

She said you left bruises, pulled her.

[Andrea Gunning]

Hair, that type of thing. No? How far would Joel go to cover up what he'd done?

[Holly Fry]

You're unable to keep track of all your lies, and quite frankly, I question how many other women may bring forward allegations in the future.

[Andrea Gunning]

This season of Betrayal investigates one officer's decades of deception, lies that left those closest to him questioning everything they thought they knew. Listen to betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Amy Robach]

Amy Robach and T.J. holmes. Here, Diddy's former protege, television personality, platinum selling artist Danity King alum Aubrey O' Day joins us to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated.

[Andrea Gunning]

The attention of the nation.

[Amy Robach]

Aubrey o' Day is sitting next to us. Here you are. As we sit here, right up the street from where the trial is taking place, some people saw that you were going to be in New York and they immediately started jumping to conclusions. So can you clear that up? First of all, are you here to testify in the Diddy trial? Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise based on her firsthand knowledge from her days on making the band, as she emerged as the breakout star. The truth of the situation would be opposite of the glitz and glamour.

[Andrea Gunning]

It wasn't all bad, but I don't know that any of the good was real. I went through things there.

[Amy Robach]

Listen to Amy and TJ presents Aubrey O' Day covering the Diddy trial on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever.

[Andrea Gunning]

You get your podcast.

[Holly Fry]

The discovery of those bomb parcels which came to be known as the Mayday Bomb plot, led to a panic. A front page story in the New York Times on May 4 read, quote, There are more than 2,000 radical agitators in New York City who have been preaching Bolshevism and the overthrow of the United States government. And every one of these persons is now under investigation by federal and local authorities.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

According to that same news article, more than 75% of those 2,000 people were, quote, citizens or subjects of foreign nations. Many were expected to be deported with the process described in the following manner, quote, it is generally understood that a large number of them are now being considered for deportation as persons whose presence in this country is undesirable. All persons recommended for deportation have to be passed upon by the Attorney General and Secretary of labor in Washington before the recommendation can be carried into effect.

[Holly Fry]

An official from the Department of Justice gave statements to the press that it was believed that Bolshevik and industrial workers in the world IWW papers were not only circulating in abundance in the United States, but that the Bolshevik movement in North America was being funded directly from the Lenin Trotsky government. The IWW for information, was and still is a labor union that was founded in 1906 in Chicago. And the IWW was believed by the Department of Justice to have a large reserve own to promote an agenda of government sabotage.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

This brings us around to the Attorney General at the time, Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer, or a Mitchell Palmer. And he was born on May 4, 1872 in Moosehead, Pennsylvania. He grew up a Quaker, first attending public schools and then Moravian Parochial School before moving on to Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania. He graduated summa cum laude in 1891 and went on to study law at Lafayette College and George Washing. Although he didn't finish his law degree, he he did pass the bar exam in Pennsylvania and started his law career in 1893 in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. Early on in his professional career, he also became involved in politics.

[Holly Fry]

Palmer was elected to the U.S. house of Representatives in 1905, and he held that role for a number of years. His last re election bid that he won was 1912, and during that period that he served as a Representative, he was instrumental as a steady supporter and campaigner in securing the 1912 Democratic presidential nomination for Woodrow Wilson.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Once Wilson was in office, Palmer made the move to run for a seat in the Senate in 1914, but he lost the election. Although he lost that race, he was soon given a different sort of promotion by appointment because Woodrow Wilson appointed him to the US Court of Claims as a judge.

[Holly Fry]

But only a few months into that appointment, Palmer changed his mind about the job and decided that instead he wanted to go back into private law practice. Later, Woodrow Wilson offered him another position, that of Secretary of War, but Palmer turned it down, citing his Quaker beliefs as the reason that he could not take that job.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Once the United States entered World War I, Palmer was named Alien Property Custodian by President Wilson. And he did take that job. That office was established on October 12, 1917, under authority of the Trading with the Enemy act to assume control and dispose of enemy owned property in the United States and its possessions.

