NYC's Most Prolific Bomber Disinvited From UMass
By BRIAN THOMPSON
Updated 8:00 PM EST, Thu, Nov 5, 2009
Raymond Luc Levasseur, whose United Freedom Front was responsible for more bombings in New York than any other terrorist organization, has been disinvited from speaking at the University of Massachusetts next week.
"It would be counterproductive," said UMass Spokesman Ed laguszewski, admitting the decision to drop the Vietnam-era terrorist came because of public reaction to his invitation.
New Jersey and Massachusetts State Troopers were outraged when they found out last week that Levasseur would speak on a public university campus.
So was Donna Lamonaco, whose husband Philip, a New Jersey State Trooper, was gunned down by Levassuer's colleague Thomas Manning in 1981.
Manning is in prison for that crime.
Levasseur, who was not at the scene of the shooting on Rt. 80 near the Delaware River, was later convicted for several of the 20-plus bombings and nine bank robberies that the FBI attributed to his United Freedom Front.
Five years ago, he was released on parole.
"It is now clear that given the strong reaction generated by this event, we can no longer achieve the kind of meaningful exchange intended," said Robert Cox, head of Special Collections and University Archives in a statement on the UMass Web site.
"Clearly people were upset and we didn't understand why," Spokesman Blaguszewski told News 4 New York about the initial decision to stick with Levasseur's featured role.
But he said the outcry led to the decision late Friday afternoon to cancel Levasseur's appearance.
State Police from both New Jersey and Massachusetts were planning on protesting the Nov. 12 appearance, as was Lanonaco's widow, Donna.
Levasseur would have been paid a "small stipend," according to Blaguszewski.
First Published: Nov 5, 2009 7:54 PM EST
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