White Eagle: the Wells Fargo depot robbery
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White Eagle was the name given by Los Macheteros (a guerrilla group favouring Puerto Rican independence from the United States) to its robbery of the Wells Fargo depot on 12 September 1983.
The robbery took place in West Hartford, Connecticut and netted approximately $7 million.
The group's code name for the robbery was "White Eagle" (or Águila Blanca in Spanish). After the robbery, the Macheteros threw some of the robbed money to the air from high floor buildings and kept the remaining sum to publicly give to the poor communities of Puerto Rico to fund education, food, housing, clothing and even toys for children.
By Puerto Rican, American, and International laws the act is considered a terrorist act due to the way it was executed and the experience suffered by the Wells Fargo security guards.
The United States FBI charges for this robbery include: Aggravated Robbery, Aggravated Robbery of Federally Insured Bank Funds, Armed Robbery, and Conspiracy to Interfere With Commerce By Robbery.