72 Killed In Boston Resisting Gun Confiscation...

BOSTON

National guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned
assault weapons were ambushed on April 19th by elements of a
Para-military extremist faction. Military and law enforcement sources
estimate that 72 were killed and more than 200 injured before government
forces were compelled to withdraw.

Speaking after the clash, Massachusetts Governor Thomas Gage declared
that the extremist faction, which was made up of local citizens, has
links to the radical right-wing tax protest movement. Gage blamed the
extremists for recent incidents of vandalism directed against internal
revenue offices. The governor, who described the group's organizers as
"criminals," issued an executive order authorizing the summary arrest of
any individual who has interfered with the government's efforts to
secure law and order. The military raid on the extremist arsenal
followed wide-spread refusal by the local citizenry to turn over
recently outlawed assault weapons.

Gage issued a ban on military-style assault weapons and ammunition
earlier in the week. This decision followed a meeting in early this
month between government and military leaders at which the governor
authorized the forcible confiscation of illegal arms.

One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out
that "none of these people would have been killed had the extremists
obeyed the law and turned over their weapons voluntarily." Government
troops initially succeeded in confiscating a large supply of outlawed
weapons and ammunition. However, troops attempting to seize arms and
ammunition in Lexington met with resistance from heavily-armed
extremists who had been tipped off regarding the government's plans.
During a tense standoff in Lexington 's town park, National Guard
Colonel Francis Smith, commander of the government operation, ordered
the armed group to surrender and return to their homes. The impasse was
broken by a single shot, which was reportedly fired by one of the
right-wing extremists. Eight civilians were killed in the ensuing
exchange.

Ironically, the local citizenry blamed government forces rather than the
extremists for the civilian deaths. Before order could be restored,
armed citizens from surrounding areas had descended upon the guard
units.

 Colonel Smith, finding his forces over matched by the armed mob,
ordered a retreat.

Governor Gage has called upon citizens to support the state/national
joint task force in its effort to restore law and order. The governor
also demanded the surrender of those responsible for planning and
leading the attack against the government troops. Samuel Adams, Paul
Revere, and John Hancock, who have been identified as "ringleaders" of
the extremist faction, remain at large.

. . . And this, people, is how the American Revolution began.


April 20, 1775