The Department of Justice unleashed a shocking and often
violent unconstitutional nationwide dragnet — detaining as
many as 10,000 people — on this day in history, Jan. 2, 1920.

Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer (above) appointed to the
office 10 months earlier by President Woodrow Wilson, led the
sweep against suspected communists and anarchists, as well
as their sympathizers.

The action was soon dubbed the Palmer Raids. 

The Foundation for Economic Education said…"The raids
constituted a horrific, shameful episode in American history,
one of the lowest moments for liberty since King George III
quartered troops in private homes."

The foundation called the effort under President Wilson
"America’s reign of terror."

Thomas Woodrow Wilson
(December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924)

A young Justice Department official, J. Edgar Hoover, 
played a key role in the Palmer Raids. He was named
FBI director in 1924. 

On June 12, 1987, in one of his most famous Cold War
speeches, President Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet
Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down” the Berlin Wall,
a symbol of the repressive Communist era in a divided
Germany.

Senator Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin) succumbed to illness exacerbated by alcoholism and passed away at age 48.

McCarthy had been a key figure in the anticommunist hysteria
popularly known as the “Red Scare” that engulfed the United
States in the years following World War II.

McCarthy was born in a small town in Wisconsin in 1908. In
1942, he joined the Marines and served in the Pacific during
World War II. He returned home in 1944 and decided to start
a career in politics.

(FOX NEWS) – The Department of Justice unleashed a shocking
and often violent unconstitutional nationwide dragnet, detaining
as many as 10,000 people.

Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, appointed to the office 10
months earlier by President Woodrow Wilson, led the sweep
against suspected communists and anarchists, as well as their sympathizers.

Alexander Mitchell Palmer (May 4, 1872 – May 11, 1936)

TIM MAGUIRE

The lead singer of the band Ronnie Van Zant, vocalist and guitarist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassier Gaines,
and the managing crew including assistant road manager
Dean Kilpatrick, died in the crash.