Larkin arrested in massive US clampdown on Bolshevism
New York, 10 November 1919 - Jim Larkin, the well-known Irish labour leader, has been charged with criminal anarchy in the United States.
His arrest was part of a widespread clampdown by American authorities on US-based Bolsheviks and others deemed to be radicals, set to coincide with the second anniversary of the Soviet Revolution in Russia. The Daily News is reporting that on 8 November, in New York alone, 71 premises were raided and 400 radicals were arrested.
This is not Mr Larkin’s first time to be arrested in the United States; in June 1918 he was arrested on a charge of circulating seditious literature.
The actions of the authorities are understood to have been designed to thwart a ‘Red Day’ demonstration and a plan to launch a nationwide campaign. However, the Soviet representative in the United States, Friedrich Martens, has rejected the suggestion that Lenin and Trotsky are plotting a revolution in the United States.
[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]
