David Gilbert has sentence commuted for Brinks robbery

via The San Francisco Chronicle

Outgoing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo granted clemency Monday to David Gilbert, the father of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin. Gilbert is serving a 75-years-to-life sentence for his participation in the fatal robbery of a Brink’s armored truck in 1981.

Gilbert, 76, will now be eligible for parole. He is one of six individuals who was granted clemency in Cuomo’s final hours as governor.

Gilbert, along with Chesa Boudin’s mother, Kathy Boudin, were members of the radical leftist organization Weather Underground. On Oct. 20, 1981, they joined members of the Black Liberation Army in the botched robbery of a Brink’s armored truck in New York.

Other members of the group shot and killed a Brink’s guard, Peter Paige, before killing two Nyack police officers, Waverly Brown and Edward O’Grady.

Chesa Boudin was 14 months old at the time.

Gilbert and Kathy Boudin were unarmed getaway drivers. They were charged and convicted under New York’s felony murder law, which holds that all participants in a felony that leads to a death can be charged with murder, even if they were not directly responsible for the killings.

Gilbert was ultimately convicted in 1983 of three counts of second-degree murder and four counts of first-degree robbery.

Kathy Boudin was paroled in 2003. Gilbert continues to serve his sentence at New York’s Shawangunk Correctional Facility.

Cuomo said he would resign rather than risk impeachment after a probe by the New York Attorney General’s Office concluded that he sexually harassed at least 11 women.

In a Monday statement announcing the clemency actions, Cuomo’s office said the six individuals have demonstrated “substantial evidence of rehabilitation and a commitment to their communities.”

“The march towards a more fair, more just, more equitable and more empathetic New York State is a long one, but every step forward we can take (is) worthwhile and important,” he said. “These clemencies make clear the power of redemption, encourage those who have made mistakes to engage in meaningful rehabilitation, and show New Yorkers that we an work toward a better future.”

Four of the other individuals who were granted clemency received commuted sentences, and one, 51-year-old Lawrence Penn, received a full pardon. Penn in 2015 pleaded guilty to first-degree falsifying business records and was incarcerated for two years.

There are 26 Comments

despite the fantasies of people from the poorly named ABC-Federation, Gilbert is not now, nor had he ever been an anarchist (like most everyone in Weather Underground, his politics are Stalino-Maoist). this doesn't mean he shouldn't be out of prison (since we are abolitionists, right?), but this is not anything interesting for anarchists.

I see many ideologically-pure anarchists gravitating aroulnd this site who're all checking the Anarchist FAQ bullet points, yet they're pretty bad at punching bullet holes. *canned laughter*

...or do anything else consistent with their ideas whatsoever.

if you know anything of the history of the homicidal anti-anarchist actions of leninists and the even more despicable such antics of stalinists and maoists, then perhaps you'd understand why many anarchists refuse to support them. calling into question the relevance to anarchists of this news item is not about some weird philosophical or ideological purity (are you implying that such a thing only exists among anarchists?), but is a strategic question of self-defense and self-preservation.

what are your thoughts on historic context re leninists/stalinists/maoists (which one is david gilbert btw?) and anarchists? do you think david gilbert wants to kill anarchists? asking in earnest.

i don't understand what you mean when you ask what my thoughts are about the historical context of leninists murdering anarchists. can you ask a more pointed question? Gilbert, as part of the Weatherman faction of SDS and later the Weather Underground, was a maoist. i don't know how he identifies today, but in the absence of a public repudiation of maoism, i can only assume he remains an adherent.

i doubt Gilbert wants to kill anarchists, but i'm also pretty sure that Lenin didn't begin his political career with the express aim of killing anarchists; that was something he chose once he attained state power age desired to keep and consolidate it at the cost of independent (non-bolshevik) revolutionary ideas, groups, and individuals.

dude literally who the hell cares whether or not he is an anarchist what the fuck does it matter. why are anarchists so obsessed with their own identity as anarchists

dude. literally who cares if people care? you’re literally obsessed with people being obsessed. literally dude.

