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The Squamish Five (sometimes referred to as the Vancouver Five) were a group of self-styled "urban guerillas" active in Canada during the early 1980s. Their chosen name was Direct Action.The five were Ann Hansen , Brent Taylor , Julie Belmas , Gerry Hannah and Doug Stewart . Unlike the Red Brigades, Red Army Faction, and other groups, they were not motivated by a political ideology which placed them at the vanguard of a Marxist revolution. Rather, they were activists who had become disenchanted and frustrated with traditional methods of activism. They believed that by engaging in semi-symbolic propaganda by the deed, they could jolt people into action themselves.
1 Early Actions
The first actions associated with the group were not particularly militant. They vandalized the headquarters of Amax, a British Columbia (BC) mining company which had been granted a special exemption from environmental laws, and the British Columbia Department of the Environment.
After these actions the group began to become more militant and began training with stolen weapons in a deserted area north of Vancouver. By pure chance they came upon large caches of dynamite used for construction work, which they looted for their own use. They dropped out of normal life, obtained a roster of fake IDs, and began supporting themselves through various forms of fraud and theft.
On 30 May 1982, Hansen, Taylor, Stewart and Belmas drove to Vancouver Island and set a large bombThis article is about explosive devices. Bomb can also refer to water bombs or volcanic bombs. Bomb is also a slang term. A bomb is an explosive device, usually some kind of container filled with explosive material, designed to cause destruction when set at an electricity transmission project. Four transformers were wrecked beyond repair, but no one was injured. The electrical substation had been criticized for being environmentally unsound and serving to help destroy the remaining wilderness on the island.
1.1 The Litton Bomb
Following this action, Hansen, Taylor,Belmas and Stewart filled a van with 500 pounds of dynamite and drove cross-country to TorontoFor alternate meanings of Toronto, see Toronto (disambiguation). City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada (in detail) (in detail) Motto: Diversity Our Strength Area: 641 sq. Distance East to West: 43 km. Distance East to West: 21 km. Population Total (2001) Cdn.. Their target this time was Litton Systems, a company producing guidance components for the controversial AmericanThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in cruise missileA cruise missile is a guided missile which uses a lifting wing and most often a jet propulsion system to allow sustained flight. Cruise missiles are, in essence, unmanned aircraft. They are generally designed to carry a large conventional or nuclear warhes many feared would increase the risk of nuclear war. Hansen recalls driving the truck full of dynamite across the praries, "listening to the Dead KennedysThis page is about the band; see Kennedy family for the political dynasty, or The Kennedy Curse, which inspired the name "Dead" Kennedys The Dead Kennedys were a punk rock band from San Francisco, California. Their songs attacked assumptions of the politi, D.O.A., the DoorsThe Doors were a musical band of the 1960s and early 1970s, consisting of Jim Morrison (lead vocals, b. 1971), Ray Manzarek (organ, keyboard, b. 1939), Robby Krieger (guitar, b. 1946) and John Densmore (drums, b. 1944) The group started in 1965 in Los Ang and Bruce SpringsteenBruce Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter, nicknamed "The Boss". He frequently recorded with The E-Street Band . Early years Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen was born September 23, 1949 in Freehold, New Jersey.'s Nebraska". (Ironically, the Litton bombing was referenced in a later Dead Kennedys song, "Where do you Draw the Line?")
The Litton bomb was supposed to cause property destruction only, with no injuries. The van was parked in full view of corporate security, and an elaborate "warning box" was duct-taped to the hood, displaying a message, a digital clock counting down, and a single stick of dynamite to show it was no joke. Belmas called the security desk and warned them of the explosion, giving instructions on exactly what to do and where the danger area was. But security did not respond the way they expected. The evacuation was just getting started when the bomb exploded minutes ahead of schedule. By sheer luck no one was killed, but several people were injured. A security guard suffered a ruptured spleen.
