Progress on the 1990 museum robbery

Background

The museum that was robbed is called the Gardner Museum, named after Isabella Stewart Gardner, descendant of a legendary Scottish King, who began traveling and collecting art with her husband soon after their son died during his second year of life.

This is what the museum looks like on the outside, but unlike most buildings, the interior of this one has a large interior courtyard with a glass roof that allows sunlight to light up the art and to keep a large collection of plants alive.

Gardner Museum 25 Evans Way Boston, MA 02115 (617) 566-1401 Link to information for visitors to the museum.

Details of the robbery

These paragraphs were copied from a page on the website of the museum:

In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, a pair of thieves disguised as Boston police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and roamed the Museum’s galleries, stealing thirteen works of art.

They gained entry into the Museum by posing as Boston police officers and stating that they were responding to a call.  The guard on duty broke protocol and allowed them entry through the Museum’s security door.

Once inside, the thieves asked that the guard come around from behind the desk, claiming that they recognized him and that there was a warrant out for his arrest.  The guard walked away from the desk and away from the only alarm button.  The guard was told to summon the other guard on duty to the security desk, which he did.  The thieves then handcuffed both guards and took them into the basement where they were secured to pipes and their hands, feet, and heads duct taped.  The two guards were placed 40 yards away from each other in the basement.

The next morning, the security guard arriving to relieve the two night guards discovered that the Museum had been robbed and notified the police and director Anne Hawley.

Videos about the robbery

7 minutes and 7 seconds narrated by Randi Kaye, a CNN reporter This video was uploaded Nov. 7, 2013

1 hour and 9 minutes This man was the director of security for the museum.  He is still trying to recover the art.

The F.B.I. says that they have made some progress

These paragraphs were copied from this page, dated March 18, 2013, on the F.B.I. website.

“Today, we are pleased to announce that the FBI has made significant investigative progress in the search for the stolen art from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum,” said Richard DesLauriers, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston Field Office.  “We’ve determined in the years after the theft that the art was transported to the Connecticut and Philadelphia regions. But we haven’t identified where the art is right now, and that’s why we are asking the public for help.”

“With these considerable developments in the investigation over the last couple of years,” said Special Agent Geoff Kelly, who heads the FBI investigation, “it’s likely over time someone has seen the art hanging on a wall, placed above a mantel, or stored in an attic.  We want that person to call the FBI.”

There is a $5 million reward for the return of the art

These paragraphs were also copied from the same page of the F.B.I. website as the previous two paragraphs.

Anthony Amore, the Gardner Museum’s chief of security, explained that the museum is offering a $5 million reward “for information that leads directly to the recovery of all of our items in good condition.  What that means is that you don’t have to hand us the paintings to be eligible for the reward.” Amore added, “We hope that through this type of public campaign, people will see how earnest we are in our attempts to pay this reward and make our institution whole.”

Officials stressed that anyone with information about the artwork can contact the FBI, the museum, or the U.S. Attorney’s Office directly or through a third party.  “An individual who wishes to protect his or her identity can go through an attorney and the reward can be paid through an attorney,” Amore said. “There is no shortage of ways to get information to us.  We simply want to recover our paintings and move forward.  This is the 23rd anniversary of the robbery,” he said.  “It’s time for these paintings to come home.”

We need your help: If you have information about the missing Gardner Museum artwork, you can contact the FBI’s hotline at 1-800-CALL-FBI or submit a tip on our website.  All information will be held in the strictest confidence.

Today's update

These two paragraphs were copied from a short Associated Press story, dated August 7, 2015, that was published on the website of the Boston affiliate of Fox News.

The FBI says both of the suspects who masqueraded as police officers to rob a Boston art museum of $500 million worth of masterpieces in 1990 are deceased.

Two years ago, investigators announced they knew who stole the 13 works — including paintings by Rembrandt and Vermeer — from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. They refused to elaborate at the time, saying only that the investigation was now focused on recovering the missing artwork.

The artwork is still missing, though

This photo was taken by the F.B.I.  It was copied from this page on the website of Boston University.

A painting by Rembrandt was once located inside this empty frame.

Please excuse this editorial comment

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is not always a professional organization.

A truly professional law enforcement organization will investigate, arrest, and prosecute people regardless of race, creed, color, sex, etc.  The man in the following YouTube video has never been arrested for speaking these words or for encouraging people to commit murder based on their belief that the victims belong to a different race than their own.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a responsibility to protect the public from potential murderers and their friends.

They must look objectively at this video. They must collect usable evidence from this video and other sources, including the name and the current address of the person who is easily identifiable by his looks and his voice.

They must give this evidence to a U.S. Attorney who has the legal authority to prosecute Federal crimes that are committed in the city that this crime took place in, with a recommendation that this man be arrested and prosecuted before he can carry out his threats.

King Samir Shabazz

It is possible that the F.B.I. is protecting the people who have illegal possession of the stolen artwork because they are friends of Mr. Shabazz.

The F.B.I. can easily prove that I am wrong by arresting Mr. Shabazz for no other reason than the fact that he has encouraged people to commit a hate crime, which, as I have already said, is a Federal crime.

Federal crimes can be investigated by the F.B.I., and if there is enough evidence that a Federal crime has been committed, the criminal can be arrested by the F.B.I. and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law by a U.S. Attorney.

The F.B.I. did investigate when some "anti-Muslim" flyers were found at a subway station in a Boston suburb.  Link to a story dated February 21, 2015 on the website of the ABC-TV affiliate in Boston.  The F.B.I. should also investigate the potential genocide of another race (in the mind of Mr. Shabazz) that he is so actively encouraging by his recorded words, made public by the person who uploaded the YouTube video.