Ex-radical absent from UMass, but cops protest his allies at forum on landmark 1989 trial

Cops protest as UMass holds forum with ex-radicals

AMHERST, Mass — Convicted domestic terrorist Ray Luc Levasseur was prohibited from attending a University of Massachusetts forum on his 1989 sedition trial, but police officers and supporters picketed anyway to protest his ex-wife’s appearance.

Levasseur served 20 years for his role in a series of 1970s bombings to protest U.S. foreign policies. Now on parole in Maine, he was denied permission to attend the UMass forum. Ex-wife Patricia Levasseur said Thursday that if Americans had not fought for what they believed in, they would still be singing for the queen. She said the radical group had made some “mistakes.”

More than 100 protested the forum, along with Donna Lamonaco, widow of slain trooper Philip Lamonaco. Some members of Levasseur’s group were charged in the officer’s 1981 slaying.