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Sharon Krebs

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Sharon Krebs
Sharon Krebs holding an issue of FUNY's quarterly magazine Treason!
Born(1937-10-13)October 13, 1937[1]
Died2008 (aged 70 or 71)
Alma mater
Organizations
Political partyYouth International Party
Criminal chargesSecond-degree conspiracy[4]
Criminal penalty4 years imprisonment
Spouse
​
(divorced)​
PartnerRobin Palmer

Sharon L. Krebs[5] (October 13, 1937 – 2008) was an American political activist, member of the feminist group W.I.T.C.H, and co-founder of the Free University of New York. In 1971 she was convicted of second-degree conspiracy for attempting to firebomb a bank in New York City as part of a Weather Underground plot.

Biography

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In 1964, Sharon travelled to Cuba with her husband Allen Krebs and their son Thorsten, despite a government travel ban. This resulted in their passports (including that of their five-year-old son) being withdrawn upon their return to JFK Airport.[6] It also caused Allen to lose his teaching position at Adelphi University. Consequently, Sharon and her husband established the Free University of New York in 1965 where she taught Russian literature.[7]

After her divorce from Allen Krebs, Sharon was in a long-term relationship with Robin Palmer, though they never married. Palmer was a member of the Weather Underground and a prolific political activist.[8]

In September 1966, Sharon Krebs was arrested for obstructing the sidewalk on Second Avenue in New York City, where she had set up a table without a peddler's licence in order to sell literature and pins expressing support for the Viet Cong. In September 1967 the charges were dismissed.[9]

Sharon Krebs was fined $50 for engaging in disorderly conduct during the 1968 Columbia University protests.[2] In July 1968, Krebs and 35 others were arrested and charged for incitement to rioting at an Anti-Vietnam War rally, which targeted a fundraising dinner for Vice President Hubert Humphrey.[10] In November 1968, Krebs and her partner Robin Palmer disrupted a Humphrey-Muskie campaign rally by stripping nude and holding up a severed pig's head; a signature move of the radical group known as "the Crazies", whose members were often associated with the Youth International Party or "Yippies".[2][11]

Krebs joined the staff of the underground newspaper RAT in 1969.[11] Around the same time, she helped to establish the feminist guerrilla theater group known as the Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell (W.I.T.C.H) with Nancy Kurshan, Robin Morgan and Roz Payne.[12][13]

Arson trial

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90 Bedford Street, where Krebs was living at the time of the attempted arson attack, is better known for its appearance in the sitcom Friends.

On December 4, 1970, Sharon Krebs was arrested along with five others (Robin Palmer, Joyce Plecha, Claudia Conine, Martin Lewis and Christopher Trenkle) while attempting to carry out the first in a series of planned arson attacks on buildings in New York City. The date of the intended firebombing was chosen as it was the one year anniversary of the killing of Fred Hampton by police in Chicago. The planned targets included 20 Broad Street, which housed the law firm Mudge Rose Guthrie & Alexander (of which Richard Nixon was previously a partner); East Fifth Street police station; a new police station under construction off West Tenth Street; the Bolivian Consulate; the mathematics and science building at New York University; and the First National City Bank at Madison Avenue and 91st Street, where Krebs and the others were caught placing four 1-gallon containers of gasoline and benzene, and were subsequently arrested.[14][4]

Police were able to foil the attacks as the conspirators had been under surveillance for months, and were trailed by undercover police informant Steve Weiner.[15][16] Krebs's apartment at 90 Bedford Street in Greenwich Village was raided by police, who recovered multiple items including Viet Cong flags;[2] this building would later become famous for its use in establishing shots in the sitcom Friends.[17][18]

Krebs was described by her lawyer as a 33‐year‐old divorcee with a 12‐year‐old child, working as a freelance copy editor who had recently completed work for Random House. All of the conspirators pleaded not guilty at their arraignment and denied being members of the Weather Underground, but were nonetheless identified as such by police.[2] On March 8, 1971 - the day before their trial was due to start - all of the defendants pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy and Krebs was sentenced to a maximum of 4 years in prison.[4][14][19] She was incarcerated at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility until her release on November 10, 1972.[1][20]

