Biography
Mark Loo, a Chinese-American member of the Communist Workers Party, was one of the "NASSCO 3," three San Diego shipyard activists convicted in 1981 in what their supporters — and their attorney, Leonard Weinglass — denounced as an FBI and company frame-up. At the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO), Loo was an International Association of Machinists shop steward. The contemporary Workers Vanguard report identified Loo and Rodney Johnson with the Communist Workers Party and described David Boyd separately as a union militant. The three defendants were charged with conspiring to pipe-bomb the shipyard’s electrical transformers. The supposed plot had been organized and pushed by Ramon Barton, a paid informant and agent provocateur who infiltrated the union for the San Diego police and the FBI — agencies that, evidence at trial showed, had met with NASSCO management weeks before any plot surfaced. The three were convicted on June 5, 1981 of conspiracy and explosives-possession counts; on July 14, 1981 they were sentenced to six months in jail and three years probation. Prison entry is documented on August 1, 1983; actual discharge remains unverified.
Conviction and sentencing dates distinguished
Contemporary reports distinguish the June 5, 1981 conviction from the July 14, 1981 sentencing. The sentence was six months in jail plus three years probation. Neither event alone establishes actual jail admission or discharge. July14 was only prospective in the June report but is confirmed as completed in the July31 report; no six-month calculated release is supplied.
Sources: Workers Viewpoint, June 15-21, 1981, page 1; Stu Singer, The Militant, July 31, 1981, page 11. Original complete pages visually checked. Existing September16 arrest retained; no bail interval counted as continuous imprisonment.
Caption-identified historical photograph
Workers Viewpoint explicitly identifies the NASSCO Three from left to right as David Boyd, Mark Loo and Rodney Johnson. Mark Loo is the adult at center wearing sunglasses. The complete original 2254 by 1652 embedded photograph is preserved without cropping, reconstruction or removing the printed editorial overlay. The unnamed child is not identified as a defendant. The scan was published June 15-21, 1981; exact exposure date and photographer are not established. This image does not establish a custody date.
Source: Workers Viewpoint, volume 6 number 23, June 15-21, 1981, original page 1 photograph and caption. Full page and extracted original image visually checked.
Actual prison entry on August 1, 1983
Union organizer Frank Holowach's CovertAction Information Bulletin 24, Summer 1985, page 30, dates the NASSCO Three's prison entry August 1, 1983. The complete page was visually checked. This is distinct from arrest and sentencing; actual discharge remains unverified.
Identify Mark Loo as an International Association of Machinists (IAM) shop steward at NASSCO rather than implying that all three defendants were Iron Workers Local 627 members. The contemporary article explicitly describes Loo as an IAM shop steward in both text and caption. It separately identifies Loo and Rodney Johnson with the Communist Workers Party, while describing David Boyd as another union militant.
