SYMHC Classics: Palmer Raids Pt. 2

Summary

Stuff You Missed in History Class: Palmer Raids Pt. 2

Episode Overview:
In the second part of their deep dive into the Palmer Raids, hosts Holly Fry and Tracy B. Wilson explore the aftermath of the initial raids, detailing the widespread arrests, deplorable treatment of detainees, public backlash, and the eventual decline of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer’s controversial campaign against perceived radicals in post-World War I America.

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Introduction to the Palmer Raids Pt. 2

Holly Fry ([02:21]) kicks off the episode by addressing their listeners’ request to continue the discussion on the Palmer Raids. She recaps Part 1, emphasizing the climate of fear and unrest in the United States following World War I, and Palmer’s mission to eliminate what he perceived as revolutionary threats.

“While there were some legitimate concerning events that happened, this quickly spread and became about one man's hunt to basically get rid of as many immigrants as he could.” – Holly Fry ([03:08])

The November 1919 Raids: Scope and Execution

The hosts delve into the specifics of the raids that commenced on November 7, 1919, across twelve cities. They highlight the aggressive tactics employed by Palmer’s forces, often targeting entire buildings indiscriminately.

Tracy B. Wilson ([04:11]) explains:

“Starting on November 7, 1919, two years after Russia's Bolshevik Revolution, locations in 12 different cities and towns were raided. Palmers assembled forces in a coordinated effort.”

One notable instance was the raid on the Russian People’s House in New York City, where agents not only sought specific suspects but also unleashed violence on everyone present.

“Furniture and property were destroyed and students from classrooms were violently herded into stairwells and in many cases shoved so that they fell downstairs. Several hundred people in total were beaten with blackjacks and stair rails.” – Tracy B. Wilson ([04:39])

Treatment of Detainees: Inhumane Conditions

The aftermath of these raids saw the detention of hundreds, with only a fraction being held. The majority faced severe physical abuse, leading to injuries and deaths. Those detained faced further mistreatment in facilities like the Hartford jail, where conditions were abhorrent.

Holly Fry ([06:17]) describes:

“They were allowed no reading materials. Many of the men had no idea what they were even being held for.”

Punitive measures in Hartford included confinement in oppressive rooms over boiler rooms, minimal sustenance, and physical abuse.

“Men suspected of holding anarchist or communist ideologies were put into such rooms for 36 to 60 hours at a time, with one glass of water and one piece of bread given to them every 12 hours.” – Tracy B. Wilson ([07:30])

Public Response and Protests

The brutality of the raids did not go unnoticed. Public outcry materialized through protests, most notably at Madison Square Garden, led by attorney and activist Dudley Field Malone. Legal bodies, such as the New York Bar Association, demanded accountability, though Palmer’s office largely ignored these pleas.

“The treatment of the group at the hands of the Department of Justice led to a protest at Madison Square Garden the following night.” – Holly Fry ([05:04])

The Second Wave: January 1920 Mass Raids

Emboldened by initial successes, Palmer orchestrated a larger-scale raid on January 2, 1920, resulting in approximately 3,000 arrests across thirty cities. These raids targeted communist party headquarters and other gatherings, leading to the detention of individuals under increasingly dire circumstances.

Tracy B. Wilson ([09:53]) recounts:

“In the dark, the captive men had no beds. They slept on the floor. All 800 of them had to wait in lines for access to the one drinking fountain and one toilet available.”

Formation of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

The escalating abuses and unlawful actions spurred the creation of the ACLU on January 19, 1920. This organization aimed to defend civil liberties through both legal battles and public education, responding directly to the government’s overreach during the Palmer Raids.

“In part in response to this rash of raids that were happening without cause, on January 19, 1920, the American Civil Liberties Union was formed.” – Tracy B. Wilson ([17:13])

The Decree of Lewis F. Post and Public Sentiment Shift

By April 1920, Assistant Secretary of Labor Lewis F. Post recognized the excessive and unlawful nature of the raids. His interventions, including transferring detainees to more humane facilities and canceling numerous deportation orders, signaled a significant shift in public and governmental attitudes against Palmer’s methods.

