Home to the Wars

Another radical who adopted a strategic decorum in court found that it paid. Last October, Brian Flanagan, 23, a New York City carpenter, was arrested in the thick of the Weatherman "Days of Rage" in Chicago. He was charged, among other things, with aggravated assault against the city's assistant corporation counsel, Richard Elrod, who had been paralyzed from the neck down in the street fighting.

For the trial, Flanagan had his shoulder-length hair shorn, donned a neat jacket and, unlike Abbie Hoffman and the rest of the Chicago Seven, behaved like a perfect young gentleman. It helped, of course, that the weight of the evidence showed that Elrod's neck had not been broken by a kick or bludgeoning. Witnesses testified that Elrod had been injured while trying to tackle Flanagan (TIME, June 22).

Last week, after five hours' deliberation, the jury acquitted Flanagan of all charges. He quickly dropped his disguise. Off came the jacket, up flew the right arm in a clenched-fist salute. "Boom power to the Weathermen!" cried Flanagan. "I don't have to play the Man's game any more. Law-and-order in Chicago is a farce. I want to go back to the streets and fight." New Yorkers will not be cheered by Flanagan's parting words. With his arm around his girl friend he proclaimed: "I'm going home to make love and war."

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