Leon Czolgosz

Leon Czolgosz (born 1873, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.—died October 29, 1901, Auburn, New York) was an American labourer and anarchist who fatally shot U.S. Pres. William McKinley on September 6, 1901; McKinley died eight days later. Czolgosz was found guilty and executed.

While various sources, including police documents, list his birthplace as Detroit, others claim that Czolgosz was born in Alpena, Michigan. His parents were immigrants, and the family moved often. In 1893 Leon was living in Cleveland, where he worked at a wire mill. That year wages were cut, resulting in a strike. Czolgosz was fired and blacklisted, though he managed to get his job back the following year using a different name, Fred Nieman or Fred C. Nieman (the Polish/German surname translates as “nobody”). The experience left him disaffected, and he increasingly focused on inequality between the wealthy and workers. In 1898 he quit his job—some sources claim he had a nervous breakdown—and settled on the family’s farm. Over the next several years Czolgosz spent much of his time reading radical works, and he reportedly developed a fascination with anarchist Gaetano Bresci, who fatally shot Umberto I of Italy over the king’s repressive policies.

In 1901 Czolgosz became more involved in the anarchist movement, meeting Emma Goldman and members of the Liberty Club. However, he used his assumed name, and when this was discovered, the organization warned its members about a possible government spy. In the summer of 1901 Czolgosz moved to Buffalo, New York, which was hosting the Pan-American Exposition. On September 6 McKinley was at the expo’s Temple of Music for a meet and greet. Czolgosz attended, and when it was his turn in the receiving line, he shot McKinley twice. The president died on September 14, 1901.

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Czolgosz was immediately arrested, and soon thereafter he confessed to the crime: “I killed President McKinley because I done my duty. I didn’t believe one man should have so much service, and another man should have none.” He was initially thought to be part of a larger conspiracy, and several anarchists, including Goldman, were briefly arrested. However, it was eventually determined that Czolgosz acted alone. His trial began on September 23, 1901, during which the judge rejected his attempt to plead guilty. The proceedings lasted just eight hours, and the defense attorneys—whom Czolgosz refused to help—called no witnesses. After some 30 minutes of deliberation, the jury found Czolgosz guilty, and he was given a death sentence. He was later taken to Auburn State Prison in west-central New York, where he was killed by electrocution on October 29, 1901. Reportedly his last words were: “I killed the president because he was the enemy of the good people—the working people.” Before Czolgosz was buried in an unmarked grave at the prison, his body was covered with sulfuric acid, causing it to disintegrate.