The Skies Belong to Us: Love and Terror in the Golden Age of Hijacking (44 page)

  
1
find other accommodations:
Eldridge Cleaver to Michael Cetewayo Tabor, Sept. 24, 1972, Eldridge Cleaver Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley.

  
2
dress shop owner:
“Mildred Klein, Fashion Shop Owner,”
Ridgefield
(Conn.)
Press
, Dec. 8, 1994.

  
3
the Algerian government:
Frank J. Rafalko,
MH/Chaos: The CIA’s Campaign Against the Radical New Left and the Black Panthers
(Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 2011), 103.

  
4
on the Rue Viviani:
Cleaver to Tabor.

  
5
personal stash of weapons:
Willie Roger Holder, interview by author, Aug. 2011.

  
6
with the Black Panthers:
Ibid.

  
7
Trotskyite revisionism:
Eldridge Cleaver, tape recorder notes, March 26–28, 1971, transcript, Eldridge Cleaver Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley.

  
8
America’s inner cities:
Eldridge Cleaver, Korea trip notebooks, 1970, Eldridge Cleaver Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley.

  
9
Watts Riots:
Eldridge Cleaver, draft of speech to be delivered on Aug. 18, 1972, Eldridge Cleaver Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley.

10
admiring Zairian politician:
Cleaver, Korea trip notebooks; Eldridge Cleaver, record of second meeting with Salah, Aug. 16, 1972, Eldridge Cleaver Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley.

11
“with $1 million”:
Cleaver to Tabor.

12
stuck in its chest:
“Cleaver Calls on Algerian President to Keep Black Skyjackers’ $1 Million,”
Jet
42, no. 21 (Aug. 17, 1972), 9.

13
a racist America:
Melvin McNair et al.,
Nous
,
Noirs Américains Évadés du Ghetto
(Paris: Editions de Seuil, 1978), 101.

14
“Fly Delta’s Big Jet”:
“Skyjackers Get Million Ransom,”
Gazette
(Montreal), Aug. 1, 1972.

15
all of them black:
W. Martin Dunleavy,
Black Police in America
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996), 99.

16
parents were up to:
McNair et al.,
Nous
,
Noirs Américains Évadés du Ghetto
, 27–101.

17
without any interference:
“Algerians Seize $1 Million Ransom,”
New York Times
, Aug. 2, 1972; “Hijackers Told Delta Crew Fleeing ‘Decadent America,’ ”
Sumter
(S.C.)
Daily Item
, Aug. 3, 1972.

18
prone to violence:
Cleaver to Tabor.

19
to inspect the money:
McNair et al.,
Nous
,
Noirs Américains
, 103.

20
would win the day:
Cleaver to Tabor.

21
“I couldn’t say”:
“Hijack Suspects ‘Expect to Be Killed Off,’ ”
Oregonian
(Portland, Ore.), Aug. 8, 1972.

22
additional screening:
“Once More Into the Breach,”
New York Times
, Aug. 6, 1972.

23
checked by hand:
David J. Haas, “Electronic Security Screening: Its Origin with Aviation Security 1968–1973,”
Journal of Applied Security Research
5, no. 4 (Sept. 2010), 508–23.

24
$30,000 machines:
Ibid.

25
they could tack on:
“Once More Into the Breach.”

26
thirty years in prison:
The account of the Frank Markoe Sibley hijacking is primarily based on four sources:
United States of America v. Frank Markoe Sibley
, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Apr. 27, 1979; “Stopping Mad Dogs,”
Time
, Aug. 28, 1972; Dave Turner, ed.,
Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI
(Paducah, Ky.: Turner Publishing, 1998), 51; and “Hijacker to Be Examined,”
Spokane
(Wash.)
Daily Chronicle
, Nov. 28, 1972.

27
“whole of the American people”:
Eldridge Cleaver,
Soul on Fire
(Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1978), 159–60. Cleaver’s archives at the University of California at Berkeley include an earlier, more confrontational draft of this letter, in which Cleaver offers to donate $500,000 to Palestinian militants should the Panthers be given the Hijacking Family’s ransom.

