Palmer Raids

I must have dreamed a thousand dreams
Been haunted by a million screams
But I can hear the marching feet
They're moving into the street
--Genesis

President Woodrow Wilson's long train of abuses aimed at curbing public dissent about US involvement in WWI, which included the Committee on Public Information (CPI) and the Sedition Act of 1918, culminated with the Palmer Raids.

In 1919, Wilson named a new attorney general. A. Mitchell Palmer was, in the president's words, a "young, militant, progressive" lawyer who Wilson tagged to put down the original Red Scare (not to be confused with its contemporary equivalent). Several labor strikes, public riots, and bombings (including one at Palmer's residence) helped motivate the ambitious AG to squash the Red menace.

The centerpiece of Palmer's campaign were a series of raids beginning in late 1919. With another newly appointed young turk J Edgar Hoover spearheading the operation, federal agents arrested thousands of legal immigrants in warrantless raids. Many detainees were beaten while others were subsequently deported.

The largest of the Palmer Raids occurred in early January 2020-- precisely 100 years ago. Let us pray that this dark period in American history does not repeat.