On October 20th, 1981 members of the domestic terrorist groups, the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation Army were waiting outside a mall in Nanuet, New York, a small town outside of New York City. Their plan was to rob a Brinks Armored Truck loaded with $1.6 million with the M16 assault rifles and shotguns that they had in their possession.
Members of the group approached the guards as they were leaving the mall and opened fire. Guard Joseph Trombino was wounded and guard Peter Paige was killed. The terrorists took the money and fled in a U-Haul truck driven by Kathy Boudin. The U-Haul was stopped by Nyack Police Officers Waverly Brown, Edward O’Grady, and two other officers. When stopped, Kathy Boudin feigned innocence, telling the officers they had the wrong truck and asking them to drop their weapons. As the officers lowered their weapons, 6 terrorists in the rear of the truck emerged and killed Brown and O’Grady with bursts of fire from their M-16s.
The terrorists carjacked another vehicle to make their getaway. Kathy Boudin attempted to flee on foot but was captured by an off duty corrections officer. The perps in this case went on the run but by 1986 they had all been arrested. Boudin plead guilty to one count of felony murder and one count of robbery. She was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison. She was paroled in 2003, which was only 23 years. She was given a job teaching at Columbia University in 2008. Her son, Chesa Boudin, was the District Attorney of San Francisco until his ouster in July 2022.
There is a ceremony held every October 20th at 4:00 P.M. to remember the tragic event. It takes place at the memorial located near the NYS Thruway entrance where the officers conducted the fatal car stop.
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