Some in Brooklyn Against Naming Intersection After Slain Black FBI Agent
Some Bedford-Stuyvesant residents have decided they don’t want an intersection named after the first Black FBI agent killed in the line of duty.
According to the New York Post, the Brooklyn Board 3 voted to name the intersection at Claver Place and Jefferson Street after Special Agent Edwin R. Woodriffe. Woodriffe, 27, was killed in 1969.
According to The FBI Agents Association, Special Agents Woodriffe and Anthony Palmisano were shot and killed on January 8, 1969, by escaped federal prisoner Billie Austin Bryant, who had been serving 15 to 63 years for robbery and assault. The Agents had just entered a Southeast Washington, D.C., apartment building, where Bryant was hiding, when they were shot in a hallway. Bryant was apprehended, tried, and found guilty of the two murders. He received a life sentence for each murder.
Woodriffe’s funeral was held at St. Peter Claver Church, located at the intersection. It was the church Woodriffe had attended growing up and where he’d served as altar boy.
READ MORE: SXSW cancels Roots show after bomb scare
READ MORE: Murder of Brazilian politician who fought for women and the poor sparks protest
The Resistance Of Some Bed-Stuy Residents
Despite the fact that Woodriffe broke down racial barriers by becoming the first FBI agent, some Bed-Stuy residents are not happy with the intersection being named after him.
According to the New York Post, some activists counter that the area is also known for Jitu Weusi, the founder of The East, an arts education and cultural organization once based at 10 Claver Place that was the object of FBI surveillance.
“We understand that Agent Woodriffe is a particular significant figure in African-American history. But there’s a history with the FBI and black organizations,” said Basir Mchawi, 69, one of The East’s first members. Attika Torrence, a former member of The East, said that naming a Bed-Stuy street after an FBI agent “is no different than having a Rudolf Hess monument in a Hasidic neighborhood.”
READ MORE: Police: Deadly package bombs that killed 2 in Austin are linked, possibly hate crimes
There’s been no further response about whether or not the plans will be changed, considering the position of Bed-Stuy’s residents themselves.