Later life

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After serving her prison sentence, Sharon's relationship with Robin Palmer broke down and they separated.[8] She mothered three more children in the years after her release from prison.[20]

In mid-1988 she was interviewed by Joshua Melville, son of Sam Melville, after whom she had named her daughter Samantha. By this point she had remarried and adopted a new surname, and was living in Brooklyn Heights working part-time in a civil litigation firm.[21]

Sharon Krebs died from cancer in 2008.[20]

Filmography

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Sharon Krebs was cast as Jane in the 1975 drama film Milestones.[22]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Index to the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility Inmate Case Files". archives.nysed.gov. New York State Archives. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e Clines, Francis X. (December 5, 1970). "Bomb Suspect Tied to Radical Paper". New York Times. p. 40. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  3. ^ Levy, Martin (November 12, 2015). "Free and easy? DIY universities". timeshighereducation.com. Times Higher Education. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c Hevesi, Dennis (April 19, 2008). "Martin Balin, 62, Vietnam-Era Conspirator, Is Dead". New York Times. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  5. ^ Ichford RH, et al. (April 1970). New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam : Hearings Before the Committee on Internal Security (Report). House of Representatives, Ninety-First Congress, Second Session. p. 4091 and 4140.
  6. ^ Ring, Harry (October 19, 1964). "The Gov't vs. Thorsten Krebs" (PDF). The Militant. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  7. ^ Vaughan, Roger (May 20, 1966). "The anti-university university is the newest meeting place for young radicals". LIFE. Retrieved April 1, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Hoffmannstahl, Carola Von (October 18, 2010). "Robin Palmer: Weatherman Yippie Right Wing Rebel Forever". opednews.com. OpEdNews. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  9. ^ People v. Krebs (Criminal Court of the City of New York 1967), Text.
  10. ^ "36 Youths Held in Tie-Up After Humphrey Protest". New York Times. July 24, 1968. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  11. ^ a b Viola Jr., David C. (2017). Terrorism and the Response to Terrorism in New York City During the Long Sixties (PhD thesis). CUNY. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  12. ^ "About Nancy Kurshan". freedomarchives.org. Retrieved April 3, 2024.
  13. ^ Thomas, Pat (April 26, 2017). Did It! From Yippie to Yuppie: Jerry Rubin, An American Revolutionary. Fantagraphics Books. p. 96 and 123. ISBN 9781606998922.
  14. ^ a b Eastland JO, et al. (January 30, 1975). The Weather Underground : Report of the Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws of the Committee of the Judiciary (PDF) (Report). United States Senate, Ninety-Fourth Congress, First Session. p. 82. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  15. ^ Lubasch, Arnold H. (December 9, 1970). "Six Indicted Here in a Bomb Plot by Weathermen". New York Times. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  16. ^ "Beware Enemy of the People Steve Weiner - Undercover Pig Infiltrator Agent Provocator Fink Informer". beatbooks.com. December 1970. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  17. ^ Miller, Tom (May 3, 2017). ""Friends" and Enemies - 90 Bedford Street". daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  18. ^ Miller, Tom (November 2017). "BBC News and Views" (PDF). Bedford Barrow Commerce Block Association. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
  19. ^ Montgomery, Paul L. (December 5, 1970). "6 Identified as Weathermen Seized in an Attempt to Bomb Bank Here". New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  20. ^ a b c "Sam's Story". sammelville.org. Retrieved March 31, 2024.
  21. ^ Melville, Joshua (September 7, 2021). American Time Bomb: Attica, Sam Melville, and a Son's Search for Answers. Chicago Review Press. ISBN 9781641605472.
  22. ^ "Sharon Krebs". mubi.com. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
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