Edward Pimental
Edward F. Pimental (June 19, 1965–August 8, 1985) was an U.S. Army soldier in the rank of specialist, murdered in West Germany by members of the Red Army Faction (RAF) militant group.
Assault
Pimental was from New York City. He was assigned to the 563rd Ordnance Company, which was located at Camp Pieri in Wiesbaden. On the night of August 8, 1985 he and other GI's visited the "Western Saloon" nightclub in Wiesbaden. He was invited by RAF member Birgit Hogefeld to walk her home and left the bar with her. He was killed by a shot in the head the same night in the nearby woods.
Pimental's U.S. military ID card was stolen and was used the next morning by a male RAF member to gain access to the Rhein-Main Air Base and place a car bomb (a Volkswagen Passat loaded with about 240 kg of explosives) at the base, resulting in the death of two servicemen, the wounding of eleven, and substantial material damage. A "Command George Jackson" claimed responsibility in a letter signed by the RAF and the French Action directe armed group, reaching the Frankfurter Rundschau desk and two news agencies the same day. The ID card was sent to Reuters in Frankfurt on August 13.
The murder of Edward Pimental caused heated discussions in far-leftist circles in Germany because it was the first time a person without major political or economic status was killed deliberately, contradicting the legacy of the 1968 movement. The RAF attempted to justify the murder by proclaiming Pimental as a contract warmonger, but they later referred to it as a "mistake". In 1994 and 1996 Hogefeld and her RAF fellow Eva Haule were convicted of participation in the murder and sentenced to life imprisonment by the Frankfurt Higher Regional Court.