William Gerald Bishop

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William Gerald Bishop (born ca. 1901) was a member of the Christian Front who was put on trial and charged with conspiracy to overthrow the United States government. Bishop working with 16 other Christian Front members was considered the leader of the "action committee" which was allegedly planning a seditious uprising. Bishop was an organizer and trainer for the Front’s sporting and rifle clubs. At the trial, nine of the men were acquitted while the rest including Bishop’s verdict ended in a hung jury.[1] One juror held out for convictions.[2]

Bishop claimed to be an American citizen, but authorities had reason to believe he was born in Vienna, Austria as William Arneck who entered this country illegally in 1926.[3] Bishop had a mysterious past and according to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover was deported three times from Great Britain and three times from Belgium.[4] It was said he had fought with Lawrence of Arabia and was a secretary to General Francisco Franco of Spain.[5] In the past he was employed as a writer and linguist familiar with English, French, German, Arabic, and Portuguese.[6]

Ellis Island

Bishop was sent to the concentration camp at Ellis Island on February 27, 1942 and held as an enemy alien. The Justice Department considered him the main problem at the camp when it came to corrupting the guards for favors and was allowed weekly visits to leave the camp to see his eye doctor in Manhattan.[7] On July 22, 1943 he was removed form Ellis Island and sent to Fort Lincoln in Bismarck, North Dakota.[8] [9] At the war’s end Bishop was returned to Ellis Island and held with three hundred other German detainees. In October 1947 he was deported to his native Austria.[10]

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