Río Piedras massacre
1935 Río Piedras massacre | |
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Location | Puerto Rican Nationalist Party |
Attack type | Massacre, mass shooting |
Deaths | 5 (4 were members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party) |
Perpetrator | Puerto Rico Police
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Part of a series on the |
Puerto Rican Nationalist Party |
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The Río Piedras massacre occurred on October 24, 1935, at the
Prelude to the massacre
In 1931, the U.S.-appointed Governor of Puerto Rico,
On October 23, 1935, a group of students at the university who supported Chardón began to collect signatures for a petition to declare Albizu Campos "Student Enemy Number One." In turn, a protest against the group by the pro-Nationalist faction of students denounced Chardón and the Liberal Party as agents of the United States.[4]
Massacre
On October 24, 1935, a student assembly held at the university declared Albizu Campos as persona non grata. Chardón requested that the governor provide armed Puerto Rico Police officers on the university grounds if the situation turned violent. Two police officers spotted a "suspicious-looking vehicle" and asked the driver, Ramón S. Pagán, and his friend Pedro Quiñones, for identification. A struggle ensued, and the police killed Pagán and Quiñones. The local newspaper, El Mundo, reported on October 25 that the day before, observers heard an explosion followed by gunfire; Eduardo Rodríguez Vega and José Santiago Barea were also killed that day.[4]
An eyewitness, Isolina Rondón, testified that she saw the police officers shooting at the victims and heard one police officer screaming, "not to let them escape alive." Her testimony was ignored, and no charges were filed against the police officers. The Río Piedras massacre left four men dead.[5][6]
Casualties
The supporters of the Nationalist Party killed during the shooting were:[6]
- Ramón S. Pagán – Nationalist Party Treasurer [7]
- Eduardo Rodríguez Vega
- José Santiago Barea
- Pedro Quiñones
A bystander (not a Nationalist) who was also killed:[8]
- Juan Muñoz Jiménez
Among the wounded were:
Aftermath
At the time of the massacre, the top-ranking U.S.-appointed police chief on the island was a former
On February 23, 1936, Colonel Riggs was assassinated by the Nationalists
News of the assassination spread throughout the United States. The Puerto Rican Senator, Luis Muñoz Marín, who was in Washington, D.C., at the time, was asked by Ernest Gruening, the administrator of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration (1935–1937), to publicly condemn Col. Riggs's assassination. Senator Muñoz Marín declined unless he was also allowed to condemn the Puerto Rico Police for allegedly executing the two assassins without trial.[1]
Gruening joined US Senator Millard Tydings from Maryland, a Democrat, in a 1943 legislative proposal to grant independence to Puerto Rico. Although the measure was welcomed by every political party in Puerto Rico, including Muñoz's Liberal Party, the senator opposed the measure. Senator Muñoz Marín said that independence would hurt Puerto Rico's economy. He contrasted the proposed bill with the provisions of the Tydings–McDuffie Act, which provided independence for the Philippines after a 10-year transition period. Due to his opposition, the bill did not progress in Congress, and Puerto Rico did not receive its political independence from the U.S.[1]
In 1950, the 81st United States Congress passed legislation to enable the
After Col. Riggs's assassination, many Nationalist Party leaders were imprisoned. Members of the Puerto Rican independence movement came under greater scrutiny and prosecution. Among the leaders arrested were Pedro Albizu Campos, Juan Antonio Corretjer, Luis F. Velazquez, Clemente Soto Vélez, Erasmo Velazquez, Julio H. Velazquez, Juan Gallardo Santiago, Juan Juarbe Juarbe, and Pablo Rosado Ortiz. They were later released on $10,000 bail.[9] The Nationalist Rafael Ortiz Pacheco fled to the Dominican Republic.[5]
These leaders were charged with having "conspired to overthrow" the U.S. government on the island. They were tried in the U.S. District Court in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. The first trial jury, which included a minority of Puerto Ricans among its members, ended in a hung jury. A second jury was picked, consisting solely of "Anglo-Americans." This jury found every Nationalist charged "guilty" except Juarbe Juarbe. The guilty findings and sentences were appealed before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston, MA, which affirmed the lower court's determinations.[14]
See also
- List of Puerto Ricans
- List of revolutions and rebellions
- Truman assassination attempt
- Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
- Ponce massacre
- Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s
- Puerto Rican Independence Party
- Intentona de Yauco
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7914-6417-5. Retrieved 2009-03-17.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-934461-69-3
- ^ Arrigoitia (2008), Puerto Rico Por Encima de Todo, p. 305
- ^ a b Arrigoitia (2008), Puerto Rico Por Encima de Todo, p. 306
- ^ a b Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico-FBI files
- ^ a b "Isolina Rondón", testimony, Peace Host
- ^ Marisa Rosado, Pedro Albizu Campos: Las Llamas de la Aurora, Ediciones Puerto, 2008, pp. 218-224
- ^ Marisa Rosado, Pedro Albizu Campos: Las Llamas de la Aurora, Ediciones Puerto, 2008, p. 228
- ^ a b "Prisoner Says Winship Acted in Retaliation". The Baltimore Sun. 8 March 1936. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
- ^ "Assassins Threaten Puerto Rico Governor". Miami Tribune. 30 March 1936. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
- ISBN 978-1568585017.
- ^ The Puerto Ricans: A Documentary History, Markus Wiener Publishers, 2008, p. 179
- ^ Arrigoitia (2008), Puerto Rico Por Encima de Todo
- ^ Historical Timeline, PR Dream