Crime & Anti-Crime, PHO-TAL
This category explores both sides of crime, delving into many different aspects and cases of unlawful conduct. It includes perpetrators as well as victims and those who fought against crime in an effort to establish a safe community environment.
Crime & Anti-Crime Encyclopedia Articles By Title
Phoenix Park murders
Phoenix Park murders, (May 6, 1882), an assassination in Dublin that involved the stabbing of the British chief......
Piccinino, NiccolĂČ
NiccolĂČ Piccinino was an Italian soldier of fortune who played an important role in the 15th-century wars of the......
Pinjarra Massacre
Pinjarra Massacre, attack on the Bindjareb Noongar, an Australian Aboriginal peoples, on October 28, 1834, near......
Poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal
In March 2018 former Russian spy Sergei Skripal went out to lunch with his daughter Yulia, who had come to England......
Pol Pot
Pol Pot was a Khmer political leader who led the Khmer Rouge totalitarian regime (1975â79) in Cambodia that imposed......
Police Gazette, The
The Police Gazette, daily publication of the London Metropolitan Police that carries details of stolen property......
Popish Plot
Popish Plot, (1678), in English history, a totally fictitious but widely believed plot in which it was alleged......
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), organization providing an institutional framework for militant......
Port Arthur Massacre
Port Arthur Massacre, mass shooting in and around Port Arthur, Tasmania, Australia, on April 28â29, 1996, that......
Porvenir Massacre
Porvenir Massacre, incident on January 28, 1918, in which Texas Rangers, white ranchers, and U.S. Cavalry soldiers......
Pottawatomie Massacre
Pottawatomie Massacre, (May 24â25, 1856), murder of five men from a proslavery settlement on Pottawatomie Creek,......
Power, Samantha
Samantha Power is an American journalist, human rights scholar, and government official who served on the National......
Princip, Gavrilo
Gavrilo Princip was a South Slav nationalist who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian......
Procrustes
Procrustes, in Greek legend, a robber dwelling somewhere in Atticaâin some versions, in the neighbourhood of Eleusis.......
Profaci, Joseph
Joseph Profaci was one of the most powerful bosses in U.S. organized crime from the 1940s to the early 1960s. Twice......
Qaddafi, Muammar al-
Muammar al-Qaddafi was the de facto leader of Libya (1969â2011). Qaddafi had ruled for more than four decades when......
Qaeda in Iraq, al-
al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), militant Sunni network, active in Iraq after the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, comprising......
Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al-
al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), Yemen-based militant group, formed in 2009 by the merger of radical networks......
Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrib, al-
al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghrib (AQIM), Algeria-based Islamic militant group, active in North Africa and the Sahel......
Qaeda, al-
al-Qaeda, broad-based militant Islamist organization founded by Osama bin Laden in the late 1980s and became one......
Queen Anneâs Revenge
Queen Anneâs Revenge, French vessel briefly captained by the pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard. Blackbeard......
Rabin, assassination of Yitzhak
assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, mortal shooting of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin following a mass peace......
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), U.S. federal statute targeting organized crime and white-collar......
Rader, Dennis
Dennis Rader is an American serial killer who murdered 10 people over a span of three decades before his arrest......
Rajaratnam, Raj
Raj Rajaratnam is an American investor who was convicted in 2011 of securities fraud and conspiracy in one of the......
Ramirez, Richard
Richard Ramirez was an American serial killer, rapist, and burglar who murdered at least 13 people in California......
Rampart scandal
Rampart scandal, official inquiry (1998â2000) into corruption among officers of the Rampart Division of the Los......
Ray, James Earl
James Earl Ray was an American assassin of the African American civil-rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. Ray......
RaĆŸnatoviÄ, Ćœeljko
Ćœeljko RaĆŸnatoviÄ was a Serbian nationalist who headed the paramilitary Serbian Volunteer Guard (known as the Tigers),......
Read, Mary
Mary Read was an English pirate of the early 18th century who, with her crewmate Anne Bonny, became legendary as......
Real Irish Republican Army
Real Irish Republican Army, a splinter group of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) that continues to use violence......
Red Army Faction
Red Army Faction (RAF), West German radical leftist group formed in 1968 and popularly named after two of its early......
Red Brigades
Red Brigades, militant left-wing organization in Italy that gained notoriety in the 1970s for kidnappings, murders,......
Reid, Richard
Richard Reid is a British Islamist militant who gained notoriety as the so-called Shoe Bomber in 2001 after he......
