Howard Mechanic

Howard Lawrence Mechanic was an undergraduate student at Washington University in St. Louis who went into hiding for 28 years after being accused of throwing a cherry bomb at the university's ROTC building during a Vietnam War protest in May 1970. Mechanic denied throwing the firecracker. No one was injured, but Mechanic was charged under the Civil Obedience Act of 1968 and sentenced to five years in prison. During his appeals, he fled and subsequently lived under the assumed name of "Gary Robert Tredway" in Scottsdale, Arizona. His identity as Howard Mechanic became known when he decided to run for office on the Scottsdale City Council in 2000. He was discovered following an interview with reporter Penny Overton of the Scottsdale...