Richard Charles Williams; Killed NJ State Trooper (Died 12/7/05)
Bill Schenley
Murder On I-80. Philip Lamonaco Was Killed By Terror Group Member.
FROM: The (New Jersey) Express-Times (February 26th 2006) ~
By Tom Quigley
http://www.pennlive.com/news/expresstimes/nj/index.ssf?/base/news-2/1140930985236470.xml&coll=2
A man convicted of one of Warren County's most sensational crimes --
the killing of New Jersey state Trooper Philip Lamonaco 25 years
ago -- has died in prison.
Richard Charles Williams, 58, who was believed to be the triggerman in
the shooting of Lamonaco on Interstate 80 in Knowlton Township, died
Dec. 7, almost 24 years after the murder, said a spokeswoman for the
federal Bureau of Prisons.
A memorial on the westbound traffic side of I-80, not far from the
Pennsylvania-New Jersey border, marks the spot where Lamonaco was
gunned down after pulling over two of the nation's most wanted
terrorists at the time.
The fatal Dec. 21, 1981, shooting eventually led to the capture and
convictions of two members of the now-defunct United Freedom Front.
Williams' death occurred after a yearlong stay in a federal prison
hospital in Butner, N.C. He was transferred to the hospital from a
federal prison in Lompoc, Calif., in November 2004, the spokeswoman
said. The exact cause of his death could not be obtained.
Williams was 34 when he and accomplice Thomas Manning were pulled over
by Lamonaco, just east of the Route 94 interchange. Manning remains
behind bars in a West Virginia federal prison.
New Jersey State Police spokesman Al Della Fave said Williams' death
serves as a painful reminder to troopers and the public about the
dangers police face every day.
"It adds to our resolve to fight crime and terrorism," Della Fave
said. "We have to remember those great troopers who made the ultimate
sacrifice."
In a 1970s interview after asking to be reassigned to road duty,
Lamonaco said he enjoyed working the state's highways.
"New Jersey is a unique state, a corridor state that attracts the
transient criminal," he said. "There's a need for the motivated,
experienced road trooper to keep the road criminal in check."
Lamonaco worked out of the former state police barracks in Blairstown
Township, since relocated to a newer facility in nearby Hope Township.
He left behind his wife, Donna, two daughters and a son.
His son, Michael, is now a trooper working out of the Washington state
police station. Trooper Michael Lamonaco was 4 years old when his
father was killed.
Donna Lamonaco said her first question upon learning of Williams'
death was whether he was killed or died of natural causes.
"Of course, then I found out he had a medical illness," she said.
Her reaction to Williams's death came in no uncertain terms.
"I was very, very ecstatic," she said. "One down."
Donna Lamonaco said she is not a bitter woman and has moved on with
her life. However, she said she is glad Williams can never again hurt
anyone.
Trooper Philip Lamonaco was shot nine times after he disarmed Manning
and put the gun in his belt. The two killers then returned to retrieve
Manning's gun, shot the trooper three more times and fled, Donna
Lamonaco said.
"They left him face down in the snow," she said.
Donna Lamonaco said the New Jersey State Police have been a great
support over the years and that she is proud her son decided to follow
in his father's footsteps.
State Troopers Fraternal Association of New Jersey President David
Jones also reacted to Williams' death.
"Only a fool would shed a tear for the demise of such a criminal," he
said. "There are still others out there who draw breath who were
involved in this cowardly assassination. But we know that Mr. Williams
can never prey on another trooper or citizen."
Williams was serving a 45-year federal sentence for a series of
terrorist bombings in New York. He never actually served time for the
Lamonaco killing, though he drew a life sentence for the trooper's
murder.
---
Photo of Richard Williams:
http://www.prisonactivist.org/pps+pows/richard-williams/Richard_Williams_BW.jpg
---
UFF Was Anti-Government Group From 1970s And '80s
FROM: The Express-Times (February 26th 2006) ~
By Tom Quigley
Richard Williams and Thomas Manning belonged to close-knit terrorist
organization called the United Freedom Front, a cadre committed to the
overthrow of the U.S. government by any means necessary.
The two became the subject of a massive manhunt after the 1981 murder
of New Jersey State Trooper Philip Lamonaco.