Reles, Abe
Abe Reles was an American killer and gangster who became a celebrated police informer in 1940â41. The son of AustrianâJewish......
Revolutionary Peopleâs Liberation Party/Front
Revolutionary Peopleâs Liberation Party/Front, left-wing Marxist-Leninist terrorist group in Turkey, formed in......
Ricca, Paul
Paul Ricca was a Chicago gangster who was considered âthe brainsâ behind the operations of Al Capone and Caponeâs......
Richard III
Richard III was the last Plantagenet and Yorkist king of England. He usurped the throne of his nephew Edward V......
Ridgway, Gary
Gary Ridgway is an American criminal who was the countryâs deadliest convicted serial killer. He claimed to have......
Ridolfi, Roberto
Roberto Ridolfi was a Florentine conspirator who attempted in 1570â71 to overthrow Queen Elizabeth I of England......
Ringo, Johnny
Johnny Ringo was an American Western outlaw, a loner, noted for his deadly fast draw. Not much is known of Ringo,......
Rob Roy
Rob Roy was a noted Highland outlaw whose reputation as a Scottish Robin Hood was exaggerated in Sir Walter Scottâs......
Roberts, Bartholomew
Bartholomew Roberts was a pirate captain of a succession of shipsâthe âRoyal Rover,â âFortune,â âRoyal Fortune,â......
Rogers, Woodes
Woodes Rogers was an English privateer and governor of the Bahamas who helped suppress piracy in the Caribbean.......
Rollo
Rollo was a Scandinavian rover who founded the duchy of Normandy. According to later Scandinavian sagas, Rollo,......
Rose, Sir Michael
Sir Michael Rose is a British military officer who commanded United Nations (UN) peacekeeping forces in Bosnia......
Rosewood massacre of 1923
Rosewood massacre of 1923, an incident of racial violence that lasted several days in January 1923 in the predominantly......
Rothstein, Arnold
Arnold Rothstein was an American big-time gambler, bootlegger, and friend of high-placed politicians and businessmen,......
Ruby, Jack
Jack Ruby was an American nightclub owner who killed Lee Harvey Oswald, the suspected assassin of Pres. John F.......
Rudolph, Eric
Eric Rudolph is a domestic terrorist guilty of four bombings, including the 1996 attack during the Olympic Games......
Rwanda genocide of 1994
Rwanda genocide of 1994, planned campaign of mass murder in Rwanda that occurred over the course of some 100 days......
Rye House Plot
Rye House Plot, (1683), alleged Whig conspiracy to assassinate or mount an insurrection against Charles II of England......
RĂos Montt, EfraĂn
EfraĂn RĂos Montt was a Guatemalan army general and politician who ruled Guatemala as the leader of a military......
Sallust
Sallust was a Roman historian and one of the great Latin literary stylists, noted for his narrative writings dealing......
Sand Creek Massacre
Sand Creek Massacre, (November 29, 1864), controversial surprise attack upon a camp of Cheyenne and Arapaho people......
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, mass shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14, 2012, that left 26......
Savinkov, Boris Viktorovich
Boris Viktorovich Savinkov was a revolutionary who violently opposed both the imperial and the Soviet regimes in......
Saw, U
U Saw was a Burmese political leader who conspired in the assassination of Aung San, the resistance leader who......
Schlabrendorff, Fabian von
Fabian von Schlabrendorff was a West German lawyer, best known for his participation in two attempts to assassinate......
Schultz, Dutch
Dutch Schultz was an American gangster of the 1920s and â30s who ran bootlegging and other rackets in New York......
Selkirk, Alexander
Alexander Selkirk was a Scottish sailor who was the prototype of the marooned traveler in Daniel Defoeâs novel......
Sendic, RaĂșl
RaĂșl Sendic was the Uruguayan rebel leader and the founder of the leftist Tupamaro National Liberation Front (1963).......
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks, series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks committed in 2001 by 19 militants associated......
September 30th Movement
September 30th Movement, group of Indonesian military personnel who captured and murdered six generals in 1965,......
September Massacres
September Massacres, mass killing of prisoners that took place in Paris from September 2 to September 6 in 1792âa......
Seven Oaks Massacre
Seven Oaks Massacre, (1816), destruction of the Hudsonâs Bay Companyâs Red River Settlement in what is now Manitoba,......
Sforza, Francesco
Francesco Sforza was a condottiere who played a crucial role in 15th-century Italian politics and, as duke of Milan,......
