Concurrently, the role of the mass movement, the above-ground Prairie Fire Collective, would include the support for and the encouragement of armed action.

One of the founders, Laura Whitehorn, was also part of the Weather Underground Organization's predecessor, the Students for a Democratic Society.

[8] Despite these other monikers, the group was most popularly known as the May 19th Communist Organization, predicated on May 19th being the birthday of both Malcolm X and Ho Chi Minh.

[9] This alliance between the Weather Underground and the Black Liberation Army had three objectives: The group also had the broader goal of violently toppling established power in the United States.

[10] From 1982 to 1985 M19CO committed a series of bombings, including bombings of the National War College, the Washington Navy Yard Computing Center, the Israeli Aircraft Industries Building, New York City's South African consulate, the Washington Navy Yard Officers' Club, New York City's Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, and the United States Capitol Building.

[22] These new guidelines were aimed at repressing domestic terrorist organizations while not curtailing legitimate political protest and dissent.