Italian American Anti-Defamation League-brief history.

The Italian American Anti-Defamation League, later called the Italian-American Civil Rights League was formed in the early 1970's. On April 30, 1970 this group, led by mobster Joseph Colombo, picketed the Manhattan headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They were there to protest the recent arrest of Colombo's son, Joseph Colombo Jr., on a charge of conspiracy to melt down old U.S. silver coins into ingots.Prior to this, the senior Colombo had complained of unfair harassment of him and his family by various federal law-enforcement authorities, who alleged that Colombo was the boss of one of New York City's five Mafia families — a charge he repeatedly denied.

Joseph Colombo

The 30 demonstrators who appeared at the FBI building were joined by others in successive days, and ultimately their number grew to more than 5,000. A logo, consisting of the numeral "1" superimposed upon a map of the United States, with the organization's name encircling it, was then devised. The logo invoked Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer.

Within two months, the organization claimed 45,000 dues-paying members, and held a large rally in Columbus Circle on June 28, 1970. Among the participants were five U.S. Representatives and several prominent entertainers.The league gained further momentum when Frank Sinatra held a benefit concert in its honor at Madison Square Garden in November of that year.

The group then turned its attention to what it perceived as cultural slights against Italian-Americans, using boycott threats to force Alka-Seltzer and General Motors to withdraw television commercials the league objected to, and also got United States Attorney General John Mitchell to order the United States Justice Department to stop using the word "Mafia" in official documents and press releases. The league also secured an agreement from Al Ruddy, the producer of The Godfather, to omit the terms "Mafia" and "Cosa Nostra" from the film's dialogue, and succeeded in having Macy's stop selling a board game called The Godfather Game.

On June 28, 1971, the league held another rally in Columbus Circle. Prior to the rally, Colombo's position became more difficult with the release from prison of Joey Gallo. Gallo had previously battled for control of the Profaci/Colombo organization during the "Gallo-Profaci War." Gallo used his time in prison to build alliances with other ethnic criminals (most particularly African-American criminals in Harlem and the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn), and was using these contacts to disrupt Colombo's activities in Brooklyn. Joe Colombo was approaching the podium to address the crowd when an African American later identified as Jerome Johnson who had somehow managed to obtain press credentials,approached Colombo and fired three shots from an automatic pistol into his head.

Jerome Johnson

Colombo's son and several others wrestled the gunman to the ground. At that point, a second man stepped out of the crowd and shot the gunman dead. The second assailant managed to escape and was never identified. The assault left Colombo in a coma from which he would never recoverand he died on May 22, 1978.

Joe Colombo's murder was never solved. The prime suspect was Joe Gallo because he had alliances with black criminals and the killer, Johnson, was black. Also, Gallo resented Colombo due to Colombo's role in the earlier gang war. Carlo Gambino also was considered a suspect. Gambino was angered over the increasing publicity generated by Colombo's League activities. On one occasion, it is alleged that Colombo addressed Gambino's concerns by literally spitting in his face. In addition, the assassin Johnson had connections with the Gambinos.

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