Bombs in the Night

No sooner had he agreed to discuss "The Radical Right--a Threat to Democracy" at West Los Angeles' Sinai Temple one evening last week than the Rev. Brooks R. Walker began receiving obscene and threatening telephone calls. Walker, pastor of the Emerson Unitarian Church, disregarded the callers. He joined Cinemactress Marsha Hunt and the Rev. John Simmons, a Lutheran minister, in a panel discussion about right-wing political extremists. "We've got to try to understand these people," Walker told the audience. "We must respect their right even if they don't always respect ours." Midway through the program, Walker was interrupted by word that a bomb had exploded outside his suburban home in the San Fernando Valley; his wife and two small children had narrowly escaped injury. Another bomb burst at John Simmons' house, also in the valley, causing minor damage.

Investigating the double bombing, Los Angeles police and FBI agents recovered fragments of galvanized pipe, discovered that detonators had been made from spark plugs and radio switches. The type and technique matched those of recent bombs left outside two Los Angeles buildings. One exploded at the headquarters for the California Communist Party. A dud was discovered at the office of the United Nations Association. Said Police Inspector Ed Walker: "It could be a nut. Or somebody with a real cause."

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