28
join the excited crowd:
Holder interview.

29
public relations blunder:
Cleaver to Tabor; “Algerian Police Isolate Panthers’ Headquarters,”
St. Petersburg Times
, Aug. 12, 1972.

30
during the villa raid:
Cleaver, record of second meeting with Salah.

31
the headstrong Cleaver:
Cleaver to Tabor.

32
he lost all faith:
Holder interview.

33
Willie Roger Holder:
Cleaver to Tabor; “Panthers in Algeria Pick Hijacker Chief,”
Chicago Tribune
, Sept. 28, 1972.

  
1
“in four-by-four-foot boxes”:
The account of the Southern Airways Flight 49 hijacking is primarily based on five sources: Ed Blair with Capt. William R. Haas,
Odyssey of Terror
(self-published, 2006); Garrett M. Graff,
The Threat Matrix: The FBI at War
(Little, Brown, 2011), 31–55; “Convicted Hijacker Shares Story, Details 1972 Threat to Oak Ridge,”
WBIR.com
, May 25, 2011; “Hijacked Plane at McCoy Briefly,”
Ledger
(Lakeland, Fla.), Nov. 12, 1972; and “Chronology of a Hijacking,”
New York Times
, Nov. 13, 1972. The detail regarding the $5 million Lufthansa payment comes from “Bonn Paid $5M Jet Ransom,”
Guardian
, February 26, 1972. The detail regarding the number of STRESS-related fatal shootings comes from W. Marvin Dulaney,
Black Police in America
(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996), 99.

  
2
more than two dozen innocents:
“FBI Hit for Firing at Plane,”
Vancouver Sun
, Nov. 14, 1972.

  
3
destination such as Algeria:
“Head of FBI Says He Ordered Hijacked Planes’ Tires Shot Out,”
New York Times
, Nov. 15, 1972. Six days after defending his decision, Gray was admitted to the hospital for “intestinal obstruction,” reportedly brought about by the stress of dealing with the fallout from Flight 49.

  
4
“stop them at the boarding gate”:
“Hijacking Steps Tightened in U.S.,”
Calgary Herald
, Dec. 6, 1972.

  
5
“a cloud of fear”:
Jon Hendricks and Jean Toche, oral history interview by Allen Schwartz, Dec. 13, 1972, Smithsonian Archives of American Art,
http://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/interviews/oral-history-interview-jon-hendricks-and-mr-jean-toche-11910
.

  
6
might meet that test:
“Skyjacking: Constitutional Problems Raised by Anti-Hijacking Systems,”
Journal of Criminal Law
,
Criminology, and Police Science
63, no. 3 (Sept. 1972), 356–65.

  
7
who flew each day:
“Politics, Economics and Skyjacking,”
New York Times
, Dec. 3, 1972.

  
8
without federal assistance:
“Volpe Opposed to Hijack Police Force,”
Ellensburg
(Wash.)
Daily Record
, Jan. 11, 1973.

  
9
receptive to that adjustment:
Mark Feldman, interview by author, Aug. 2010.

10
on December 12:
Robert A. Hurwitch to U.S. secretary of state, Dec. 12, 1972, U.S. Department of State Archive,
http://2001-2009.state.gov/
.

11
in Bab el-Oued vacant:
Eldridge Cleaver to Michael Cetewayo Tabor, Sept. 24, 1972, Eldridge Cleaver Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley.

12
at Pointe Pescade:
Willie Roger Holder, interview by author, Aug. 2011.

13
“problems will be solved”:
Cleaver to Tabor.

14
most avid supporters:
Henry Louis Gates, “Eldridge Cleaver on Ice,”
Transition
75/76 (Winter 1997), 308–9.

15
sticking with the recipes:
Eldridge Cleaver, journal entry, Oct. 29, 1972, Eldridge Cleaver Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley.

