Ag Building Bombing 1968 - Background | Police | SIU

The late 1960's and early 1970's saw the beginning of a wave of domestic terrorism in the United States that would continue into the 1980's.[1] Much of this violence emerged from the radical fringes of student protest movements, including those at Southern Illinois University. While the burning of Old Main - the central building of campus from 1887 until the fire in 1969 - and the protests in May of 1970 are better remembered, our first cold case is the bombing of the Agriculture Building in May of 1968.

Terrorism is a particularly ineffective method for achieving change, as it tends to harden the hearts and close the minds of the very people who need to be won over. Nevertheless it is common for political violence to occur on the fringes of social movements. Achieving lasting social change is difficult under the best of circumstances. The effort involved can be time consuming, thankless, and frustrating, and for as long as explosives have been available there have been those who believe - without evidence - that blowing things up and/or killing people is a short cut to lasting social change.

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This is an open case which we continue to investigate as new leads are developed. If you have information about the bombing, please contact us.

[1] For a solid introcution to the terrorism of this period see The "First War on Terrorism?" - US Domestic Counterterrorism During the 1970's and Early 1980's, William Rosenau, CNA Inc., 2014 https://www.cna.org/CNA_files/PDF/CRM-2014-U-008836.pdf