Leon Czolgosz got the “baptism of fire” as he said later, after a speech made by Emma Goldman in Cleveland. When he approached her later as he was boarding on a train, he left a “poor” impression on her. And indeed his strange nervousness and tension, has led many shallow anarchists to believe that he was an informant working for the cops.
Leon Czolgosz constantly trying to connect with other anarchists of praxis but because of his whims and the use of pseudonyms he seemed suspecious in anarchist circles to such a level that a newspaper of the time, called “Free Society” put out a miserable “WARNING” with his description in order for the appropriate action to be taken against him.
After McKinley’s execution the vast majority of anarchists did whatever it could in order to disengage from the act of Leon Czolgosz, and some went so far as even to condemn him and his act. Among those anarchists whose fear of repression, overrides their ideas and who we also find today on an international level, was Emma Goldman’s companion, Alexander Berkman. Of course Emma Goldman defended Leon Czolgosz, directly defying state repression.
Leon Czolgosz refused to say anything more on the court besides the fact that he pleaded guilty and he didn’t even cooperate with his lawyer. He was sentenced to death and executed on October 29, 1901, just 45 days after McKinley’s death.
His last words were: “I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people-the good working people. I do not regret my action.”
The article was written by Black International publications.
Translated by Inter Arma
via interarma.info
