Ted Kaczynski

Theodore John Kaczynski , also known as the Unabomber (/ˈjuːnəbɒmər/ ⓘ YOO-nə-bom-ər), was an American mathematician and <a href="/facts/Domestic_terrorism_in_the_United_States/Lnd16QbY">domestic terrorist</a>. A mathematics <a href="/facts/Child_prodigy/9kEm7W4L">prodigy</a>, he abandoned his academic career in 1969 to pursue a <a href="/facts/Reclusive/LJtfysRv">reclusive</a> <a href="/facts/Simple_living/6e79YAsM">primitive lifestyle</a> and <a href="/facts/Lone_wolf_terrorism/ww0xwVEP">lone wolf terrorism</a> campaign.
Kaczynski murdered three people and injured 23 others between 1978 and 1995 in a nationwide <a href="/facts/Mail_bomb/j1TDMM8C">mail bombing</a> campaign against people he believed to be advancing <a href="/facts/Modern_technology/9Uav5WVR">modern technology</a> and the destruction of the <a href="/facts/Natural_environment/NzGY148M">natural environment</a>. He authored a roughly 35,000-word <a href="/facts/Manifesto/m82XTbq2">manifesto</a> and <a href="/facts/Social_critique/k5CxJjE4">social critique</a> called <a href="/facts/Industrial_Society_and_Its_Future/rbszTueo">Industrial Society and Its Future</a> which opposes all forms of technology, rejects <a href="/facts/Leftism/JUcz1kvS">leftism</a> and <a href="/facts/Fascism/EhQWcPsE">fascism</a>, advocates cultural primitivism, and ultimately suggests violent <a href="/facts/Revolution/WxyxIpIb">revolution</a>.
In 1971, Kaczynski moved to a remote cabin without <a href="/facts/Mains_electricity/rjE90Hg0">electricity</a> or <a href="/facts/Tap_water/uQJ4Esz8">running water</a> near <a href="/facts/Lincoln%2c_Montana/4J7CDpbk">Lincoln, Montana</a>, where he lived as a <a href="/facts/Recluse/LJtfysRv">recluse</a> while learning <a href="/facts/Survival_skills/RlL2j3q9">survival skills</a> to become <a href="/facts/Self-sustainability/7PUdUSwC">self-sufficient</a>. After witnessing the destruction of the <a href="/facts/Wilderness/Xg9qBDMU">wilderness</a> surrounding his cabin, he concluded that living in nature was becoming impossible and resolved to fight <a href="/facts/Industrialisation/h3QXzS6C">industrialization</a> and its destruction of nature through terrorism. In 1979, Kaczynski became the subject of what was, by the time of his arrest in 1996, the longest and most expensive investigation in the history of the <a href="/facts/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation/UY93jwX6">Federal Bureau of Investigation</a> (FBI). The FBI used the case identifier UNABOM (University and Airline Bomber) before his identity was known, resulting in the media naming him the "Unabomber".
In 1995, Kaczynski sent a letter to <a href="/facts/The_New_York_Times/T9marWVX">The New York Times</a> promising to "desist from terrorism" if the Times or <a href="/facts/The_Washington_Post/dRvzvqJc">The Washington Post</a> published his manifesto, in which he argued that his bombings were extreme but necessary in attracting attention to the erosion of human freedom and dignity by modern technologies. The FBI and U.S. <a href="/facts/Attorney_General/Pb9bnmKa">Attorney General</a> <a href="/facts/Janet_Reno/f3nmLJQP">Janet Reno</a> pushed for the publication of the essay, which appeared in The Washington Post in September 1995. Upon reading it, Kaczynski's brother, <a href="/facts/David_Kaczynski/VIbIoX36">David</a>, recognized the prose style and reported his suspicions to the FBI. After his arrest in 1996, Kaczynski—maintaining that he was sane—tried and failed to dismiss his <a href="/facts/Public_defender_(United_States)/8l7rfpDs">court-appointed lawyers</a> because they wished him to <a href="/facts/Insanity_defense/8vNC2LBw">plead insanity</a> to avoid the <a href="/facts/Capital_punishment_by_the_United_States_federal_government/QocmFj6Y">death penalty</a>. He pleaded guilty to all charges in 1998 and was sentenced to several <a href="/facts/Consecutive_sentence/X2Se9LMB">consecutive</a> <a href="/facts/Life_term/IMr3MIwe">life terms</a> in prison without the possibility of <a href="/facts/Parole/85Iky6MC">parole</a>. In 2021, he received a <a href="/facts/Cancer/PVW6n1D0">cancer</a> diagnosis and stopped treatment in March 2023. Kaczynski hanged himself in prison in June 2023.

Ted Kaczynski open-in-new

Ted Kaczynski