Sforza, Muzio Attendolo
Muzio Attendolo Sforza was a soldier of fortune who played an important role in the wars of his period and whose......
Shabaab, al-
al-Shabaab, Somali-based Islamist militant group with links to al-Qaeda. Beginning in 2006, the group waged an......
Shamir, Yitzáž„ak
Yitzáž„ak Shamir was a Polish-born Zionist leader and prime minister of Israel in 1983â84 and 1986â90 (in alliance......
Sharpeville massacre
Sharpeville massacre, incident on March 21, 1960, in the Black township of Sharpeville, near Vereeniging, South......
Sheppard, Jack
Jack Sheppard was an 18th-century English thief who managed four spectacular escapes from London prisons and became......
Shining Path
Shining Path, Peruvian revolutionary organization that endorsed Maoism and employed guerrilla tactics and violent......
Shipman, Harold
Harold Shipman was a British doctor who is one of the deadliest serial killers in history, believed to have murdered......
Sicilian Mafia
Sicilian Mafia, hierarchically structured organization of criminals in Sicily, Italy. The Sicilian Mafia is made......
Sicilian Vespers
Sicilian Vespers, (1282) massacre of the French with which the Sicilians began their revolt against Charles I,......
Siegel, Bugsy
Bugsy Siegel was an American gangster who played an instrumental role in the initial development of Las Vegas gambling.......
Sinaloa cartel
Sinaloa cartel, international crime organization that is among the most-powerful drug-trafficking syndicates in......
Singh, Udham
Udham Singh was an Indian political activist who fought against the British raj in India and sought revenge for......
Sinwar, Yahya
Yahya Sinwar was the de facto leader of Hamas from 2017 to 2024 and the de jure leader as head of its political......
Sirhan, Sirhan
Sirhan Sirhan is a Palestinian-born Jordanian citizen who was convicted (1969) of fatally shooting U.S. Sen. Robert......
Slade, Jack
Jack Slade was a gunfighter and murderer of the American West. Born in Illinois, Slade ran away while still a boy......
Sobhraj, Charles
Charles Sobhraj is a French serial killer, smuggler, con artist, and thief whose career of disguises, passport......
Soissons, Louis de Bourbon, comte de
Louis de Bourbon, comte de Soissons was a courtier and soldier in the intrigues between Marie de MĂ©dicis, Louis......
Speck, Richard
Richard Speck was an American mass murderer who killed eight female nursing students in a Chicago town house in......
Spector, Phil
Phil Spector was an American record producer of the 1960s, described by the writer Tom Wolfe as the âFirst Tycoon......
Spirit Lake Massacre
Spirit Lake Massacre, (March 8â12, 1857), incident in northwestern Iowa, U.S., in which a band of Sioux Indians......
Srebrenica genocide
Srebrenica genocide, slaying of more than 8,000 Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) boys and men, perpetrated by Bosnian Serb......
St. Bartholomewâs Day, Massacre of
Massacre of St. Bartholomewâs Day, massacre of French Huguenots (Protestants) in Paris on August 24/25, 1572, plotted......
St. Valentineâs Day Massacre
St. Valentineâs Day Massacre, mass murder of a group of unarmed bootlegging gang members in Chicago on February......
Stalin, Joseph
Joseph Stalin was the secretary-general of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1922â53) and premier of the......
Stern Gang
Stern Gang, Zionist extremist organization in Palestine, founded in 1940 by Avraham Stern (1907â42) after a split......
Stockholm Bloodbath
Stockholm Bloodbath, (Nov. 8â9, 1520), the mass execution of Swedish nobles by the Danish king Christian II (reigned......
Stroud, Robert
Robert Stroud was an American criminal, a convicted murderer who became a self-taught ornithologist during his......
Sundance Kid
Sundance Kid was an American outlaw, reputed to be the best shot and fastest gunslinger of the Wild Bunch, a group......
Surratt, Mary
Mary Surratt was an American boardinghouse operator, who, with three others, was convicted of conspiracy to assassinate......
Sutton, Willie
Willie Sutton was a celebrated American bank robber and prison escapee who earned his nickname âthe Actorâ because......
Symbionese Liberation Army
Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA), a small group of multiracial militant revolutionaries based in California during......
T4 Program
T4 Program, Nazi German effortâframed as a euthanasia programâto kill incurably ill, physically or mentally disabled,......
Taliban
Taliban, ultraconservative political and religious faction that emerged in Afghanistan in the mid-1990s following......