Was this America’s most loved bank robber?

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Was this America’s most loved bank robber?

There are not many songs memorialising violent robbers, particularly when it comes to one with such a prolific rap sheet. Yet Charles Floyd is considered to be one of America’s most loved criminals…but why?

He had been declared Public Enemy Number 1!  He had been involved in a machine gun massacre, where three members of the police force had been killed and an FBI agent. His criminal CV also listed his involvement in a robbery at a post office at the age of 18. He robbed banks, he dealt drugs and had been responsible for the deaths of many, both directly or indirectly.

The convictions stack highly against him and conventional thinking would assume that those who knew Floyd would have been glad when he was shot dead by G-Men in 1934! Yet bafflingly, thousands turned up to his funeral to pay their respects.

Local to Oklahoma, it seems Floyd was a Robin Hood of the time. Apparently forced into a life of crime due to poverty, he was always on the side of the little man. For here was someone who fed the poor and whilst robbing banks, he destroyed mortgage agreements to help struggling farmers who were facing foreclosure.

His antics took place during the Great Depression, people were losing their farms because the banks wanted the land for expansion and to make more money. Farmers staved off the banks with armed barriers but time was running out. Living amongst this community spurred Floyd to act. His rationale was that he was robbing the banks that were robbing the local people. His ill-gotten money was put to good use and shared amongst the community, who in return granted him refuge when the long arm of the law started to reach out for him.

At Blackburn Alarms we understand that whilst criminals of the past can have something of a nostalgic appeal, they can play havoc in modern-day life. If you have any concerns or need advice about any security issue please do not hesitate to give Blackburn Alarms a call.

By |2016-10-19T09:27:11+00:00October 19th, 2016|Company News, News, Security Industry News|0 Comments

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