Joseph Colombo /// Part 1 /// 72

Being the leader of one of New York's five crime families does not come without problems. Joseph Colombo was the boss of the Colombo mafia but he was also a family man and a community leader. Coming up through the ranks was tough though. Joseph's father was killed by a rival gang when he was just a teenager. In 1970 he created the Italian-American Civil Rights League. Joe arranged for the community to picket against J Edgar Hoover and the FBI as they harassed and used questionable tactics to arrest Italian-Americans. In 1971 Colombo was gunned down at a rally in one of the most publicized assassinations in New York's history. The shooter was quickly hand cuffed and shot in front of police. Jerome Johnson shot Colombo but who shot Johnson? Was it the police, was it one of Colombo's men or was it the FBI? Author and director Don Capria joins us in the garage to discuss the biggest conspiracy in New York mafia history.