June 11, 1916: 108 years ago, June 11 1916, a power line tower that provided energy to [...]

108 years ago, June 11 1916, a power line tower that provided energy to United Railroads was dynamited on San Bruno Mountain. The bombing was blamed on labor radical Tom Mooney, who had been organizing United Railroads streetcar workers for an apparently imminent strike

The streetcar workers’ (commonly known as carmen) union had been a formidable force in San Francisco but was broken after a bitter 1907 strike. Mooney, a socialist, was leading an effort to rebuild the union, which was on the verge of a wildcat action https://t.co/YfvsjuOcoU

A strike vote was expected the night of June 10, but did not occur. At around 3:45 AM, the tower was bombed in San Mateo County. Curiously, energy from the tower had been diverted away from United Railroads shortly before the bombing, and company operations were unaffected

Authorities quickly pointed a finger at Mooney for the suspicious bombing. Utilities corporation detective Martin Swanson reportedly offered workers who knew Mooney as much as $5,000 to accuse him of the attack on the power line tower

Charges were never brought against Mooney for the tower bombing, but the next month he and his comrade Warren Billings were framed for the deadly bombing of a pro-war parade, still the worst terrorist attack in SF history. They were fully pardoned in 1939 https://t.co/WKSbcRtTXk