16
lost interest in his duties:
Roger Holder to Lynne Stewart, Oct. 9, 1986, private collection of Joy Holder; “Algeria’s Haven for Hijackers Isn’t All That They Expected,”
Hartford
(Conn.)
Courant
, Dec. 12, 1972.

17
worry and gloom:
Holder interview. 213
to face prosecution:
Melvin McNair et al.,
Nous, Noirs Américains Évadés du Ghetto
(Paris: Editions de Seuil, 1978), 107–8.

18
in such delicate tasks:
Kathleen Cleaver to “Comrade T,” Dec. 15, 1972, Eldridge Cleaver Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley.

19
left behind in Algiers:
Gates, “Eldridge Cleaver on Ice,” 309–10.

20
than he already had:
McNair et al.,
Nous, Noirs Américains
, 108–9.

21
Algerian intelligence:
Eldridge Cleaver, personal datebook pages, Jan. 1–16, 1973, Eldridge Cleaver Papers, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley.

22
about his fate:
Holder interview.

23
respond to Holder’s proposal:
Ibid.

  
1
“glory be!”:
“Anti-Hijacking Rules Go Into Effect,”
Tuscaloosa
(Ala.)
News
, Jan. 6, 1973.

  
2
only for weapons:
“Stretching the Fourth Amendment,”
New York Times
, Dec. 24, 1972.

  
3
in their checked luggage:
“Anti-Hijacking Rules Go Into Effect.”

  
4
any human inspector:
David J. Haas, “Electronic Security Screening: Its Origin with Aviation Security 1968–1973,”
Journal of Applied Security Research
5, no. 4 (Sept. 2010), 515–24.

  
5
amounts of radiation:
Ibid., 492–95.

  
6
thirty-four cents per ticket:
“Air Fares to Reflect Anti-Hijacking Costs,”
Sarasota
(Fla.)
Journal
, Mar. 29, 1973.

  
7
7 percent in 1973:
“Historical Air Traffic Statistics, Annual 1954–1980,” Research and Innovative Technology Administration, Bureau of Transportation Statistics,
http://www.bts.gov/programs/airline_information/air_carrier_traffic_statistics/airtraffic/anual/1954_1980.html
.

  
8
sit idle for a day:
“ ‘Rabbi Jacob’ Est Sorti Entre Rire et Drame,”
Paris Match
, Sept. 30, 2008.

  
9
hijacked in 1974:
FAA, Civil Aviation Security Service, “Hijacking Statistics for U.S. Registered Aircraft (1961–Present),” April 1, 1975,
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/28885NCJRS.pdf
.

10
back to the United States:
“Florida Hijacker in Custody of Cubans,”
Lewiston
(Me.)
Daily Sun
, Dec. 16, 1974.

11
for further questioning:
FBI Legat Paris, report to FBI director, Jan. 7, 1975 (obtained through FOIA request).

12
precisely how long:
Ibid.

13
Fifteenth Arrondissement:
Record of the Court of Assize of Paris, Jun. 13, 1980, private collection of Joy Holder.

14
by week’s end:
FBI Legat Paris, report to FBI director, Jan. 7, 1975.

15
various states of assembly:
FBI Legat Paris, report to FBI director, Jan. 8, 1975 (FOIA); Willie Roger Holder, interview by author, Aug. 2011; “Two Hijack Suspects Arrested in Paris,”
Los Angeles Times
, Jan. 26, 1975.

16
Latin Quarter of Paris:
Melvin McNair et al.,
Nous
,
Noirs Américains Évadés du Ghetto
(Paris: Editions de Seuil, 1978), 108–9.

17
each other’s nerves:
Holder interview.

18
Cleaver for help:
Ibid.

19
highly placed politicians:
Eldridge Cleaver,
Soul on Fire
(Waco, Tex.: Word Books, 1978), 193–97.

20
to the documents:
FBI Special Agent in Charge, Washington field office, memo to FBI director, Jan. 29, 1975 (FOIA).

