Harrisburg Defense Committee

In 1970 budget hearings, J. Edgar Hoover disclosed "an incipient plot on the part of an "anarchist" group . . . the so-called "East Coast Conspiracy to Save Lives" composed of Catholic priests and nuns, teachers, students, and former students, the principal leaders being Philip and Daniel Berrigan. If successful, the plotters would demand an end to United States bombing operations in Southeast Asia and the release of all political prisoners as ransom. On January 12, 1971, Dr. Eqbal Ahmad, Father Philip Berrigan, Sister Elizabeth McAlister, Father Neil McLaughlin, Anthony Scoblick (a married priest), and Father Joseph Wenderoth were indicted on federal charges of conspiring to kidnap Henry Kissinger and blow up the heating systems of federal buildings in Washington, D.C. The government also cited as co-conspirators Father Daniel Berrigan, Sister Beverly Bell, Marjorie Shuman, Paul Mayer (a married priest), Sister Jogues Egan, Thomas Davidson and William Davidon. A second indictment was handed down on April 30, 1971 in which John Theodore (Ted) Glick was added to those charged (the defendants were thereafter known as the Harrisburg 8), and the charges were expanded to include destroying files and property of the federal government, and conspiracy to possess illegal explosives. On the same day, 2,000 people protested at the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. in a demonstration organized by the Harrisburg Defense Committee in conjunction with other defense groups representing victims of political repression. On April 5, 1972 the jury returned its verdict: Philip Berrigan and Elizabeth McAlister were found guilty on seven counts dealing with the smuggling of letters in and out of Lewisburg prison; the jury was unable to reach an agreement acquitting the other defendants.