"who the hell cares whether or not he is an anarchist"? well, last time i checked, this website is called *anarchistnews* which is a site by and for anarchists. the moderators put a tag on this story that says "anarchist prisoner" -- which is false. the only people who say Gilbert is an anarchist are the idiots at ABC-F and mistaken moderators here. my initial objection concerns the relevance of promoting this story simply because Gilbert has never been an anarchist (and has, in fact, been a maoist for most of his political career); not an anarchist, so not relevant.
yes, this is about identity. but not the way you think. if someone declares themselves an anarchist and incidentally has incredibly delusional and self-defeating ideas about what anarchism is (like Balagoon and our very own "Class Warrior"), or has the most tenuous relationship with the actual history of anarchism, will find a critical audience/readership on this site. but why waste time promoting the story of someone whose politics are historically and explicitly opposed to anarchism?

afaik his politics remain dogshit, not in the past tense

Whatever some of the commentators here may think, David has for decades now been writing thoughtful and self-critical reflections on his past. He, unlike some, has been willing to critique his past ideas and actions. Look to anything David has written about the hierarchical nature of the Weather Underground, or his writings on his close friend and Kuwasi Balagoon (an anarchist), and tell me he is some kind of anti-anarchist authoritarian.

However, David has never been an anarchist.

Perhaps Balagoon would have thought that your anarchism is also a joke?

I'm certain Balagoon would've thought most modern anarchists' anarchism -- mine included -- is a joke. He said as much in his writings, asserting that any anarchist who wasn't involved in a sustained armed guerrilla campaign against the US government was a loser. His anarchism had no room for analysis or strategy; it was ALL tactics, and the only tactic he proposed and supported was the one that got him arrested, tried, and convicted, thereby removing himself from the ability to continue his one and only criterion for being considered an anarchist worthy of the name. His stubborn refusal to understand this fundamental contradiction and the flawed logic that led to it is what made his anarchism a joke.
This is separate from the often valiant struggle against the prison system he waged from inside, and his death was tragic.

You sure are worthy of "anarchy"'s name when all you do is publish books! It can become eventually a lucrative business... who knows?

But then what? What anarchy did you achieve out of this? Something going on in your mind, I suppose... :-/

Balagoon's anarchism was a joke. I doubt he even attended a single anarchist bookfair in his entire life. I bet that faker never even hosted a podcast

thanks for agreeing to the main point concerning the actual relevance of this news item: Gilbert is not an anarchist now and he wasn't an anarchist then...

You're welcome. I agree that there is little connecting David to anarchism (besides his relationship with ABC and Kuwasi Balagoon). But I also thought some posters' characterizations of David were incorrect. He's a decent human who made mistakes (political & strategic) & I hope he gets out of prison.

It seems lots of people are complaining about this person not being an anarchist. Personally I'd prefer the site air on the side of over sharing prisoner stories/info rather then not. Seriously if you're worried about a maoist killing you from prison your more paranoid then me.

Lots of talking here...

The Black Liberatiin Army and Weather Underground did more than TALK about revolution. While others shot rubber bands and blew up balloons, BLA and Weather Underground (WU) were about doing shit that made the oppressor feel what it is like to be oppressed. What it is like ti have enemy gunmen prowl your home streets, or face being bombed at any time.

"Bring the war home" was good politics in an of itself: make colonialist occupiers have ro literally fight in their own neighborhoids. US whining about WU bombs (or even all bombs used against the Vietnam War, a few thousand pounds TNT equivalwnt) rang hollow after the estimated 5 megatons actual weight of bombs dropped on Vietnam by the US.

Haha, ---Revolurion-- like revolting-urination, which in an absurd ironic way is true, the expulsion of waste products.

I interpret the purpose of this site as being either news about anarchists or anarchism, or news relevant to anarchists.

This news was relevant to me. I am happy to now know it, and I am not sure where else I would have found out. I am an anarchist and familiar with Gilbert's politics enough to know where and how I disagree. He is, rightly or wrongly, somewhat influential and admired in my local scene; I don't know him personally, but some people do.

If Gilbert is admired in your local scene, then you wouldn't need @news to tell you about his case. That's some desperate clutching at straws to make yourself feel relevant.

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