Williams was captured in Ohio in 1984 and Manning was arrested in
Virginia the following year.
The small group was responsible for a string of terrorist attacks and
other criminal activity during the late 1970s and 1980s, according to
a profile by a terrorist watchdog group called the National Memorial
Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT).
The group was founded under a different name in 1974 by Manning and
Raymond Luc Levasseur. Its members eventually became known as the
"Ohio Seven."
"The UFF was a left-wing organization that strongly opposed US foreign
policy in Central America, as well as South African apartheid,"
according to the terrorism institute. "Self-defined as a
'revolutionary group,' members of the UFF saw themselves as fighting
back against perceived American imperialism."
MIPT reports that from 1975 to 1984 the group committed several bank
robberies and bombing attacks in the northeastern United States,
including a November 1983 bombing of the United States Capitol
building, and a September 1984 bombing at the South African Consulate
in New York.
In all of the bombing attacks, callers from the UFF gave warning, and
casualties were avoided. However, Manning and Williams inflicted the
group's only casualty: Lamonaco, MIPT reports.
In March 1986, seven members of the UFF, including Williams, Manning
and Levasseur, were convicted on conspiracy charges related to the
bombings, and sentenced to lengthy jail terms. Levasseur was released
from prison in November 2004.
"I'm very disappointed in the parole system," said New Jersey State
Troopers Fraternal Association of New Jersey President David Jones.
Jones linked Levasseur with Lamonaco's murder since he was part of the
same terrorist group as Williams and Manning.
"Quite often financial obligations outweigh potential victimizations,"
Jones said.
He explained that by financial obligations he meant the cost of
keeping Levasseur behind bars.
---
"Long Live Revolutionary Resistance to Imperialism and Capitalism!"
- Richard Wiliams (March 1998) -
---
The first time I met our comrade Richard Williams was in a safe house,
underground. For the next decade we engaged in a common struggle to
provide whatever support we could muster to the downpressed - be they
victims of apartheid in South Africa, or slaughtered in Central
America - and to defend ourselves. It wasnâ?Tt until the last hour of
the last trial that we were consigned by our enemy to different
prisons. I would never see him again.
Richard, like many political prisoners, has never received the
recognition and respect he deserves. He has been vilified in the media
and ignored by the left - a shared experience by many political
prisoners. But then, Richard never sought accolades. The brother I
know is not ego-driven nor laden with grandiose ideas about what
others should march to. He has at his essence that uncommon quality of
a revolutionary - feeling every injustice done to the poor and working
people of this planet.
I know Richard well, having risked our lives together time after time.
He never waivered when confronted with danger, and didnâ?Tt disappoint
when demands upon us were critical. Iâ?Tve seen him act decisively
when it took courage to step up, and step down in situations that
required defusing. Heâ?Ts all of that - a peopleâ?Ts soldier and
friend.
A man of deep commitment and fi ery passion, he dedicated his life to
others. The fallout from that was not being able to see his own
children during the most dangerous years. He made that sacrifi ce, but
the longing for his kids was intense and it laid heavy in his heart.
Sacrifice. How deep the sacrifice for what we believe true and
necessary? When the U.S. killing fi elds in Central America were
littered with the bodies of compaÅ^eros and their children, Richard
did not stand idly by. When apartheid drenched South Africa in the
blood and suffering of African people, Richard chose to act. The
lineage from prison and antiracist activist to underground guerilla is
not difficult to figure - Richard has the heart, consciousness, and
political perspective to take it to a brutal enemy.
He did it in his time, when time was of the essence. When he knew he
had the strength and endurance for a protracted and extraordinarily
difficult struggle. That time has now past.
The brother I know, who withstood 50,000 volt stun gun assaults and
the rigors of solitary confinement, has fallen. This brother of such
infectiously good humor, so respectful of elders, and without a
cynical bone in his body, is dead. He chose to pass on in as dignifi
ed a way as possible given the inherently abusive conditions of his
confinement. They never crushed his spirit.
Brother, I do not say goodbye, for there are no words for this in the
language we know best. Until next time - among oak leaves, the
feathers of a hawk, nurturing new life from a coral reef .... I love
you, Ray.
- Ray Luc Levasseur (December 8th 2005) -