Holly Fry ([19:12]) observes:

“Post went on to cancel more than 1500 deportations, which was a slap in the face to Palmer.”

The Official Report: Legal Repercussions and Findings

In May 2012 (likely a typographical error, intended to be 1920), a comprehensive report was issued by a coalition of prominent lawyers, including Felix Frankfurter and Roscoe Pound. This document meticulously outlined the Palmer Raids' unconstitutional actions, categorizing them into six critical violations:

1. Cruel and unusual punishments
2. Arrests without warrants
3. Unreasonable searches and seizures
4. Provocative agents and entrapment
5. Compelling individuals to testify against themselves
6. DOJ propaganda efforts

Holly Fry ([28:32]) highlights:

“As of November 14, 1919, the Attorney General had assembled a list of 60,000 people by name that were suspected of radicalism of one kind or another.”

The report revealed that out of these, only 810 had been deported, starkly contrasting Palmer’s inflated threat assessments.

Human Stories: Personal Impact of the Raids

The hosts share poignant testimonies from individuals like Alexander Bukowetsky, whose unjust detention not only affected him but also devastated his family. Bukowetsky’s daughter, Violet, witnessed immense suffering, underscoring the raids' long-term human costs.

“When I came to America, I came with a thought that I was coming to a free country... I am a hundred times more anxious to run away from Americanism and return to Soviet Russia, where I will at least be able to live.” – Alexander Bukowetsky ([30:37])

Aftermath and Palmer’s Decline

Despite initial support, Palmer’s unchecked actions eventually led to his downfall. Public opinion had shifted, and his credibility waned as his predictions failed to materialize. By March 1921, Palmer lost the Democratic presidential nomination and returned to private law practice, never expressing remorse for his actions.

“I apologize for nothing. The Department of Justice has done I glory in it.” – A. Mitchell Palmer ([32:19])

Conclusion: Lessons from the Palmer Raids

Holly Fry and Tracy B. Wilson reflect on the Palmer Raids as a dark chapter in American history, emphasizing the dangers of fear-driven politics and the fragility of civil liberties in times of crisis.

“It's a very troubling time in America's history that we don't talk about very much.” – Holly Fry ([33:01])

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Final Thoughts:
This episode serves as a crucial reminder of the importance of safeguarding civil liberties against governmental overreach, especially during periods of national fear. The Palmer Raids encapsulate how fear can embolden authorities to commit injustices, leaving lasting scars on innocent lives.

Listen to Part 1: For a comprehensive understanding, it's recommended to listen to Part 1, which provides the necessary historical context leading up to the events discussed in this episode.

Transcript

[Tracy B. Wilson]

This is an iHeart podcast.

[Unknown]

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[Maria Tremarchi]

Explore the winding halls of historical true crime with Holly Fry and Maria Tremarche, 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 Ferrers, 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.

[Andrea Gunning]

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[Holly Fry]

Happy Saturday. Today's Saturday classic is the conclusion of last Saturday's episode on the Palmer Raids, which we are running after getting a request from from our listener Amy. Last week, Part 1 covered some of the historical context, including a series of bombings that took place in 1919. And today's episode is about the series of raids, arrests, incarcerations and deportations that followed those bombings.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

This originally came out on December 7, 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 in our last episode we talked about the fear and unrest that gripped the United States at the conclusion of World War I. Armistice certainly did not put an end to the stresses of financial problems and racial divide and labor strikes that were happening throughout the country. And there was a growing fear that a revolution incited by foreign anarchists or Communists was going to change America forever. And after rising through the political ranks to become Attorney General, and after a series of coordinated bomb attacks on prominent U.S. citizens, A. Mitchell Palmer made it his mission to root out what he believed to be a revolutionary threat to national security. So we highly recommend you listen to part one of this two part episode before this one so that you have a fuller context for the events that we're about to talk about. Because while there were some legitimate concerning events that happened, this quickly spread and became about one man's hunt to basically get rid of as many immigrants as he could.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Starting on November 7, 1919, two years after Russia's Bolshevik Revolution, locations in 12 different cities and towns were raided. Palmers assembled forces in a coordinated effort.

