David Gilbert (activist) - Weather Underground

Weather Underground

In 1969 SDS split into different ideological factions and Weatherman emerged, its purpose being to build up armed struggle amidst young white Americans in support of the Black Panthers and other militant groups and also oppose the war in Vietnam via activities intended to "Bring the War Home". Gilbert joined this group in 1969 with his friend, Ted Gold, who later died in the March 1970 Greenwich Village townhouse explosion, along with fellow Weather members, Diana Oughton and Terry Robbins. The group became a clandestine operation, and the organization was renamed the Weather Underground. When Weather went underground, members often used money they already had or received from their family to fund their efforts. Gilbert cashed in his Israel bonds and half of that money went to supporting Weather and the other half was put into the Black Panther bail fund.

David Gilbert became a part of the Bay Area collective and they were living in a San Francisco apartment. He and another member were out working on another group's car in Spring of 1971 when they were approached by two men in suits claiming to be real estate agents. The 'suits' asked a few questions and then left, alerting Gilbert that there might be a problem. He suspected that these men were actually FBI agents looking for information. After several meetings within the group, they decided to stay put for awhile. After more suspicious men started inquiring into the activities of other members, they decided to travel north. They holed up in a motel in Portland on a rainy night and watched television. Although not on the group's coordinating committee (the Weather Bureau), Gilbert did act as a regional leader, spending at least some of these years in Colorado. The Weather Underground committed several small bombings directed towards governmental and business property and buildings. As support for the group began to wane on the left, the pace of actions lessened and some members of the Weather Underground resurfaced in late 1976 and early 1977. Gilbert resurfaced briefly in Denver, Colorado between 1977 and 1979. Denver is where he helped organize a Weather collective in October 1969. Before surfacing, he managed to get his criminal charges dropped so he did not face any legal penalties. Gilbert, however, did not think it was in the best interest of the movement for him to resurface. Most Weather members were not prosecuted or did not serve time in prison despite having been sought by the police for years; police misconduct was the cause of many charges eventually being thrown out of court (see: COINTELPRO). Gilbert opted to continue his life underground. Gilbert and his partner, Kathy Boudin, remained active even following the birth of their son, Chesa Boudin, in August 1980.