SEVENTY-TWO KILLED RESISTING GUN CONFISCATION IN BOSTON
=======================================================

National Guard units seeking to confiscate a cache of recently banned
assault weapons were ambushed by elements of a para-military extremist
faction. Military and law enforcement sources estimate that 72 were
killed and more than 200 injured before government forces were compelled
to withdraw.

Speaking after the clash, Massachusetts Governor Thomas Gage declared that
the extremist faction, which was made up of local citizens, has links to
the radical right-wing tax protest movement. Gage blamed the extremists
for recent incidents of vandalism directed against internal revenue
offices. The governor, who described the group's organizers as
"criminals,² issued an executive order authorizing the summary arrest of
any individual who has interfered with the government's efforts to secure
law and order. The military raid on the extremist arsenal followed
widespread refusal by the local citizenry to turn over recently outlawed
assault weapons.

Gage issued a ban on military-style assault weapons and ammunition earlier
in the week. This decision followed a meeting in early this month between
government and military leaders at which the governor authorized the
forcible confiscation of illegal arms.

One government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed out
that "none of these people would have been killed had the extremists
obeyed the law and turned over their weapons voluntarily." Government
troops initially succeeded in confiscating a large supply of outlawed
weapons and ammunition. However, troops attempting to seize arms and
ammunition in Lexington met with resistance from heavily armed extremists
who had been tipped off regarding the government's plans. During a tense
standoff in Lexington¹s town park, National Guard Colonel Francis Smith,
commander of the government operation, ordered the armed group to
surrender and return to their homes. The impasse was broken by a single
shot, which was reportedly fired by one of the right-wing extremists.
Eight civilians were killed in the ensuing exchange.

Ironically, the local citizenry blamed government forces rather than the
radical extremists for the civilian deaths. Before order could be
restored, armed citizens from surrounding areas had descended upon the
guard units. Colonel Smith, finding his forces over matched by the armed
mob, ordered a retreat.

Governor Gage has called upon citizens to support the state/national joint
task force in its effort to restore law and order. The governor also
demanded the surrender of those responsible for planning and leading the
attack against the government troops. Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, and John
Hancock, who have been identified as "ringleaders" of the extremist
faction, remain at large.

- THE AMERICAN FREE PRESS, April 20, 1775