Allan Pinkerton, creator of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, the private cops that murdered dozens of labor organizers and activists, that tried to frame Big Bill Haywood for murder, that provided the perjured testimony and bogus evidence that got 20 innocent Irish American miners executed as Molly Maguires only immigrated to the U.S. to avoid a stiff prison term in Britain, where he was wanted for armed insurrection. Yes, America’s first celebrity cop had been an arsonist, vandal and violent soldier in the radical Chartist movement, before fleeing to the U.S. with his 15-year-old wife.
If you think the were just a nightmare from America’s labor and activist history, think again. They are still at it today, undermining labor organizing at Amazon, Apple and Google, among other.
