John J. McNamara

John J. McNamara, AKA J. J. McNamara (died 8 May 1941) was an American labour activist responsible for a series of bombings.

Bombings
J. J. McNamara was a major member of the Iron Workers Union, of which his brother J. B. McNamara was also a member, and as such was responsible for organising strikes against US Steel and the American Bridge Company. After the two companies started using strike breakers, J. J. McNamara began directing Terrorist attacks against them, with the Iron Workers Union blowing up 110 iron works between 1906 and 1911. One of the most infamous attacks occurred on 30th September 1910, when J. B. McNamara left a suitcase containing a bomb at the officers of the Los Angeles Times, an anti-Union paper, killing 21 and injuring 100 when the bomb detonated. J. B. McNamara also attempted to bomb the paper's publisher and the head of a union that supported the Times, but both failed to kill anyone. No-one was identified until 1911, when a private detective infiltrating the Iron Workers Union overheard J. B. McNamara and Ortie McManigal discussing the bombing. McManigal and J. B, McNamara were arrested, and McManigal subsequently informed the police that J. J. McNamara had ordered the bombings. As a result, J. J. McNamara was arrested at a Union meeting on 22nd April 1911. Despite a vigorous defence, the McNamara brothers both ultimately pleaded guilty and were sentenced to life imprisonment. J. J. McNamara was paroled after nine years, but was imprisoned again soon after for threatening to blow up a building. He was subsequently sacked from the Union after they discovered he had embezzled $200, and continued drifting between jobs until his death in Montana in 1941.