Khaki Shirts of America
Khaki Shirts of America also self-identified as U.S. Fascists was founded in the summer of 1932 by Art J. Smith after the 1932 Bonus March on Washington. The organization's appeal was to the American veterans of the First World War, many were Italian-Americans.
In July 1933 the Khaki Shirts held a meeting at Columbus Hall on Astoria Avenue, in Astoria, Queens, New York. Communists invaded the meeting, the lights went out and one communist was killed. Art Smith testified before a grand jury that Athos Terzani, an "anti-fascist", was responsible for the killing of his comrade. Terzani was tried for murder but acquitted.
Frank Moffer, a Khaki Shirt member, later confessed to the crime and was sentenced five to ten years in prison for first-degree manslaughter.[1] Art Smith was convicted for giving perjured testimony to a grand jury and was sentenced to 3 to 6 years in Sing Sing prison in New York state.[2]
The group fell apart after an abortive march on Washington in October 1933.
See also
Notes
- β Anarchist Voices: an Oral History of Anarchism in America, by Paul Avrich, page 526
- β American jewish Committee report on Pelley and the Silver Shirts (undated)