Cormac Bar attack

  

Cormac Bar attack
Police at the bar after the attack.
Location	Bernheim, SJ, Sierra
Date	November 10, 1968 0:34-37 a.m. (PST)
Target	Cormac Bar, monarchists and Sierran Jacobites
Attack type	Mass shooting
Weapons	Semi-automatic rifles handguns grenades
Deaths	37
Injured	41
Perpetrator	Sierran Liberation Army
Motive	Dissident republicanism

The Cormac Bar attack took place on the night of November 10, 1968. Gunmen affiliated with the Sierran Liberation Army opened fire inside the Cormac Bar, a prominent establishment and a known gathering point for monarchists and Jacobites, located in south-central Bernheim, San Joaquin. 37 people, including Chief Alderman of Bernheim Robert Sayler were killed, and 41 others sustained injuries. The SLA claimed that the attack was in response to the killing of three militants near a housing block in South Bernheim eight days prior, which was hailed by Jacobites. The attacks was also targeted at the establishment itself, with the owner Steven Cormac himself a monarchist activist.

The attack was met with widespread condemnation from the general Sierran society, and especially Jacobite leaders and groups. Meanwhile, many radical republicans and supporters hailed the attack as a strike against the monarchy's support base. In response, several independent Jacobite militias in Bernheim coalesced into the Sierran Loyalist Defense Force.

Background

During The Disturbances, South Bernheim was a prominent monarchist enclave within the heavily republican city of Benheim. In response to attacks by republican paramilitaries, including a bomb attack that killed 7 Jacobites at a church in 1967, the local Jacobite community formed several independent militias, seeking to defend their homes and their lives. These militias operated independent of each other, and usually weren't named and protected specific areas of South Bernheim. In addition, the city government of Bernheim, including Chief Alderman Robert Sayler, approved the construction of "separation fences" in 1967. These barriers divided the republican and monarchist areas of the city to try and minimize contact and friction. Despite this, riots and breaches were frequent at the time, and tensions continued to rise.

The Cormac Bar, owned by and named after Steven Cormac, was the most prominent gathering spot for monarchists in South Bernheim. Opened in 1945, the owner was a staunch monarchist and a Jacobite himself. The bar offered discounts to members of Jacobite defense militias, and frequently celebrated the deaths of republican militants killed in engagements in South Bernheim.

During the night of November 2, 1968, rioting took place in several places along the separation fence between South and East Bernheim. At about 10:20 p.m, three Jacobite youths tossed a nail bomb over the fence at a group of republicans. The bomb exploded, killing a republican man Daniel Shelby (26) and wounding 11 other people. Members of the Sierran Liberation Army, which was active in East Bernheim, crossed the fence at a covert entry point that they had cut into the fence several months prior, and pursued the Jacobite youths. Along the way they assaulted at least one local man, demanding directions. The SLA paramilitaries spotted the Jacobite youths near the Rivets' Housing Estate and moved in to detain them. At the same time, four members of a local Jacobite militia opened fire on the SLA members, firing 31 rounds and killing all three of them. The bodies were confiscated by additional militia members, and were not released until the signing of the Concord Accords, having been buried in the yard of a nearby house owned by a monarchist man. It was the greatest loss of SLA members in South Bernheim at the hands of Jacobites at the time.

The ambush was met with cheers of Jacobites and monarchists both in Bernheim and across the nation. Leader of the Jacobite Defense Force in Concord, Stephen Brennan, said of the ambush that "the deaths of three armed intruders show that we will continue our steadfast loyalty towards the Crown, and we will be able to do so without fear of armed bandits seeking to overthrow our State." The Cormac Bar itself held a "free shots for Repubs" night on the following day, making fun of the ambush.

The High Command of the Sierran Liberation Army decided to respond to the ambush with a decisive strike against the Jacobite and monarchist community, with the intent of breaking their spirits and making them migrate out of Bernheim. Leader of SLA Sebastian Osborne was quoted as saying: "They [monarchists] had their minute of laughter. Now, we shall wipe the smile from their faces and turn it into a grimace of sheer terror!" The High Command assigned the 1st Bernheim Brigade of the SLA the task of attacking a prominent loyalist or Jacobite target in South Bernheim, and the Cormac Bar was picked on November 5. The attack was to take place on Saturday, November 9.

Attack

At the time of the attack, the bar was hosting a free shots night, in honor of Jacobite paramilitary Arnold Bagwell, who was shot by republicans in Berkeley the night before. In addition, Chief Alderman of Bernheim Robert Sayler and several others were attending a birthday party of a secretary, so the bar hosted about 120 people at the time of the attack, well over its maximum capacity of 100 people.

