United States Capitol shooting incident (1954)
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| U.S. Capitol shooting incident (1954) | |
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 Lebron is arrested after participating in the attack. |
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| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Date | March 1, 1954 |
| Attack type | shooting |
| Deaths | None |
| Injured | Alvin M. Bentley, Clifford Davis, Ben F. Jensen, George Hyde Fallon, and Kenneth A. Roberts |
| Perpetrator(s) | Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andrés Figueroa Cordero, and Irving Flores Rodríguez |
The U.S. Capitol shooting incident of 1954 was an attack on March 1, 1954 by four Puerto Rican nationalists who shot 30 rounds using automatic pistols from the Ladies' Gallery (a balcony for visitors) of the House of Representatives chamber in the United States Capitol.
The attackers, Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andres Figueroa Cordero, and Irving Flores Rodríguez, unfurled a Puerto Rican flag and began shooting at the 240 Representatives of the 83rd Congress who were on the floor during debate over an immigration bill. According to Cancel Miranda's recollection of the events (given in a radio interview with Puerto Rican media in 2006)[citation needed], Lebrón shot her pistol towards the ceiling (as she did not wish to hurt anyone), and Figueroa's pistol jammed. Cancel Miranda suspects he was responsible for most of the injuries and damage.
Five representatives were wounded in the attack, one[specify] seriously. The wounded lawmakers were Alvin M. Bentley (R-Michigan), who took a bullet to the chest, Clifford Davis (D-Tennessee), who was shot in the leg, Ben F. Jensen (R-Iowa), who was shot in the back, as well as George Hyde Fallon (D-Maryland) and Kenneth A. Roberts (D-Alabama). House pages helped carry Alvin Bentley off the House floor. Miranda suspects he personally wounded three and perhaps four of the five injured representatives.[citation needed] He is also certain that Flores wounded the fifth representative.[citation needed]
The attackers were immediately arrested. Figueroa Cordero requested to be charged with a capital crime and given capital punishment by electrocution.[citation needed] Lebrón had a written note in her coat explaining the motives for the attack, which she had written given the rather high probability of her being killed in crossfire.[citation needed] All the attackers were given minimum sentences of 70 years in prison, after their death sentences were commuted by President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
As a result of the incident, the backs of the chairs on the floors of both the House of Representatives and Senate chambers were lined with bulletproof material.[citation needed]
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[edit] Assailants freed
Figueroa Cordero was released in 1978, sick with terminal cancer.[citation needed] In 1979, President Jimmy Carter freed the remaining assailants. Their release coincided with Fidel Castro's release of several American CIA agents being held in Cuba on espionage charges. Carter's administration denied that there were any connections to the Cuban release, saying it was making a humanitarian gesture.[citation needed]
[edit] Quote
Before God and the world, my blood claims for the independence of Puerto Rico. My life I give for the freedom of my country. This is a cry for victory in our struggle for independence . . . The United States of America is betraying the sacred principles of mankind in their continuous subjugation of my country . . . I take all for responsible.
– Lolita Lebrón[citation needed], from a handwritten note found in her purse after the attack
[edit] Trivia
There are still bullet holes from the incident, found in the ceiling and in a desk drawer on the Republican side of the House floor.[citation needed]
[edit] External links
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This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. You can improve this article by introducing more precise citations. |
General references:
- "A Terrorist in the House" by Manuel Roig-Franzia, The Washington Post Magazine, February 22, 2004, pg. W12.
- "No one expected attack on Congress in 1954" Holland Sentinel, February 29, 2004
Biographies from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress:
