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Zebra: A Counterinsurgency Saga Part I
🕑 Added 2026-01-01 08:00:08 +0000 UTCThe Zebra murders were among the most shocking crimes San Francisco witnessed during the volatile 1970s and resulted in one the most unconstitutional and blatantly racist crackdowns of an African-American community witnessed during the Cold War. Now, they've largely been lost in the sands of time in favor of the Weather Underground, the Manson family, the SLA, and Six Degrees of the Process.
But the Zebras were far more violent and militant than any of those other outfits. For nearly seven months, they terrorized the Bay area with a series of seemingly random shootings, all of which being committed with .32 pistols. The break leading to the arrests of the suspects stretches credibility. As do the claims that the killers were part of a cult that grew out of the Nation of Islam known as the "Death Angels."
The real significance of these crimes is the extent to which they indicate the US security services were employing counterinsurgency techniques refined in Vietnam and now being used to bring the war home. It is truly a nightmare trip.
Resources
On the Clifford St. Joseph case
More on David Sidney Levine's murder
"The Tragedies Surrounding the Zebra Case"
Music by: Keith Allen Dennis
https://keithallendennis.bandcamp.com/
Comments
Hayden
I was only familiar with it by name going in but after having listened to this first part I think I know why they were never able to get a movie based on this case made in Hollywood lol
Jason Matthews
Allowances should be made for the standards of forensic policing back in 1974, but we can’t dismiss the fact that bloody hand prints not matching Stephen Crawford were recovered from Arliss Perry’s remains. There’s also the puzzling phone book episode: someone with the same name as Mrs. Perry’s husband registered a phone in the Bay area around the time that she left North Dakota. There are solid grounds for suspecting a conspiracy, though not along the lines laid out by Maury Terry.
Orion St. Peter
Its not certain the founder of NOI was African American or even a person of color. After learning about British Intelligence connections through the years to the Muslim Brotherhood, cant help but feel there were likely similar machinations in groups like the NOI. Murder as initiation has been a feature of white biker gang culture through the late 20th century, with some gangs insisting on TWO random murders to gain entry, the idea being anyone could kill a single person, but two meant you were a real badass. Of course these murders would take place in poor African American communities where there would be little investigation. Finally, theres a Filipino-American 80’s thrash metal act from San Fransisco called Death Angel, assuming after the Zebra murders.