[Holly Fry]

One of the raided locations was the Russian people's house at 133 East 15th street in New York. And this building housed the office of the Federated Unions of Russian Workers as well as the cafeteria and classrooms.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

When the agents from the Department of Justice arrived, they had warrants for a few suspects, but they launched a full scale attack on the entire building and everyone in it. Furniture and property were destroyed and students from classrooms were violently herded into stairwells and in many cases shoved so that they fell downstairs. Several hundred people in total were beaten with, quote, blackjacks and stair rails.

[Holly Fry]

Those same several hundred people were taken to a nearby Department of Justice office and questioned. Only an estimated one fifth of those initially taken into custody were held. The rest were released, but many of them were seriously injured. The treatment of the group at the hands of the Department of Justice led to a protest at Madison Square Garden the following night led by attorney and activist Dudley Field Malone. And a letter was written to the Attorney General by the New York Bar association that demanded to know if the raid had indeed been under the direction of the Department of Justice, and also requested an investigation into the events. That letter was never acknowledged by Palmer's office.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

The same night of that protest, on November 8, a group of men had gathered to discuss purchasing a vehicle so that everyone in the community to learn how to drive. That meeting in Bridgeport, Connecticut, was raided, and 63 arrests were made. Sixteen people were released over the following two days. But after three days of being held in cramped quarters at the local police station with little to no food, the remaining 47 were moved to the Hartford jail Under the direction of the Department of Justice.

[Holly Fry]

And while they were in the Hartford jail, There were additional arrests being made, and those individuals were added to the numbers. And people who applied for visitation to the arrested men were also often jailed until the Hartford group number 97. They were questioned. They were threatened with suffocation and hanging, and they were beaten. The Department of Labor and the Department of Justice worked in conjunction to file arrest warrants after the fact for all of the men that were held there.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

They were all kept alone in their cells with agents of the Department of Justice as their only visitors. They were allowed no reading materials. Many of the men had no idea what they were even being held for. And when they questioned that, their jailers got no information. Most had no idea if there was bail set for them and if there was, how much it was. They were given two to five minutes per day at a sink outside of their cells to wash their face and hands, and they were allowed five minutes of tub time per month to wash their bodies. Food was often insufficient and also foul. And family and friends were not allowed any contact with these men in the prison.

[Holly Fry]

Punishment in the Hartford jail took place in four identical rooms. Each of them were 51 inches by 106 inches. That's about 1.3 meters by 2.7 meters in their Their floor size. And these rooms were situated over a boiler room, and consequently, they would become unbearably hot. Men suspected of holding anarchist or communist ideologies Were put into such rooms for 36 to 60 hours at a time, with one glass of water and one piece of bread given to them every 12 hours. Most were unconscious when their time in a punishment room had ended. According to a later investigation, Only one person in the five months that they were using these rooms Was actually able to walk back to his regular cell without help.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

The situation in Hartford lasted, as we just mentioned, for five months until April 1920. At that point, a lawyer finally managed to get into the jail. And the conditions were immediately deemed unacceptable, which we will talk about more in a moment.

[Holly Fry]

In December, a number of the detainees were deported to Russia by ship, which was nicknamed the Red Ark and Soviet Ark in press reports. Although this really was done rather quietly and quickly, it's unclear if there was sufficient paperwork for all of the people put on that boat.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Yeah, often with an event as old as this one is, it is old enough that typically I can find a lot of photos that might be in the public domain and it's, it's recent enough that there are a lot of photos. It's not so old that there are no pictures. Not a lot of pictures of this, no. The response to these initial raids had been largely positive. Emboldened by the November successes, a Mitchell Palmer made even bigger plans. On January 2, 1920, a second mass raid effort was launched and approximately 3,000 people were arrested over the course of several days and 3:30 different cities and towns.

