Larry David Grathwohl (October 13, 1947 – July 18, 2013) was a United States Army veteran who infiltrated the Weather Underground as an FBI informant. He later testified before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee and wrote a book about his experiences.
Life and career Grathwohl grew up in Cinncinnati, Ohio. During the Vietnam War, he served in the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Regiment, 101st Airborne Division, from 1965 to 1966. This was a Hatchet Force unit, according to his obituary in The American Spectator.Wittig, Lous. Patriot Larry Grathwohl, 65, Infiltrated Weather Underground, Indicted Bill Ayers. The American Spectator. July 24, 2013. He became a sergeant and was awarded the Bronze Star. He served as a drill instructor at Fort Knox on his return to America.
In August 1969, while attending classes at the University of Cincinnati, he encountered members of Weatherman (then an aboveground organization) selling newspapers and started talking to them.Cusick, Dennis. "'Outasight Revolutionary' To Informer—Tightrope". The Cincinnati Inquirer. March 19, 1975. Viewing the group as a threat, he began attending its meetings. After the Days of Rage, he contacted the Justice Department, who referred him to the FBI.Cusick, Dennis. "'Days of Rage' Led Grathwohl to FBI." The Cincinnati Inquirer. March 20, 1975. Grathwohl was active as an informant between August 1969 and April 1970.Brinkmoeller, Tom. "Grathwohl, McQuearry Motivated Differently." The Cincinnati Enquirer. September 12, 1976. He was initially paid $100 per week; the FBI increased his stipend after the Greenwich Village townhouse explosion in March 1970. That month he warned the FBI of bombs placed at the Detroit Police Officers Association which likely would have killed many if they had not been defused.Radosh, Ron. Moral Equivalence Run Amok: Review of 'Bad Moon Rising,' by Arthur M. Eckstein. Commentary. February 2017. Already under suspicion due to poorly explained absences and questions he had asked about the group's future plans, he was exposed as an informant when he was arrested with Linda Evans and Dianne Donghi on April 15, 1970. After the townhouse explosion, Grathwohl had taped a dog tag to the inside of his shoe so that he could be identified if he was killed. In view of Evans and Donghi, a US Marshal who didn't know that he was an informant found this dog tag and accused him of lying about his name before being quickly quieted by a colleague.Jacobs, Ron. The Way the Wind Blew: A History of the Weather Underground. Verso Books, 1997. Pages 51-52. In the summer of 1970, the Berkeley Tribe published an article naming him as an informant and "Wanted" posters depicting him circulated in the Berkeley area.Beard, Marvin. "Grathwohl: Mystery Still Muddy." The Cincinnati Enquirer. May 21, 1973.
He testified before the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee about his experiences in 1974.TERRORISTIC ACTIVITY - HEARINGS BEFORE THE SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE INTERNAL SECURITY ACT AND OTHER INTERNAL SECURITY LAWS, PART 2 - INSIDE THE WEATHERMAN MOVEMENT, OCT 18, 1974. NCJRS Virtual Library, U.S. Department of Justice. In his Senate testimony, he described himself as "politically a liberal, moderate and conservative in other areas — law enforcement being one of my conservative areas." In 1976, he co-wrote a book about his experiences, Bringing Down America: An FBI Informer with the Weathermen. A contemporary review in The Boston Globe concluded: "Readable pulp, the Grathwohl tale is nonetheless an indispensable footnote to a continuing history."McGilligan, Patrick. "Grathwohl: Footnote to History." The Boston Globe. July 18, 1976. He was called as a defense witness when Mark Felt was put on trial for authorizing warrantless searches in 1980."Ex-Attorney General Testifies at FBI Trial" The State Journal-Register (UPI). October 15, 1980. That year, the Associated Press reported that he was working as a "private security agent in the San Francisco area.""FBI Break-Ins Were 'Proper.'" Record Searchlight (AP). October 11, 1980. That same year, he appeared in a CBC documentary in which he alleged that Weather Underground members had been in regular contact with the Cuban intelligence service (the DGI)."Terrorism at Home." Clarion-Ledger (The Wall Street Journal). October 27, 1981. Grathwohl played a role in the Bill Ayers 2008 presidential election controversy, accusing Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn of being directly involved in the 1970 San Francisco Police Department Park Station bombing (a claim he had previously made in his 1974 Senate testimony); Ayers dismissed him as a "paid dishonest person."Marinucci, Carla. "Bill Ayers Criticizes Anti-War Efforts These Days." San Francisco Chronicle. January 30, 2009. Grathwohl died in 2013, at the age of 65. Fellow informant and political commentator Brandon Darby eulogized him as “a tremendous friend and a valuable resource.”
Personal life Grathwohl was married and divorced, and had three children. In a 1976 interview, he attributed his divorce to his work as an informant.
Books Grathwohl, Larry, and Reagan, Frank. Bringing Down America: An FBI Informer with the Weathermen. United States, Arlington House, 1976.
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References
External links Larry Grathwohl on Bill Ayers' plan for American re-education camps