Matthew Steen
| Matthew Steen | |
|---|---|
| File:13765752 513034858886225 7079376517428943570 o copy Matthew Steen and Karen Jessica Evans attending a Democratic Party fundraiser for Jane Kim for California State Senate.jpg13765752 513034858886225 7079376517428943570 o copy Matthew Steen and Karen Jessica Evans attending a Democratic Party fundraiser for Jane Kim for California State Senate.jpg Matthew Steen and Karen Jessica Evans attending a Democratic Party Fundraiser in San Francisco 2016 | |
| Born | August 22, 1949 San Francisco, California |
| 🎓 Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley, History 1991 University of California, Santa Barbara, Psychology 1976 |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Weather Underground, 60 Minutes Interview with Mike Wallace |
Matthew Landy Steen (born August 22, 1949), also known under the alias William Hollis Coquillette, is a former member of Weather Underground Organization and Students for a Democratic Society. In 1972, he was indicted on federal conspiracy and bank robbery charges to finance radical leftist Weatherman activities and sentenced to a ten-year term in federal prison.[1]
In June 1972, Steen attempted to be an informant for the FBI about the February 1970 San Francisco Park Station Bombing.[1][2]
Steen was featured on the lead segment of 60 Minutes, "Fake ID", in an interview with Mike Wallace, which was first aired on February 1, 1976. This was the first time a former Weatherman had ever appeared on national television. He was queried about false identities and traveler's check fraud.[3]
1976 60 Minutes interview
Interviewed in Beverly Hills in mid-1975 by Mike Wallace, Steen responded to questions about identity theft (he possessed IDs belonging to at least 150 people) and how he purchased and reported stolen some $50,000 to $100,000 in traveler's checks, while still being able to cash the originals. This was the first time a former Weatherman had appeared on the CBS news show. It was re-broadcast several months later.
The entire interview[4] can be viewed, beginning at the 48 minute 19 second mark, in this November 2015 speech about making documentaries.
Transcript of Steen's portion of the segment: [From the Congressional Record. May 24, 1977]
"60 MINUTES" MAY 16, 1977—"FALSE ID"
[Note: The episode first aired February 1, 1976 and re-aired on May 16, 1976. It never aired in 1977 and the actual title is "Fake ID".]
. . . MIKE WALLACE: Walking proof that the process really does work is this young man, Matthew Steen, alias Eric Gilbert Dietz, alias T. Swingle Frick, III, alias Romez Tormey. In 1970, while a student at Berkeley, Steen went underground as a member of the militant Weathermen organization. Before he was arrested in 1971, Steen says he had obtained a hundred-fifty different identities—almost all of them courtesy of various Government agencies.
What kind of documents are we talking about?
MATTHEW STEEN: Birth certificates, notarized birth certificates, driver's licenses from various states, occasionally Social Security cards, and other superficial types of identification, like library cards, et cetera.
WALLACE: And you had no real difficulty in doing this?
STEEN: No.
WALLACE: By the time the FBI got to him in 1971, Steen acknowledges he had used various fake ID's to rip off the Bank of America. He'd buy a set of Travellers' Checks; then, a couple of weeks later, claim they'd been lost or stolen—and get replacements. He had doubled his money.
How much did you make this way?
STEEN: Somewhere between fifty and a hundred thousand dollars.
WALLACE: Among the official documents Matt Steen obtained under assumed names was a U.S. passport. For decades, Frances Knight, head of the passport office in Washington, has been aware of the fake ID problem.
Ms. FRANCES KNIGHT: This has been going on for years. Identify fraud is nothing that—that is new in this Administration or in this decade. And yet, nobody—including the—the brains of the Department of Justice—have been able to come up with anything to stop it. It's been increasing. . . .[3]
Federal prison
Steen was sentenced to two consecutive five-year terms.[5] He served three years and was released from United States Penitentiary, Lompoc in 1974.[citation needed]
Public service
Shortly after his release, he campaigned for public office and was twice elected to the Isla Vista Municipal Advisory Council.[citation needed]
After his return to San Francisco, Steen was nominated to serve a term on the Market and Octavia Community Advisory Committee, repurposing public lands that became available after removal of the Central Freeway, which had been damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. His nomination was opposed by the Police Officers Association and the Board of Supervisors appointed Nick Wolff instead.[6]
As a member of San Francisco Forest Alliance, he has advocated against the culling of eucalyptus trees from parks and open space in San Francisco.[7] With Jessica Evans, he has opposed plans to cut down trees in Guy Place, a park in the Rincon Hill neighborhood.[8]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jamison, Peter (2009-09-16). "Time Bomb". SF Weekly. Archived from the original on 2015-01-31. Retrieved 2026-06-21. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Burrough, Bryan (7 April 2015). Days of Rage. Penguin. pp. 96–97. ISBN 9780698170070. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 False identificationhearing before the Subcommittee on Crime of the Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Ninety-seventh Congress, second session, on H.R. 352, H.R. 6105, H.R. 6946, and S. 2043 false identification, May 5, 1982. U.S. G.P.O. 30 August 1984. Search this book on
- ↑ Steen, Matthew (December 20, 2015). "PhreakNIC 19 - Doc it Your Own !@#$% Self". YouTube. Nashville 2600. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
- ↑ "Man guilty of fraud". The Oregonian. 1972-09-21. p. 30. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
- ↑ Matier, Philip; Ross, Andrew (2013-01-28). "Weather report". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 22. Retrieved 2026-06-21.
- ↑ Thompson, Walter. "Tree Activists Are Still Not Letting Their Eucalyptus Fight Die". San Francisco Magazine. Archived from the original on 2017-06-14. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
- ↑ Garchik, Leah (13 August 2017). "Gay uncle "guncles" provide extra love to nieces and nephews". San Francisco Chronicle.
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