[Holly Fry]

On the second, a chief agent to the Department of Justice in Detroit named Arthur L. Barkey received an order from Palmer to raid the suspected headquarters of the Communist Party. 800 men were captured as they attended classes and dances in the building, and then they were held for three to six days in a corridor in the city's federal building.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

In the dark, the captive men had no beds. They slept on the floor. All 800 of them had to wait in lines for access to the one drinking fountain and one toilet available. No food was given to them until family members started showing up with provisions. About 20 hours into their captivity, they were not allowed to speak to family or legal counsel, and law enforcement eventually started moving them in groups to precinct police stations with actual holding cells.

[Holly Fry]

Between 130 and 140 of these men were moved to the police bullpen, which was intended for keeping people arrested for petty crimes for a few hours at a time. It was a cellar room with one window, 24 by 30ft, that's 7.3 by 9.1 meters in length and width. And those men, again, 130 to 140 men, were held in that cramped space for a week with no beds, relying primarily on food that was brought in by relatives to survive.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Tallies of the men estimated that approximately 350 of them were American citizens or aliens who could prove that they were in no way connected to any sort of radicalism. Of the 800 men initially seized, there were eventually warrants issued for 440 of them. Ten days after they had actually been arrested did. One hundred and forty of them got out on bond and the other 300 were moved to an army fort for longer term holding and they remained there for several months.

[Holly Fry]

We're actually going to discuss something you might not expect in just a moment, which is paperwork. But before we do, let's pause for just a moment, take a break from the Palmer Raids because it is a little bit heavy and talk about one of our sponsors that keeps the lights on in the studio so we can talk about these heavy topics.

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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 hair, that type of thing.

[Unknown]

No.

[Andrea Gunning]

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 podcast.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

So if you're wondering how in the world they got the manpower to issue all these warrants for all these arrests, the answer is they didn't. Most of the people were wound, were rounded up without warrants and with no formal paperwork to document the arrests. About 5,000 people were taken into custody, most of these people being completely innocent.

[Holly Fry]

And when you consider that these conditions that we talked about in these two instances, there were many more than those two instances that we just talked about. They were being kept in similar conditions, completely innocent, for weeks and sometimes months at a time. But the other thing that was interesting was that not all of the people who were accused of anti American sentiment during this time were captured in raids. Some had their lives ruined in more subtle but no less damning ways. And one of these was an art teacher named Julia Pratt. And she had been suspended from her teaching job abruptly. And when the school board held a hearing to review her case, a man showed up named Herman Bernard. And he testified that he had been an undercover agent of the Department of Justice and that in his undercover role, he became a secretary of the Buffalo Communist Party. And he then said that he knew and had records of Ms. Pratt as a member of that party and the dates on which she paid her dues. But that art teacher told a very different story in her testimony.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

She said, On July 18, 1919, Ms. Harris invited me into her home to meet some, quote, interesting intellectual friends of hers, as she put it. I went out to Kenmore. Herman Bernard came in with two women friends of his. He constantly injected overdrawn statements against the government into the conversation and outlined in glowing terms the work the Communist Party would perform in emancipating the Oppressed and exploited. Bernard later came to my house with others of the same group, ate at my table, and I played the harp for him. It is only on the testimony of this agent provocateur that the board has dismissed me.

[Holly Fry]

And again, that's one example, but there were others where people had basically sort of like baited a situation where they would go in and talk about communism and people would sort of politely nod and then they would be like, that's a communist. Like there were some very squirrely things going on.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Pretty sure that's called entrapment.