[Holly Fry]

So President Wilson ultimately put Palmer into an even higher position in 1919 when he named him Attorney General of the United States. And Palmer started that job on March 5th of 1919. And initially there was criticism from Republicans that Palmer wasn't aggressive enough in pursuing subversives who might wish to take down the US Government. But Palmer, eager to gain favor as he had plans for a presidential bid, would eventually earn the nickname the Fighting Quaker for the fervor with which he carried out his duties.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

On the night of June 2, 1919, just a few months into Palmer's time as Attorney General, a man named Carlo Valdinocchi approached Attorney General Palmer's Washington, D.C. he had a parcel with him and the parcel contained a bomb. Palmer himself had gone upstairs to retire for the evening about 15 minutes earlier, but Valdinocchi's incendiary device went off while he was carrying it, and the front and a significant portion of the bottom level of Palmer's home was damaged. This also killed Valdinocci.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah. Palmer had been in office during that Mayday plot Uncovery, but people thought he was not very strong about it, about following up on it. However, this suddenly came to his own door and things changed significantly. That bomb had been quite powerful. So it had. In addition to blowing out the bottom floor of his house, it had blown out the windows of the home across the street as well, which was where Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt were living at the time. And it was Roosevelt who had run across the street to offer assistance, and Palmer who had run downstairs, who found the remains of Valdinocci's body and anarchist literature that he had been carrying, which led to the conclusion that this had been a terrorist plot gone wrong.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Also, this bomb at Palmer's home was not an isolated incident. In the 90 minutes that followed Valdinocci's explosion, seven other bombs exploded in New York, Pittsburgh, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, and Patterson, New Jersey. And among the targets were three judges, a mayor, a state legislature legislator, a Catholic priest, and a prominent police officer, along with two businessmen. The coordinated bombings had resulted in the death of a night watchman named William Boehner in New York, although he had not been one of the targets.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, none of the actual targets were killed in those. Those bombings. There are also some accounts that suggest there were some other bystanders that were injured and some will even say they were killed, but I couldn't verify any of those. The night watchman is the only one that consistently comes up over and over. So along with each bomb that had been delivered, there were also several copies of flyers with the title Plain Words, and I'm going to read part of it. It's quite long, but I'm taking excerpts and it reads, the powers that be make no secret of their will to stop here in America, the worldwide spread of revolution. The powers that be must reckon that they will have to accept the fight that they have provoked. Do not expect us to sit down and pray and cry. We accept your challenge and mean to stick to our war duties. We know that all you do is for your defense as a class. We know also that the proletariat has the same right to protect itself. Since their press has been suffocated, their mouths muzzled, we mean to speak for them, the voice of dynamite through the mouth of guns. Do not say that we are acting cowardly because we keep hiding. Do not say it is abominable. It is war, class war. And you were the to wage it under cover of the powerful institutions you call order in the darkness of your laws behind the guns of your boneheaded slave. Our mutual position is pretty clear. What has been done by us so far is only a warning that there are friends of popular liberties still living. Only now are we getting into the fight and you will have a chance to see what liberty loving people can do. Do not seek to believe that we are the Germans or the Devil's paid agents. You know well we are class conscious men with strong determin and no vulgar liability. And never hope that your cops and your hounds will ever succeed in ridding the country of the anarchistic germ that pulses in our veins. We know how we stand with you and how to take care of ourselves. Besides, you will never get all of us and we multiply nowadays. Just wait and resign to your fate since privilege and riches have turned your heads. Long live social revolution. Down with tyranny. And it is signed the Anarchist Fighters.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

So next up we will detail the bombs in the second attack as compared to those from the earlier incidents. We talked about, you know, tying those together. And before we do, we will take a quick break to talk about one of our fantastic sponsors.

[Andrea Gunning]

Tired of spills and stains on your sofa? Wash away your worries with Annabe. Annabe is the only machine washable sofa inside and out where designer quality meets budget friendly prices. That's right, sofas start at just $699 and now's the perfect time to upgrade. During the Memorial Day sale, get up to 60% off site wide. Enjoy a no risk experience with pet friendly stain resistant and changeable slipcovers made with performance fabric experience cloud like comfort with high resilience foam that's hypoallergenic and never needs fluffing the same. Its sturdy steel frame ensures longevity and the modular pieces can be rearranged anytime. Shop washablesofas.com to save big this Memorial Day backed by a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you're not absolutely in love, send it back for a full refund. No return shipping or restocking fees. Every penny back. Don't miss the Memorial Day sale. Upgrade [e-mail] that's washablesofas.com Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply.

