User:Ujoive23/Bay View incident

The Bay View Incident occurred on September 9, 1917, when police clashed with Italian anarchists in the Bay View neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A group of Italian anarchists gathered to disrupt a rally held by Reverend Augusto Giuliani, who was the pastor of a local Italian Protestant church. A conflict erupted during the rally and gunfire was exchanged between police and anarchists. Two anarchists were killed and two policemen wounded. Eleven local Italians were later arrested and charged with attempted murder. Two months later, a bomb was found outside of Reverend Giuliani's church, allegedly planted by Galleanists as retaliation for the incident at the rally. It was taken to the local police station by one of Giuliani's parishioners where it detonated, killing nine policemen and one bystander. No one was convicted for the bombing, but the incident precipitated a larger campaign of Galleanist attacks across the United States.

Incident

On Sunday, September 9, 1917, the reverend of the Milwaukee Italian Evangelical Church, Augusto Giuliani, held a rally in support of America's war effort. The rally took place in Bay View, a largely Italian neighborhood, near the Galleanists' Francisco Ferrer Circle clubhouse. Giuliani was a controversial figure in the local Italian community. He was a former Catholic priest that had converted to Methodism. He was also in favor of American involvement in World War I, which Galleanists opposed. However, many of the Italian community members were opposed to him for religious reasons as "he defamed Catholicism in his attempts to convert Italians. This was the third rally held by Giuliani in the area. Policemen were present at the request of Giuliani after two previous meetings held by Giuliani were disrupted by anarchists. As Giuliani finished his speech and the crowd sang "America", the Ferrer Circle's Galleanist anarchists mounted the platform and tore down the American flag. Police fired on the demonstrators. The Circle's theater group director Antonio Fornasier was shot through his heart and died immediately. Augusto Marinelli returned fire with a pistol and was shot in the chest; he was hospitalized, and died from his wounds five days later. Bartolo Testalin was shot in the back and survived. Two detectives had non-serious wounds.

The police arrested eleven anarchists. They described Mary Nardini as the riot's instigator. The police raided the Circle's clubhouse, confiscated anarchist publications, and roughed up Circle members.

Impact
The Bay View incident was the opening salvo in a series of attacks between police and the Galleanists across the United States.

The police station bombing, while not intended for the police, was, according to the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division, the country's "worst police tragedy" prior to the September 11 attacks. No one was convicted for the bombing.