The death and execution of the up and coming young Congressman, political activist, writer, poet, and historian
Robert Gerard "Bobby" Sands (1954–81) would prove to be one of the turning points in the Haig Dictatorship that would ultimately lead to its violent downfall during the Second American Civil War (1983–88).
Born in the Staten Island borough of New York City in 1954 as the son of working class Irish immigrants, Sands frequently traveled abroad to his Irish homeland and became enamored with the Irish culture at an early age. In an interview with William F. Buckley Jr. in 1980, Sands humorously stated that he was "enamored with the music and lore of Ireland as a child and became deeply concerned and affected with the political and social history of Ireland during my depressing and frankly humorous teenage years." At the age of 18 in 1972, he briefly attended Fordham University before dropping out in 1973 in favor of travelling abroad once more and attending Trinity College, Dublin, graduating from the university in 1975 with a degree in Political Science.
During his tint at university, Sands became interested in politics after being encouraged by his friends to join the Irish Labour Party and to attend one of its rallies in Dublin. He was impressed by Labour's political promises and kept these left-wing ideals in mind when he emigrated back to the U.S. in 1976, jokingly running for a seat in the New York State Assembly until he unexpectedly won the election in a four-way contest. His election to the State Assembly was the first action that gained him notoriety within the Haig Dictatorship, with his house later being raided for "anti-government and anti-freedom propaganda" in 1978 after he endorsed an anti-government activist in the New York mayoral election of that year.
It was also during this troubled time in his life that Sands began dabbling with poetry and literature, compiling a series of poems throughout the summer 1978/79 and releasing them in one grand book simply known as
Dawn, which was released in the winter of 1980. The poetry book became infamous for its deeply socialist and left-wing bent, and was quickly banned by the American government after reaching best-seller status just weeks after its release. Sands continued to become more and more radical throughout this endeavor, which eventually led to him openly speaking against the government and frequently participating and speaking at anti-government rallies across New York City. His popularity as a youthful and charismatic freedom fighter greatly aided him in his congressional campaign in 1980, which ended in an utter landslide for the Sands campaign.
This proved to be much for the American government to handle and on April 27, 1981, during a political rally in Brooklyn that Sands headed which pushed for constitutional reform and the liberalization of the dictatorship, American troops opened fire on over 5,000 protesters in what would later be known as "the Bloodbath". After 2 hours of constant gunfire and the deaths of over 500 men, women, and children, Sands was arrested and scrapped from his Congressional seat by the U.S. government. He would be interned and court-martialed at Rikers Island, where he would later be executed by firing squad on May 5, 1981 despite receiving dozens of petitions by the general public to release Sands and his entourage.
His sudden imprisonment and death would spark a series of protests and riots throughout the country, eventually leading all the way up to the attempted 1983 coup d'etat and the start of the Second American Civil War. As a result, Sands is popularly known as the "Second John Brown" by supporters and enemies alike.
His last collection of poems would later be released in 1985 as propaganda by the Republican Government during the course of the Civil War.