President Obama and his family attended the same wedding as radical activists and former fugitives Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, Gawker is reporting.
If true, Obama’s appearance at the same event as the former Weather Underground leaders would be a reversal of sorts for Obama who has sought to distance himself from his past association with Ayers during his days as a community organizer in Chicago.
Gawker’s J.K. Trotter reported that he “recently heard” that Ayers and Dohrn attended the same Aug. 30, 2014 wedding of MSNBC host Alex Wagner and former White House chef Sam Kass.
Trotter did not indicate anything about the nature of the source of the information. None of the individuals at the center of the story responded to the reporter’s requests for comment.
None of the reports from the day of the ceremony — which was held at Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, N.Y. — provide a list of guests in attendance. Reports did note that the Obama family spent six hours at the event.
Gawker noted that Ayers and Dohrn were likely invited to the swanky private affair because of their friendship with Kass. Kass lived in Chicago for a while, and all three attended a 2012 wedding held at a San Francisco art gallery.
Kass is also linked to Ayers and Dohrn through their adopted son, Chesa Boudin. In a book he wrote titled “Gringo: A Coming of Age in Latin America,” Boudin acknowledged Kass as a “lifelong friend.”
During his days as a community activist in Chicago, Obama had worked with Ayers, then an education professor, on various local issues.
But when he began seeking high office, Obama was forced to distance himself from some of his past associates, including the likes of Ayers and his former pastor Jeremiah Wright.
Ayers is controversial figure because of his leading role in the Weather Underground, a leftist terrorist organization he co-founded in 1969.
Ayers and Dohrn went on the run in the 1970s after the FBI began investigating several bombing attacks carried out by the group.
Ayers has admitted that he was involved in some bombings but claims that his actions never caused death, only property damage.
While no innocent civilians were killed by the communist radicals’ attacks, three members of the group — including Ayers’ girlfriend at the time — were killed when a nail bomb prematurely exploded in their New York City apartment.