Antonia Martínez

Antonia Martínez Lagares was a 21-year-old student at the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, native of Arecibo who was killed by a police officer. She was expected to graduate with a major in Education. On March 4, 1970, during conflicts caused when the Fuerza de Choque (Riot Police) was dispatched to the Campus of Río Piedras of UPR to intervene against students protesting the presence of the Reserve Officers Training Corps presence on the campus, Antonia looked from her lodging's balcony, on the second floor above Ponce de León Avenue, while police officers beat down other fellow students, she shouted at them "asesinos" (Assassins!). One of the police officers looked up at the balcony, took out his gun and shot her. The bullet pierced her head and injured in the neck another student that was with her. Antonia died soon after at Auxilio Mutuo hospital. Celestino Santiago, the other wounded student, told the events and identified some of the present police officers. After that, a police officer was accused, but was absolved on trial. Later on, on the declarations of some police agents to the Senatorial Juridical Commission of Puerto Rico on the investigations of the Cerro Maravilla Incident case, a police agent denounced the cover-up by the Police Department and the FBI of the murder of Antonia Martínez, declaring that in order to cover the case, a police officer that had nothing to do with it was accused so he'd be absolved. The murderer was protected and has never been tried before a court for this crime. Her death had a meaningful influence in those years' pop culture, and was taken as a symbol of police abuse and oppression. PIP: Vandalism of mural represents ‘intolerance, repression’ by ‘enemies’ In 2010, a mural commemorating the 40th anniversary of the killing of Martínez was vandalized. Led by former political prisoner Rafael Cancel Miranda, activists from various organizations supported a group of urban artists that restored the mural. Restauran mural de Antonia Martínez Lagares Another mural commemorating Antonia is located at the Humanities Building of the University of Puerto Rico. Martínez is one of two UPR students to die during rioting in the early 70's. A year after her death, UPR ROTC cadet Jacinto Gutierrez was killed while defending the ROTC building at UPR's main campus.

References

• Comisión por la Verdad y la Justicia (in Spanish)

External links

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5ZHXsG-Hhs- Video de Funeral De Antonia Martinez Lagares 1970
• http://dialogodigital.com/en/entre-estudiantes/2010/03/antonia-martinez-lagares-cuarenta-años-despues