Red Brigade

   Founded between 1969 and 1970, the Red Brigade (Brigate Rosse—BR) is a Marxist–Leninist terrorist organization in Italy, though by the 21st century its activities have largely ceased. Influenced by the writings of Antonio Negri, the BR advocated violence as a means of class warfare with which to force the disintegration of the Italian state and its replacement with a revolutionary Marxist system. To this end, its members kidnapped and assassinated state figures, most infamously in 1978 the former prime minister Aldo Moro. Following a spate of similar actions between 1984 and 1988, a police clampdown on the BR led to the arrests of several of its key leaders, and the group’s activities subsequently dwindled. By 1989 the BR had all but disbanded, though it was connected with killings as recently as 2003.