Word: monumentality
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Tragic Protest At the Washington Monument, a loner self-destructs
...abstemious antinuclear advocate became an obsession and ultimately ended in a hollow if not insane act of protest. Yet before his bluff was called, Mayer, 66, a balding drifter, managed to frighten the city of Washington and stage a blatant and bizarre act of terrorism at the Washington Monument, less than a mile from the White House...
...began at 9:30 last Wednesday morning. A white 1979 Ford van with Florida plates drove past startled U.S. park police and stopped facing the main entrance of the Washington Monument. Emblazoned on its side was his message, #1 PRIORITY: BAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS. A man in a dark blue jumpsuit and a black motorcycle helmet with a visor covering his face emerged from the van, brandishing a menacing-looking black box. He announced that his van contained 1,000 Ibs. of TNT with which he threatened to reduce the monument to "a pile of rocks." He brusquely handed a park...
Meanwhile, FBI explosives experts concluded that the black box with the antenna clutched by Mayer was a miniature radio transmitter fully capable of detonating an explosion. Although the blast from 1,000 Ibs. of TNT would probably have only scarred the marble face of the monument, it could have sent out a concussive wave creating an arc of destruction from the White House to the Potomac. Seven nearby museums were evacuated, and a White House luncheon given by President Reagan was moved out of the room facing the monument...
...ranking police officer commanded that under no circumstances should the van be allowed out of the monument grounds. As FBI Special Agent Kenneth Schiffer Jr. later noted, "He could have headed for the White House." At 2:25 p.m., Mayer allowed the hostages inside the monument to leave. As dusk settled, he seemed prepared to spend the night. Suddenly, just after 7:20, the van lurched away from the monument, sheering off a flagpole next to the obelisk. A volley of shots from police marksmen rang out; the truck swerved and tipped over...