On 19 September 1995, The Washington Post published, as a special supplement, a text of about 35,000 words sent by the person then known as the Unabomber. Costs were shared with The New York Times after consultations with the FBI and the Justice Department. 19 September 2026 marks 31 years since that publication. The anniversary is not an occasion to reproduce the attacker’s ideology.

Between 1978 and 1995, devices mailed or placed by Theodore Kaczynski killed three people and injured 23 others. Targets included academics, people connected to technology, airlines and others chosen for symbolism assigned by the attacker. The investigation’s nickname came from the FBI UNABOM file, from universities and aviation.

In 1995 the author demanded publication in a major newspaper and promised to end the attacks if the demand was met. The papers agreed, under threat of further victims, a dilemma that some in the press criticised as a dangerous precedent. The FBI hoped a reader would recognise the style.

David Kaczynski noticed similarities between the document’s language and writings by his brother Ted. Through lawyers, the family contacted the authorities. Linguistic analysis, with other evidence, supported a search warrant. On 3 April 1996 the investigation ended with Kaczynski’s arrest near Lincoln, Montana.

In the cabin, investigators found bomb components, journals and a device ready for mailing. The public relevance of 19 September concerns the victims, the investigation and debate about media responsibility when violence is used to compel publication. It does not concern glorifying the author.

The full text is not reproduced here. The commemoration stops at the fact of publication, the family’s recognition and the 1996 arrest. A photograph of the FBI building in Washington shows the institution that led the case, not a stylised portrait of the attacker.

Image: Tony Webster / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. J. Edgar Hoover Building, FBI headquarters in Washington. Photograph of the investigating institution, not a portrait of Theodore Kaczynski. Cropped to 16:9.

Source consulted: Unabomber | FBI; Unabomber manuscript is published | The Washington Post.