[Holly Fry]

It is indeed. Still, other people from Hoover's list were apprehended at Palmer's orders, often beaten and sometimes taken from their homes. So where they weren't raiding like big group gatherings, but they were just going to individual people's homes and taking them out, often without warrant and with no cause that they stated. In at least some cases, fake testimonies were typed up and signed with forged signatures. There's a report we're going to talk about in a moment that has one of these instances where it is clearly a forged signature. There were many, many instances of poor treatment at the hands of Palmer's agents. So, as I've said a couple times now, what we have selected here to detail is just a sampling.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

While there had been some unease about the November raids by the public, the January raids caused real concern. Not fear of communists or anarchists, but fear that the Attorney General had far overstepped his bounds.

[Holly Fry]

In part in response to this rash of raids that were happening without cause, on January 19, 1920, the American Civil Liberties Union was formed. And this was an effort on the part of a number of concerned citizens, many of which had already been working in the National Civil Civil Liberties Bureau, to shift the focus away from that group's litigation only approach to one that was more action oriented and focused on education as well as fighting legal battles.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

In the spring of 1920, the tide continued to turn against Palmer. Assistant Secretary of Labor Lewis F. Post saw the Palmer raids as one man's ambition spinning rapidly out of control, with nothing limiting the actions that were being taken. When Post found out about the men being held at Hartford Prison in April of that year, he had them all transferred immediately to the immigration station at Deer Island, Boston, where their conditions were better and their cases could be evaluated and properly documented.

[Holly Fry]

Post went on to Cancel More than 1500 deportations, which was a slap in the face to Palmer and an act that some people that were really behind Palmer's moves thought was treasonous. There was actually an attempt to impeach Louis Post, but the Assistant Secretary gave extremely persuasive and powerful testimony during his appearance before Congress, which caused the various politicians that had been calling for his impeachment to back off. And some of them actually started to see that civil liberties had been outright abused during these raids.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

One of the truly heartbreaking effects of the Palmer Raids were the very real, immediate and long lasting effects that they had on the lives of innocent people who were taking into custody. Often they struggled to find work after their confinement because even if they were released without charges, there were still, there was still a shadow of Bolshevism on them and employers were unwilling to hire them.

[Holly Fry]

And Palmer continued to warn the public that terrorist attacks were coming. He was making predictions about like, on this day, this will happen. It's my intelligence tells me this. But none of those predictions were materializing and his credibility really suffered for it.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

On May 28, 19, 2012 lawyers issued issued a report on the Palmer raids. They were R.G. brown of Memphis, Tennessee, Zechariah Chaffee Jr. Of Cambridge, Massachusetts Felix Frankfurter of Cambridge, Massachusetts Ernst Freund of Chicago, Illinois Swinburne Hale of New York City, Francis Fisher Kane of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Alfred S. Niles of Baltimore, Maryland Roscoe Pound of Cambridge, Massachusetts Jackson H. Ralston of Washington, D.C. david Wallerstein of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Frank P. Walsh of New York City and terrell Williams of St. Louis, Missouri.

[Holly Fry]

And this report detailed all of these instances of the Palmer raids, how literally thousands of alleged radicals had been arrested with no warrants, held in substandard conditions, and had been denied contact with family members and legal counsel. And this document was jointly published by the ACLU and the National Popular Government League.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

This report was, I mean, perhaps surprisingly, based on the political climate that we've been talking about in these two episodes, well received. It appeared that in the face of the brutal and illegal behavior of the Department of Justice, under the guidance of Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, public attitudes were shifting away from this fervent blinding fear of the other.

[Holly Fry]

And we're going to go into details about the contents of that report. But before we do, this is probably a good place to pause and have a word from one of our sponsors.

[Unknown]

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Breaking News T Mobile Network outperforms expectations in all sectors because T Mobile helps keep you connected from the heart of Portland to right where you are on America's largest 5G network. Switch now keep your phone and T Mobile will pay it off at the $800 per line via prepaid cart. Visit your local T Mobile location or learn more@t mobile.com keepandswitch up to 4 lines of your virtual prepaid card. Allow 15 days qualifying unlock device, credit service report in 90 plus days device ineligible carrier and timely redemption required. Card is no cash access and expires in six months.

