United States Capitol shooting incident (1954)
| 1954 U.S. Capitol shooting incident | |
|---|---|
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Date | March 1, 1954 |
| Target | United States Capitol (chamber of the House of Representatives) |
|
Attack type
|
Shooting |
| Weapons | Semi-automatic pistols: Walther P38 9mm, P08 Luger 9mm, Artillery Luger 9mm. |
| Deaths | 0 |
|
Non-fatal injuries
|
5 (Alvin M. Bentley, Clifford Davis, Ben F. Jensen, George Hyde Fallon, and Kenneth A. Roberts) |
| Perpetrators | Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andrés Figueroa Cordero, and Irvin Flores Rodríguez |
| Motive | Puerto Rican independence movement |
 You may watch newsreel scenes of the Ponce massacre here
|
|
You may watch newsreel scenes (in English and Spanish) of the Nationalist attack on the U.S. Capitol here
|
The United States Capitol shooting incident of 1954 was an attack on March 1, 1954, by four Puerto Rican nationalists; they shot 30 rounds from semi-automatic pistols from the Ladies' Gallery (a balcony for visitors) of the House of Representatives chamber in the United States Capitol. They wanted to highlight their desire for Puerto Rican independence from US rule.
The nationalists, identified as Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andres Figueroa Cordero, and Irvin Flores Rodríguez, unfurled a Puerto Rican flag and began shooting at Representatives in the 83rd Congress, who were debating an immigration bill. Five Representatives were wounded, one seriously, but all recovered. The assailants were arrested, tried and convicted in federal court, and given long sentences, effectively life imprisonment. In 1978 and 1979, they were pardoned by President Jimmy Carter; all four returned to Puerto Rico.
The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party was founded in September 17, 1922 by people seeking independence. They contended that, as a matter of international law, the Treaty of Paris could not empower the Spanish to "give" what was no longer theirs. While the Nationalists and other political parties supported independence, some political parties supported autonomy for the island within a formal relationship with the United States.
During this period of unrest, the electorate increasingly voted for the People's Democratic Party (PPD), which by 1940 controlled a majority in the legislature. It supported the act of 1950 by the US Congress, which established Puerto Rico as a Estado Libre Asociado ("Free Associated State"), with some autonomy. The people could elect their own governor, who was of the PPD; a bicameral legislature was established, and executive functions similar to those of American states were developed. The US retained responsibility for defense and foreign treaties.
...
Wikipedia