Marion Barry - DC Council (1974-1979) and Shooting

DC Council (1974-1979) and Shooting

Upon establishment of Washington's Home Rule in 1974, Barry was elected an at-large member of Washington's first elected city council, and while serving as a council member became chair of the District of Columbia Committee on Finance and Revenue. He was re-elected in 1976.

While serving on the D.C. city council, Barry was shot on March 9, 1977, by radical Hanafi Muslims (from a breakaway sect of the Nation of Islam) when they overran the District Building. Barry was shot near his heart during the two-day 1977 Hanafi Muslim Siege in which hostages were held by the terrorists and which was finally defused by the FBI and Muslim ambassadors.

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