At 11 p.m. on November 9, a pickup truck driven by two men, with the cargo bed covered by a tarp, passed through a San Joaquin National Guard checkpoint, located along the separation fence between Central and South Bernheim. The men in the truck claimed to be delivery drivers, transporting cargo to stores in the area. After a cursory check of the cab revealed only boxes, the vehicle was let through. Unknowingly to the guards, the truck was carrying weapons destined for five men, who had already infiltrated into South Bernheim via several covert crossing points. In addition, a man and a woman entered South Bernheim through a checkpoint early in the evening to scout the area, and relayed information to the actual attackers themselves.

The attackers and the drivers of the truck rendezvoused in a covered parking lot, located just three blocks from the Cormac Bar. The attackers, which included the passenger of the truck, assembled their weapons in this lot, and entered the pickup truck, covering themselves with a tarp. They were noticed by a passerby, 41-year old William Mitchell, who alerted emergency services to the armed men. However, by the time the call was relayed the attack itself had begun.

At 0:34 a.m, the pickup truck drove in front of the Cormac Bar and stopped. At the door were two members of a local Jacobite militia, protecting the premises. The passenger of the truck exited, before quickly pulling out a pistol and shooting one of the guards in the chest. The other guard managed to get his pistol and fired one round at the shooter, but by this time the other attackers were exiting from the cargo bed, armed with semi-automatic rifles, pistols and grenades, and one of them shot the guard four times in the chest and legs with his semi-automatic rifle, killing him.

The attackers from the cargo bed ran towards the entrance, and while the vehicle passenger opened the doorway for them, the others ran into the premises and tossed six grenades into the bar. After the explosions, the men entered and opened fire indiscriminately, firing a total of 186 shots in under two minutes into the crowd. Most of the deaths occurred near the bar area, where grenade explosions incapacitated a number of patrons, who were then sprayed with gunfire from the attackers. Several patrons were executed while trying to hide under their tables, shot at close range. After stopping to reload for a few seconds, the attackers ran out of the establishment, where one of them shot the guards in the head several times to ensure they were dead. Two attackers then dragged a satchel bomb, containing about 40 pounds (18 kilograms) of explosive surrounded by nails, out of the cargo bed and placed it near the entrance, intending to target first responders. The attackers then jumped into the cargo bed and the truck sped off from the site. The entire attack lasted only three minutes.

Police response

The first 611 call was placed by William Mitchell, at 0:34 a.m, seconds before the start of the attack. The next call was made 50 seconds later, by which point the attackers were inside of the bar. A total of 94 emergency calls were made in relation to the incident.

The first police vehicle at the scene was from the Bernheim Police Department. It was soon joined by two other police vehicles, alongside a number of Jacobite volunteers. At 0:39, the satchel bomb exploded near the doorway, wounding three police officers and severely damaging the bar and the surrounding area. Windows in nearby buildings were blown out, and the front wall of the bar collapsed. The officers retreated and set up a perimeter around the area. A bomb disposal unit was called in, along with SWAT officers. A cordon was set up, three blocks in each direction from the bar, and the area was swept for further explosives.

A total of 40 injured and 48 uninjured patrons were evacuated from the bar. The Bernheim General Hospital handled most of the casualties. Two of the injured subsequently died while in hospital. Most of the uninjured patrons were found in the bar's lavatories, which were not targeted by the gunmen. The Royal Bureau of Investigation took over the case on November 11. 35 people died at the scene, including Chief Alderman of Bernheim Robert Sayler. One first responder described the scene as "pure hell". "There were bodies all around us, the walls filled with bullet holes. And around the bar stools was a pile of bodies, must have been 20 or 30 of them, unmoving. They were all dead." The victims' ages ranged from 15 to 68. 31 were male, and 6 were female. Of Sayler's party, alongside Sayler died the secretary celebrating his birthday, three other friends, and a bodyguard. 27 of the victims were Jacobites.

The pickup truck used in the attack was found at 4:50 a.m, burning a short distance outside of Oakalona.

Reactions and aftermath

By paramilitary groups

Among Jacobite groups in Bernheim, the attack lead the widespread revulsion. On November 15, leaders of several militias held a private meeting in an abandoned building, where they agreed to cooperate and formed the Sierran Loyalist Defense Force. The group later expanded operations to areas outside of Bernheim, and later became one of the largest and most prominent monarchist and Jacobite paramilitaries participating in The Disturbances.

Retaliatory attacks

On November 18, the Sierran Loyalist Defense Force kidnapped three people in heavily republican East Bernheim and took them to South Bernheim. The men were released in 1984, having been transported from Bernheim to Concord and later Berkeley, spending 16 years in captivity. A day later, the group detonated three bombs in trash cans in East Bernheim, killing two and injuring 41 people. It claimed responsibility for the attacks and framed them as revenge for the Cormac Bar attack.

In response to the death of Robert Sayler, the Revolutionary Continental Army formed, and carried out its first attack on December 13, when they detonated a car bomb near the Bernheim headquarters of the Democratic-Republican Party of Sierra, whom they held responsible. 18 people were killed and 53 injured in the bombing.

See also

• Dissident republicanism
• Terrorism in the Kingdom of Sierra