Episode 060: Rick Hahn – FALN, Terrorists for Puerto Rican Independence

Retired agent Rick Hahn served 32 years with the FBI, six years as a clerical employee and 26 as a special agent. Throughout his entire career, he was involved in terrorism cases, either as a field investigator or as a forensic specialist in explosives.

In this episode of FBI Retired Case File Review, Hahn is interviewed about the extensive investigation of the domestic terrorist group known as the FALN—Fuerzas Armadas de Liberacion Nacional or Armed Forces of National Liberation—an extremist organization advocating for Puerto Rican independence through acts of violence.

The group, active in the 1970s and early 1980s, is credited with committing more than 100 bombings that caused several deaths, multiple injuries, and millions of dollars in damage. Hahn also talks about the formation of the first official Joint Terrorism Taskforces (JTTF) in New York and Chicago. He believes that the FALN was and still is American’s most prolific domestic terrorism organization. In 1984, United States Attorney General William French Smith awarded Rick Hahn with the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for his efforts in disrupting and dismantling the FALN. A documentary about the investigation was based on a non-fiction manuscript written by Rick Hahn.

Supervisory Special Agent (Retired)

Richard S. Hahn

4/8/1967 – 12/31/1999

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following links are for a show and news articles about the FALN organization and investigation:

The FBI Files: Season 7 – Ep 2 “Dangerous Cause” (VIDEO)

New York Daily news – Fraunces Tavern bombing kills four and injures more than 40 in 1975

New York Post – CLINTON’S FALN’ERS LINKED TO BOMBINGS: FBI REPORT

A street scene outside the location of one of the FALN bombing locations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wanted poster released when FALN determined that Freddy Mendez was cooperating with authorities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hahn was awarded the Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for his efforts in disrupting and dismantling the FALN.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jerri Williams

View posts by Jerri Williams
Jerri Williams, a retired FBI agent, author and podcaster, jokes that she writes about the FBI to relive her glory days. After 26 years with the Bureau specializing in major economic fraud and corruption investigations, she calls on her professional encounters with scams and schemers to write police procedurals inspired by true crime FBI cases in her Philadelphia FBI Corruption Squad crime fiction series featuring flawed female FBI agent Kari Wheeler. Jerri’s FBI for Armchair Detectives nonfiction series enables readers to discover who the FBI is and what the FBI does by debunking misconceptions about the FBI in books, TV, and movies. Her books are available as ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobooks wherever books are sold. She’s also the host of FBI Retired Case File Review, a true crime podcast with more than 300 episodes available on all popular podcast apps and YouTube.

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  1. […] Episode 060: Rick Hahn – FALN, Terrorists for Puerto Rican Independence […]

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