Andrea Salcedo: Did he jump or was he pushed?

AND DOES IT MATTER? THE ITALIAN ANARCHIST FELL TO HIS DEATH WHILE IN JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CUSTODY

One hundred years ago today … Andrea Salcedo (sometimes printed Salsedo or Salzedo in the press) fell to his death from a 14th floor window of the Department of Justice’s New York City headquarters on Park Row.

Salcedo, a printer, had been arrested in connection with the wave of anarchist bombings in the Spring of 1919. Attorney General Palmer’s department had found evidence that the notes accompanying the bombs had been printed Canzani Print Shop, at 253 5th Avenue in Brooklyn.

At the time of his death, he had been in federal custody for at least 14 weeks (accounts vary), and had been kept in solitary confinement for two months (Jaffe, 223). He had yet to be charged. (That did not stop newspapers from claiming he had confessed to his involvement in the bombings.)

Salcedo’s death was roundly understood as at best criminal oversight by the Justice Department, at worst murder, a signal to other recalcitrant arrestees. The Italian government asked for an investigation, and Salcedo’s widow Mari Salcedo sued the Department, and lost (Jaffee).

Salcedo’s wrongful death was one of the inspirations for the campaign of Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti.

The News, either out of salaciousness or helpfulness, diagrammed the likely path of Salcedo’s fall.

Source: Jaffee, Julian E. Crusade Against Radicalism: new York During the Red Scare, 1914-1924. Port Washinton, NY: Kennikat P, 1972.

WRITTEN BY JONATHAN GOLDMAN, MAY 3, 2020.

TAGS: Andrea Salsedo, Salcedo, Salzedo, Department of Justice, red scare, bureau of investigation, Park Row, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Italian