The Nation - News from March 9, 1987

Authorities plan strict security, including metal detectors, at the federal courthouse in Boston when eight self-described revolutionaries go on trial today. The court has summoned 500 potential jurors for the trial, which may take four to six months. The eight are accused of racketeering and seditious conspiracy--conspiracy to overthrow the government--in connection with 10 bank holdups and 19 bombings and attempted bombings in the Northeast. Prosecutors say the accused are members of a group that called itself the Sam Melville-Jonathan Jackson Unit and later the United Freedom Front.