Nearly Two Decades Later, Cops Say A Radical Blinded One Of Their Own

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Borup took her passion for rioting against Apartheid to a near deadly cause.

In the mid-1970s, a network of fringe groups began pooling resources and intelligence. Many were connected to the Weather Underground, a leftist organization responsible for a series of bombings and riots in protest of the war in Vietnam and racism in the United States.

Factions like the New Freedom Fighters, FALN (a Puerto Rican separatist group) and the “May 19th” communist movement drew a combination of idealists and anti-social misfits.

The FBI JTTF will not speculate about where Donna Jean Borup rates on the spectrum, but by the early 1980s, she was very much on law enforcement’s radar.

Born in 1952, the South Amboy, N.J. native stood out for her photographic memory, an IQ of 164, and her ability to speed read.

The FBI JTTF says Borup’s sister was associated with the Sandinistas, the socialist party who overthrew Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza in 1979, and lived in the Central American country.

Borup became an artist, working in design studios, working with layouts, graphics and silk screening. On college campuses and other venues, momentum was building against the United States’ relationship with institutions linked to South Africa’s racist apartheid government, and Borup apparently devoted herself to the cause.

An Unprovoked Attack at JFK

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Police say Borup's crime did not get much attention because of the overall social unrest surrounding the country.

On September 26, 1981, Evan Goodstein, a police officer with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey – the interstate agency overseeing metropolitan airports, the World Trade Center and other sites – was on a routine assignment at John F. Kennedy Airport in Queens.

South Africa’s beloved rugby team, the Springboks, was touring the U.S., and a number of demonstrators had converged in the terminal area, proclaiming that these goodwill exchanges should cease until apartheid was ended.

“There were legal protests going on,” one FBI agent recalled to AMW. “A lot of the people were simply there because of their opposition to apartheid. But Donna Borup inserted herself into this group of demonstrators to inflict some real damage.”

Interestingly, news reports about the Springboks tour had listed the wrong schedule. When the protestors showed up, the team was not there. Nonetheless, the demonstrators shouted slogans. According to authorities, Borup was determined to enflame the tensions in ways that many in the crowd couldn’t anticipate.

“There was not a riot going on,” the FBI agent said. “She had violence on her mind. She’d brought a vial of acid to the airport and, when she saw the opportunity, threw it in the face of Officer Goodstein.”

The corrosive liquid blinded the lawman, ending his career. Borup was arrested on charges of first-degree assault, but disappeared before she could be tried.

“She has never expressed remorse,” the agent said, “never described this as a youthful indiscretion. This is not a woman who feels sorry for what she did.”

Cuba's Rebel Network

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Authorities believe Borup may be working as an artist and cultivating relationships in the gay and lesbian community.

The story did not generate much media attention because it occurred during a time of social unrest; at least two bombs were detonated during the Springboks tour.

A month later, the so-called Black Liberation Army (BLA) attempted to subsidize its activities by robbing an armored truck in Nanuet, N.Y., north of New York City. In the violent robbery, two police officers and a Brinks private security guard were killed.

A number of participants in these types of incidents were assisted by other members of their network in escaping to Cuba, which refused to extradite the fugitives.

Among these celebrity guests of the Castro regime were BLA member Joanne Chesimard, convicted of the murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster during a traffic stop; FALN bomb maker William Morales; and Cheri Dalton, accused of aiding Chesimard’s escape and robbing a Brinks truck in 1983. As recently as 2008, Dalton was featured in a British newspaper, talking about her role promoting hip-hop in Havana.

Authorities believe that Borup may have visited these fugitives in Cuba. She always maintained secrecy, and the FBI JTTF theorizes that she’s either living in the United States or Canada, where could have worked as an artist, and has cultivated friendships in the gay and lesbian communities.

She may also have traveled with Elizabeth “Danielle” Anna Duke, who was profiled on AMW in 2004 for her involvement in a bombing ring.