Bergen man opposes Cuba's removal from terror list

The United States has taken Cuba off a terror blacklist, but one Bergen County man says the move is misguided. Joe Connor says his father, Frank Connor, was killed by a bomb in Manhattan in 1975. The

News 12 Staff

Jun 1, 2015, 2:14 AM

Updated 3,418 days ago

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The United States has taken Cuba off a terror blacklist, but one Bergen County man says the move is misguided.
Joe Connor says his father, Frank Connor, was killed by a bomb in Manhattan in 1975. The man Connor sees as a terrorist, William Morales, possibly made the bomb, he says.
Morales fled to Cuba, where he currently lives. While Connor thinks that Cuba is sponsoring terrorism or a terrorist, the U.S. says the Caribbean nation is not.
Despite the removal, the State Department still questions some of Cuba's policies, including the housing of fugitives from U.S. justice.
According to the FBI, Morales worked for a radical Puerto Rican group behind hundreds of bombings. The group, FALN, took credit for bombing the Manhattan tavern in which Connor's father was killed.
Connor says that if Cuba wants off of the terror list, it should return Morales, who is one of the FBI's most wanted.
"If we are going to go down this road... the least we can do is get back terrorists, convicted murderers," Connor said. "It's a no-brainer."
Federal lawmakers had the ability to weigh in or even block the removal of Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, but never did. A 45-day deadline came and expired May 29, prompting the State Department to withdraw Cuba.