Howard Mechanic, a former student who jumped bail nearly three decades ago to avoid a prison sentence related to the May 1970 burning of the Air Force ROTC building on the Washington University campus, has surfaced in Scottsdale, Ariz. He surrendered to federal authorities Friday, Feb. 11.
Arizona newspapers began reporting last week that a long-time Scottsdale community activist and city council candidate was in fact Mechanic, a 1970 Washington University graduate who had been living under an assumed name for decades.
Mechanic was among a crowd of roughly 5,000 protestors who assembled in the Brookings Quadrangle May 4, 1970, to protest the shooting that morning of four anti-war student protestors at Kent State University in Ohio. The rally culminated just after midnight May 5 with the burning of the ROTC building.
One of several persons charged with crimes related to the incident, Mechanic was accused of throwing cherry bombs at police officers and fire fighters. On Oct. 22, 1970, he became the first person found guilty under a 1968 federal anti-riot law. Mechanic disappeared in May 1972 shortly before he was scheduled to begin a five-year prison sentence.
Mechanic has apparently been living in Arizona since 1976 under the name Gary Tredway. He has worked for liberal causes, including election reform and environmental protection. He owns an apartment complex and runs a successful herbal food company.
It was his community involvement that eventually exposed him: in the Scottsdale City Council race, media scrutiny of his resumé and credentials revealed that they were fabrications.
Since surfacing, Mechanic has refused to identify those who helped him remain hidden and has not said whether he met with his parents, his sister or his twin brother, Harvey.