[Amy Robach]

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. May is Mental Health Awareness Month and Talkspace, the leading virtual therapy provider, is telling everyone let's face it in therapy by talking or texting with a supportive licensed therapist at Talkspace, you can face whatever is holding you back, whether it's mental health symptoms, relationship drama, past trauma bad habits or another challenge that you need support to work through. It's easy to sign up. Just go to talkspace.com and you'll be paired with a provider and typically within 48 hours. And because you'll meet your therapist online, you don't have to take time off work or arrange childcare. You'll meet on your schedule. Plus, Talkspace is in network with most major insurers and most insured members have a zero dollar copay. Make your mental health a priority and start today. If you're not covered by insurance, get $80 off your first month with Talkspace when you go to talkspace.com and enter promo code SPACE80. That's Spa CE80. To match with a licensed therapist today, go to talkspace.com and Enter promo code SPACE80.

[Andrea Gunning]

I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone, most of all his wife, Caroline.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

He texted, I've ruined our lives. You're going to want to divorce me.

[Andrea Gunning]

Caroline's husband was living another life behind the scenes. He betrayed his oath to his family and to his community.

[Holly Fry]

She said you left bruises, pulled her.

[Amy Robach]

Hair, that type of thing.

[Andrea Gunning]

No? How far would Joel go to cover up what he'd done?

[Holly Fry]

You're unable to keep track of all your lies and quite frankly, I question how many other women may bring forward allegations in the future.

[Andrea Gunning]

This season of Betrayal investigates one officer's decades of deception. Lies that left those closest to him questioning everything they thought they knew. Listen to betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Amy Robach]

Amy Robach and TJ Holmes here, Diddy's former protege, television personality, platinum selling artist Danity King. Alum Aubrey o' Day joins us to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation. Aubrey o' Day is sitting next to us. Here you are. As we sit here right up the street from where the trial is taking place. Some people saw that you were going to be in New York and they immediately started jumping to conclusions. So can you clear that up? First of all, are you here to testify in the Diddy trial? Aubrey will offer her opinions and expertise based on her firsthand knowledge from her days on making the band as she emerged as the breakout star. The truth of the situation would be opposite of the glitz and glamour.

[Andrea Gunning]

It wasn't all bad, but I don't know that any of the good was real. I went through things there.

[Amy Robach]

Listen to Amy and TJ presents Aubrey O' Day covering the Diddy trial on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever.

[Andrea Gunning]

You get your podcasts.

[Holly Fry]

The June bombs were significantly more powerful than the bombs that had been discovered in the late spring. They contained approximately 25 pounds. That's 11.3 kilograms of dynamite wrapped in a package, each of them with metal slugs to create destructive shrapnel. As you may recall, one of those springtime bombs maimed but did not kill the woman who opened it. Whereas this bomb that went off while Valdinocci was carrying it killed him, presumably instantly blew out a significant amount of the building he was in front of and caused minor damage to other structures on that same street. So significant increase in power.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

The pink flyers in the plain words writing were traced to a print shop run by two men, typesetter Andrea Salcedo and compositor Roberto Elia. Both men were followers of an anarchist named Luigi Galliani and Carlo Valdinocci.

[Holly Fry]

The man who had had his bomb go off as he approached Palmer's residence, had been an editor of one of Galliani's publications, which adv the use of violence to affect change. One of the addresses in the Mayday bomb plot had been Ramey Weston Finch, who was an FBI agent who had been investigating Galiani and his followers. So at this point Galiani was heavily implicated in these bombings.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

For an incredibly brief overview, just to try to contextualize this connection to Luigi Galliani's tempestuous life. He was from Vercelli, Italy and studied law at the University of Turin. During his time in school he became increasingly interested in politics and eventually his anarchist beliefs made him a wanted man in Italy. So he fled his home country in 1880 before he was able to finish his degree.

[Holly Fry]

He ended up living in France on and off for the next 20 years. He then moved briefly to Switzerland, but was deported. He once again went to France, but then was deported back to Italy and was ultimately imprisoned. After an escape from confinement on the island Pentelliera, which I may or may not be butchering, he went to England and then he emigrated from there to the United States and he lived in Patterson, New Jersey and until an indictment for inciting a riot when he tried to flee to Canada, but he was refused entry. Allegedly he was literally just pushed back across the border. He found a group of like minded people eventually in Vermont and from there he began publishing an anarchist periodical in 1903. Ran for 15 years from various locations before the US government shut it down. You have probably as a listener, heard of the More well known anarchists, Sacco and Vanzetti. Galliani and his circle had ties to them as well as for the men.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Who had made the flyers. Salcedo jumped or fell from the window of his cell in the DOJ's building on Park Row in New York. He had been held there secretly for eight weeks and there were rumors that he died by suicide. To keep himself from giving up names of collaborators, Alia was offered a deal where his deportation would be canceled if he testified about the anarchists and their organization. But he refused. So two days after Salcedo's death, Ailey was given up to the Department of Labor and moved to Ellis Island. The Department of Justice contended that the men had both turned state's evidence and then had been held secretly for their own protection.