[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 me, 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 hair, that type of thing.

[Unknown]

No?

[Andrea Gunning]

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 and TJ Holmes Here, Diddy's former protege, television personality platinum selling artist Danity Kang. Alum Aubrey o' Day joins us to provide a unique perspective on the trial that has captivated the attention of the nation.

[Holly Fry]

Aubrey o' Day is sitting next to us. Here you are as we sit here, right up the street from where the.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Trial is taking place.

[Holly Fry]

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

[Holly Fry]

So this opening of the report that we talked about before we went to break is a letter to the people of the United States, and it is lengthy, but I want to read a significant portion of this introductory letter. Here it reads, to the American people. For more than six months, we, the undersigned lawyers whose sworn duty it is to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States, have seen with growing apprehension the continued violation of that Constitution and breaking of those laws by the Department of Justice of the United States Government. Under the guise of a campaign for the suppression of radical activities, the Office of the Attorney General, acting by its local agents throughout the country and giving express instructions from Washington, has committed continued illegal acts. Quote, wholesale arrests of both aliens and citizens have been made without warrant or any process of law. Men and women have been jailed and held incommunicado without access of friends or counsel. Homes have been entered without search warrant and property seized and removed. Other property has been wantonly destroyed. Working men and working women suspected of radical views have been shamefully abused and maltreated. Agents of the Department of Justice have been introduced into radical organizations for the purpose of informing upon their members or inciting them to activities. These agents have even been instructed from Washington to arrange meetings upon certain dates for the express object of facilitating wholesale raids and arrests in support of these illegal acts and to create sentiment in its favor. The Department of Justice has also constituted itself a propaganda bureau and has sent to newspapers and magazines of this country quantities of material designed to excite public opinion against radicals, all at the expense of the government and outside the scope of the Attorney General's duties. We make no argument in favor of any radical doctrine as such, whether socialist, communist, or anarchist. No one of us belongs to any of those schools of thought, nor do we now raise any question as the as to the constitutional protection of free speech and a free press. We are concerned solely with bringing to the attention of the American people the utterly illegal acts which have been committed by those charged with the highest duty of enforcing the laws. Acts which have caused widespread suffering and unrest, have struck at the foundation of American free institutions and have brought the name of our country into disrepute.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

The report grouped the various acts of Palmer's efforts into six categories. Cruel and unusual punishments, arrests without warrant, unreasonable searches and seizures, provocative agents, basically entrapment operatives, compelling persons to witness against themselves, and propaganda by the Department of Justice.

[Holly Fry]

And by the numbers, the report offers a pretty damning assessment of the effectiveness of Palmer's methods. As of November 14, 1919, the Attorney General had assembled a list of 60,000 people by name that were suspected of radicalism of one kind or another.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

As of January 1, 1920, 263 of these 60,000 people had been deported. From January 1 to the report's release in late May, there had been 18 more people deported, with another 529 ordered to deport by Palmer. Another 1547 warrants for deportation were canceled during that time by post. Of those 60,000 suspects, the attorney general had only deported 810, and as the report points out, that left more than 51,000 people to be dealt with by Palmer's own records. So in inflating the numbers of potential dangers, he basically stacked the deck against his own forces because they wound up looking pretty ineffective.

[Holly Fry]

And in concluding that introduction to the report, the lawyers who worked on it wrote, quote, it is a fallacy to suppose that any more than in the past, any servant of the people can sit safely irrigate to himself unlimited authority. To proceed upon such a supposition is to deny the fundamental American theory of the consent of the governed. Here is no question of a vague, threatened menace, but a present assault upon the most sacred principles of our constitutional liberty.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

One of the testimonies included in this report is from an immigrant named Alexander Bukowetsky who had come to the United States from Russia and had been captured in the November raids. One section of his statement reads, quote, when I came to America, I came with a thought that I was coming to a free country, a place of freedom and happiness, and I was anxious to come to get away from the czaristic form of government. As much as I was anxious to come here to America, I am a hundred times more anxious to run away from Americanism and return to Soviet Russia, where I will at least be able to live.

