Katie Budin, a radical leftist convicted of the fatal robbery of Brink who continued to help former prisoners, and the mother of San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Budin, died Sunday afternoon at her home in New York, according to a statement from the district attorney’s office and reports from the San Francisco Chronicle and other news outlets. She was 78 years old.
Chesa Budin told the Chronicle, which was the first to report that his mother had been battling cancer for seven years. (SFGATE and the San Francisco Chronicle are owned by Hearst, but operate independently.) He said he took a red-eyed flight to New York to say goodbye and see her one last time, describing her nature as ” unwaveringly optimistic and courageous. ”
“She spent long enough to meet her grandson and meet my father at home from prison after 40 years,” Budin said in a statement shared by his office with SFGATE. “She always ended phone calls with laughter, a habit she had acquired in the 22s. years in prison, when he wanted to leave everyone he spoke to, especially me, with joy and hope. She lived a redemption, constantly finding ways to give back to the people around her.
Born on May 19, 1943, Katie Budin was raised by civil rights lawyer and left-wing activist Leonard Budin and poet Jean (Roizman) Buden while growing up in Greenwich Village, New York. She continued to attend Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, majoring in Russian studies, and was a farewell speech to her class in 1965. She was “soon radicalized by growing anti-war and racial justice movements in the 1960s,” the district attorney’s office said. said, which led her to become an active member of the radical left-wing organization Weather Underground. Katie Budin married David Gilbert in 1970, the same year she escaped an explosion at a Manhattan townhouse where the organization allegedly made bombs believed to be destined for Fort Dix Army Base in New Jersey. – later hid, giving birth to their son. , Chesa, in 1980
In October of the following year, Katie Budin, Gilbert, and other members of the organization worked with the Revolutionary Armed Forces and the Black Liberation Army to rob a $ 1.6 million robbery of a Brink armored car at Nanuet Mall in New York City. Brink’s bodyguard was killed by one of their accomplices in the detention, and two New York City police officers were killed by the group during an escape shootout. Katie Budin and Gilbert were charged and convicted of premeditated murder because they were involved as an unarmed driver and passenger of the escape vehicle – Budin herself also served as bait.
Weather Underground members Bill Ayers and his wife, Bernardine Dorn, took care of Chesa Budin when he was 14 months old. Katie Budin pleaded guilty in 1984 and entered the Bedford Hills Penitentiary in exchange for her parole in 2003, while Gilbert took the case to court and was eventually sentenced to 75 years in prison. He received a pardon from Governor Andrew Cuomo on August 23, 2021, before being released on parole and then released on November 4, 2021, reuniting with his wife.
Katie Budin died today, May Day … she inspired many, worked tirelessly and loved deeply. I was glad to meet her by photographing / interviewing her …. a unique person
– Robert Greenwald (@robertgreenwald) May 1, 2022
Rest in the power of my friend, colleague, associate and fellow @afjny board member, Katie Budin. I learned so much from her over the years and it was practically nothing from her words, but rather from the example of her actions. I will miss her friendship and wisdom very much.
– Samuel Kelton Roberts, Dr. (@SamuelKRoberts) May 1, 2022
During her detention, Katie Budin published articles in the Harvard Educational Review, among other publications, taught literacy lessons and demanded that she return to Bedford Hills College after the termination of Pell Grants. She earned a master’s degree in adult education and literacy from Norwich College, becoming the first woman to do so while in New York State Jail, according to a statement from the district attorney’s office.
Katie Budin stood up for her co-prisoners and fought for the unification of imprisoned women and their children. She is also a co-author of the Handbook for Foster Care for Deprived Parents and writes and publishes poetry, after which she won the PEN International Award.
She felt remorse for her role in the deadly robbery [had] serious questions about the role of violence in political movements and the consequences of her political choices, “the district attorney’s office said in a statement, adding that she had had regular visits with her son for 22 years.
In this photo from February 10, 2002, Chesa Budin and his mother Katie Budin are seen in prison with maximum security, where she is serving her sentence for the murder of a Brinks guard and two police officers during a robbery by the radical group The Weather Underground. Katie Budin died Sunday at the age of 78.
Ralph-Finn Hestoft / Corbis via Getty Images
Since her release, she has worked for the HIV / AIDS Center at St. Luke’s Hospital and continues to support ex-prisoners by helping them prepare as they move to life outside, according to the New York Times. She received her PhD from the College of Teachers of Columbia University in 2007 and continued to establish the Center for Justice in Colombia, focusing on the causes and consequences of mass imprisonment.
“Cathy’s legacy, mission and lifelong commitment to promoting social justice, supporting disadvantaged communities and reforming the criminal justice system will never be forgotten, especially by those whose lives it has touched,” said Jarrell E. Daniels, a staff member. at the Columbia Justice Center and a former prisoner, said in a statement: “For so many of us, Cathy was a legend who opposed the odds and broke the boundaries. It will never be forgotten. “
Katie Budin is survived by her brother Michael Budin, her life partner Gilbert and their son Chesa Budin, as well as her daughter-in-law Valerie Block, the district prosecutor’s office said.
San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Budin, his mother Katie Budin and his father David Gilbert after his release from prison in 2021.
Courtesy of the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office Chesa Budin
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