In October 1983, the United States invaded the island nation of Grenada and replaced the ruling Marxist-Leninist New Jewel Movement with the previous parliamentary government at the behest of Governor-General Paul Scoon.
The US invasion began following the violent overthrow of the nation's first socialist leader, Maurice Bishop, due to a power struggle with his Deputy Prime Minister and subsequent mass demonstrations.
The invasion, coupled with US participation in a peacekeeping force in Lebanon, prompted the left-wing militant group Resistance Conspiracy to plan the Senate bombing as well as other similar attacks.
[3] A few minutes before the explosion, a tape-recorded message was telephoned to The Washington Post news desk and the Capitol switchboard, claiming to represent the Armed Resistance Unit and warning that a bomb was about to be detonated near the Senate Chamber in retaliation for recent U.S. military involvement in Grenada and Lebanon.
[6] The force of the explosive device, placed beneath a bench at the eastern end of the corridor outside the chamber, blew off the door to Democratic Leader Robert C. Byrd's office.
[10] Earlier that year, on April 25, 1983, a small bomb was detonated at the National War College at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C. A call coming into UPI in advance of the attack mentioned "U.S.
[11] A year later, on April 24, 1984, a group calling itself the Guerilla Resistance Movement took responsibility for a bombing at the Officer's Club at the Washington Navy Yard.
[12] Within minutes of the explosion at the US Senate Building, a dozen fire trucks and four ambulances arrived at the west front of the Capitol while officers with police dogs began searching the area for clues.
"[13] After a five year investigation, federal agents arrested six members of the Armed Resistance conspiracy group on May 12, 1988: these were Marilyn Buck, Linda Evans, Laura Whitehorn, Susan Rosenberg, Timothy Blunk and Alan Berkman.
[10] On December 6, 1990, federal judge Harold H. Greene sentenced Laura Whitehorn and Linda Evans to prison for conspiracy and malicious destruction of government property.