[Holly Fry]

Bukowecki's testimony also mentions the fact that while he and men like him were confined for months on end, their families really suffered. Their wives and children often went hungry. They had to depend on the kindness of other people in their communities just to survive.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Another statement included in the report is from Bukowecki's 12 year old daughter Violet, who witnessed her mother being beaten by prison officials. When the family attempted to visit her father, her father jumped in front of his wife to shield her and was also beaten badly for doing so. Shots were fired by one of the guards hitting another imprisoned man in the knee. Mrs. Bukowecki was deeply shaken by this incident and confined to her bed for an extended period of time, diagnosed by her doctor as having a nervous breakdown.

[Holly Fry]

In August of 1920, the ACLU published an informational pamphlet about the Red Scare titled Seeing Civil Liberty and the Law in the Period following the War. And it really outlined for people the conditions of fear and governmental overstepping that led to the climax of the Red Scare, the Palmer Raids. And in the pamphlet's conclusion it reads, Civil liberty is more important today than it was in the stagnant period when we had it because no one troubled to abridge it. The world is rising upon one of the periodic waves which carry it onward towards civilized adjustment for human welfare.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

Despite all of the bad press around the raids, Palmer still ran for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination of 1920, as he had planned, and he lost. In March 1921, he returned once again to private practice as a lawyer.

[Holly Fry]

Palmer, for his part, was never remorseful about what had taken place in any public statement, at least that he made in 1921. He testified to the Investigative Senate Committee on the raids and he defended the entire enterprise saying, quote, I apologize for nothing. The Department of Justice has done I glory in it. I point with pride and enthusiasm to the results of that work. And if agents of the Department of Labor were a little rough and unkind with these alien agitators, I think it might well be overlooked in the general good to the country.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

In September 1921, FBI Director William J. Flynn abruptly resigned, claiming a need to attend to a private business matter.

[Holly Fry]

It's a very troubling time in America's history that we don't talk about very much.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

I had not heard much about it at all before you brought up wanting to do it as an episode.

[Holly Fry]

Yeah, I mean, you see how fear can really like, embolden situations like that. And it is troubling. I want to say a lot more, but it will not be cool so.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

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 shows.

[Andrea Gunning]

With the American Express Platinum Card, you can unlock over $1,500 in value annually with statement credits on select purchases and other benefits. That means getting access to even more of your favorite things, more jet setting, more trend setting, and more resetting and downward dog. The stage is set for you to do even more with the American Express Platinum part. Learn [e-mail] US Explore Platinum term Supply.

[Maria Tremarchi]

Explore the winding halls of historical True crime with Holly Fry and Maria Tremarchi, 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.

[Andrea Gunning]

Hi guys, I'm Andrea Gunning, host of Betrayal. I'm excited to bring you all Season four A Story of a Cop and His Double Life. I wanted to let you know that you can get access to all episodes of betrayal season 1, 2, 3 and betrayal weekly, and every single episode of betrayal season 4 ad free with an iheartrue crime plus subscription available exclusively on Apple podcasts plus. You'll get access to all episodes of betrayal season 4 one week ahead of everyone else, available only to I Heart True Crime subscribers. So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for I Heart True Crime plus and subscribe today.

[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.

[Unknown]

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

[Tracy B. Wilson]

We freak out.

[Holly Fry]

Honestly, I didn't tell my son this, but I thought that was it from.

[Tracy B. Wilson]

The exactly right network. This is the Knife. Real stories of crime's ripple effects told by those who lived them. New episodes every Thursday. Listen to the knife on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an iHeart podcast.