21
near the Rue Beaubourg:
Holder interview; Denis de Kergorlay, interview by author, Jul. 2012.

22
traumatized war veterans:
Jean-Michel Caroit, interview by author, Jul. 2012.

23
in left-wing politics:
Holder interview.

24
during his sabbatical:
Ibid.

25
four tranquilizers:
“Black Panther Hit by ‘Nervous Crisis,’ ”
Los Angeles Sentinel
, Jan. 30, 1975.

26
a disorienting mess:
Holder interview.

27
Cleaver political asylum:
Cleaver,
Soul on Fire
, 189–206.

28
on the Left Bank:
Ibid, 186.

29
“Babylon”:
Eldridge Cleaver, interview by David Mills, University of Maryland, 1982,
http://undercoverblackman.blogspot.com/2007/02/q-eldridge-cleaver-pt-1.html
.

30
safe house to the next:
FBI Legat Paris, memo to FBI director, Jan. 16, 1975 (FOIA).

31
fingerprints from the French:
Seavenes and Marie Holder, interview by FBI, San Diego, Jan. 21, 1975 (FOIA).

32
Janice Ann Forte:
“Two Hijack Suspects Arrested in Paris”; FBI director, memo to special agents in charge of Portland, New York, San Diego, and San Francisco field offices, Jan. 24, 1975 (FOIA).

33
“their quiet strength”:
Jean-Jacques de Felice, “Memories of the War in Algeria,”
Men and Freedom
116 (Sept.–Nov. 2001).

34
discomfort to the powerful:
Geoffrey Adams,
The Call of Conscience: French Protestant Responses to the Algerian War, 1954–1962
(Waterloo, Ont.: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1998), 114, 214.

35
“concern for human rights”:
Cleaver,
Soul on Fire
, 193–94.

36
“going to be all right”:
Holder interview; Aline Mosby, wire report, United Press International, Jan. 28, 1975; “Black Panther Hit by ‘Nervous Crisis.’ ”

37
February 18 memo:
U.S. secretary of state to Paris embassy, Feb. 18, 1975 (FOIA).

38
“shall be final”:
Extradition Treaty Between the United States and France, signed in Paris on Apr. 5, 1909,
http://images.library.wisc.edu/FRUS/EFacs/1911/reference/frus.frus1911.i0017.pdf
.

39
“so obviously political”:
Paris embassy to U.S. secretary of state, Apr. 29, 1975 (FOIA).

40
for Holder and Kerkow:
Mark Feldman, interview by author, Aug. 2010.

41
would be trouble-free:
U.S. secretary of state to Paris embassy, Mar. 21, 1975 (FOIA).

42
“let us stay in France”:
“Panther Hijacker in Paris Bucks Extradition to the U.S.,”
Chicago Defender
, Mar. 4, 1975.

43
constituted a genocide:
Paris embassy
to U.S. secretary of state, Mar. 12, 1975 (FOIA).

44
making his decision:
Paris embassy to U.S. secretary of state, Mar. 18 and Mar. 26, 1975 (FOIA).

45
“and the court”:
U.S. secretary of state to Paris embassy, Mar. 26, 1975 (FOIA).

46
to take a look:
Paris embassy to U.S. secretary of state, Mar. 26, 1975.

47
“exactly how many times”:
U.S. secretary of state to Paris embassy, Apr. 1, 1975 (FOIA).

48
“in this and further cases”:
Paris embassy to U.S. secretary of state, Apr. 2, 1975 (FOIA).

49
at Fleury-Mérogis:
Paris embassy to U.S. secretary of state, Apr. 14, 1975 (FOIA).

50
“at bay for ransom”:
Secretary of state to Paris embassy, Apr. 16, 1975 (FOIA).

51
the “hijacking menace”:
Paris embassy to U.S. secretary of state, Apr. 22, 1975 (FOIA).

52
“for Anglo-Saxons to understand”:
Paris embassy to U.S. secretary of state, Apr. 29, 1975 (FOIA).