[Holly Fry]

The investigation into this second set of bombings was led by Todd Daniel, who is a special agent of the FBI as well as the acting head of the FBI, William Flynn. Flynn, who had been chief of the Secret Service, was lauded by Attorney General Palmer as, quote, the leading organizing detective in America. Flynn is an anarchist chaser, the greatest anarchist expert in the United States.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

But just days after the June 2 bombings, a number of people were being tracked as suspects in active participation in the attacks. Over the next several months, Palmer invoked both the espionage act of 1917 and the Sedition act of 1918 that we talked about at the top of the show to assemble a special team led by a lawyer from the Justice Department named J. Edgar Hoover. This team would go on to work closely with the Immigration Bureau, both to investigate existing suspects and identify others.

[Holly Fry]

Hoover and his team went after every possible scrap of intelligence they could find to identify persons that they felt were the most likely to take violent action. So at this point, they were not just tracking who had possibly participated in this bombing act, but anyone that they thought might one day think that doing something similar was a course of action they would try. So when all of their research was collected, Palmer was utterly convinced that there was a Communist plot to overthrow the US Government and that there were tens of thousands of people in the US working to that end. And he had compiled a list of them that he was going to go after.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

In the next episode, we will talk about the steps that Palmer and his team took to address this perceived communist threat. But for now, this is where we are going to leave the story.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, so at this point, there's a lot of fear that there are communists literally lurking everywhere in your neighborhoods, trying to slowly overtake the entire US Way of life.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Like these Two bombing plots are legitimately cause for concern. To be very clear, we're not saying, yes, you know, we're not saying they shouldn't have investigated the bomb plots. Obviously that was a big deal, but, like, this took on a much, much greater scope, for sure.

[Holly Fry]

Like I said, it really did transition to, I think you might be shady. Onto the list you go. Yeah.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

There's an episode in the archive already about McCarthy and the Red Scare and how that ties together. I feel like this part is not as well known as that today. I feel like the McCarthy era is a lot better known than the Palmer Raids that we're going to talk about.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah. And part of that is just a matter of documentation. Like, there is a lot of documentation on the Palmer Raids. But then the McCarthy era stuff was later enough that there were more forms of communication that were more common, so more people knew about it instantly. Yeah. The Palmer Raids are one of those points in history that does not often get a lot of attention.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Yeah. Thanks so much for joining us on this Saturday. If you'd like to send us a note, our email address is historypodcastheartradio.com and you can subscribe to the show on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite show.

[Holly Fry]

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[Andrea Gunning]

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[Holly Fry]

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[Andrea Gunning]

I'm Andrea Gunning, host of the podcast Betrayal. Police Lieutenant Joel Kern used his badge to fool everyone, most of all his wife, Caroline.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

He texted, I've ruined our lives. You're going to want to divorce me.

[Andrea Gunning]

How far would he go to cover up what he'd done?

[Holly Fry]

The fact that you lied is absolutely horrific. And quite frankly, I question how many other women are out there that may bring forward allegations in the future.

[Andrea Gunning]

Listen to betrayal on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Holly Fry]

Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Tremarke, hosts of Criminalia, as they uncover curious cases from the past. The legend of the Highwayman suggests men dominated the field, but tell that to Lady Catherine Ferrars, known as the Wicked lady who terrorized England in the mid-1600s. Her legend persists nearly 400 years after her death. Highwaymen are in the hot seat this season. Find more crime and cocktails on Criminalia. Listen to criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

A crime makes headlines. People talk about it for a few days, then it disappears. But for the people left behind, their story is just beginning.

[Andrea Gunning]

But at night, we hear the garage opening and my son hears it. We freak out.

[Amy Robach]

Honestly, I didn't tell my son this.

[Holly Fry]

But I thought that was it.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

From the exactly right network.

[Holly Fry]

This is the night.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Real stories of crime's ripple effects told by those who lived them.

[Holly Fry]

New episodes every Thursday.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Listen to the knife on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Holly Fry]

You're listening to an iHeart podcast.