Word: pointblank
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...black leaders were stunned by the departure from the Administration of its most prominent black member. Mayor Richard Hatcher of Gary, Ind., called it a "forced resignation" that was "an insult to black people." To Congressman John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, what happened to Young was a "pointblank firing." Benjamin Hooks, executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, charged that Young had been made "a sacrificial lamb for circumstances beyond his control." Instead of being out of a job, said Hooks, Young "should have received a presidential medal" for pulling off "a brilliant diplomatic coup...
...Palace bidding French President Valery Giscard d'Estaing farewell before he too departed for a new assignment. After an eight-hour vigil, the Palestinian was persuaded to release his hostages and surrender. As he was being led away from the embassy by police, an Iraqi security agent opened pointblank pistol fire at him. The Palestinian was hit in the thigh, and one of his French escorts was killed. In the return fire, an Iraqi security man was fatally wounded. Three Iraqis were arrested...
Some joke. Wearing brown pants, a khaki shirt and a black beret with skull and crossbones decorating it, Cowan entered the building and confronted 20 men lounging inside. He shot two black employees, Frederick Holmes, 54, and Joseph Hicks, 59, through the chest at pointblank range-from a distance of only 2 ft. "Where is Bing?" Cowan demanded, as he strode into an adjoining drivers' room. There, James Green, 44, another black, tried to run and was gunned down. An Indian immigrant, Pariyarathu Varghese, 33, came running down a flight of steps and was murdered. Cowan put a pistol...
Unlike the bloody riots in Soweto, which were touched off by compulsory teaching in the Afrikaans language in schools, last week's violence was provoked largely by harsh police tactics, including firing pointblank into crowds. Soweto itself was largely quiet, although trains, taxis and buses taking black workers to and from Johannesburg were occasionally stoned. To avoid further trouble, schools in the township were shut down until July...
...million blacks in white-ruled South Africa make a mockery of that boast. Some events make the very realities of repression stand out in particularly bold relief. One was Sharpeville: in 1960, police broke up a rioting mob of blacks in this Johannesburg suburb by firing pointblank into the crowd, killing 69 and wounding 186. Last week South Africa suffered a second Sharpeville. Its name was Soweto...