Río Piedras massacre
The Río Piedras massacre occurred at the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, Puerto Rico, and involved a confrontation between local police officers and supporters of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party on October 24, 1935. Four partisans of the Nationalist party and one police officer were killed during the shooting.
Casualties
The supporters of the Nationalist Party killed during the shooting were:- Ramón S. Pagán - Nationalist Party secretary
- Eduardo Rodríguez Vega
- José Santiago Barea
- Pedro Quiñones
Aftermath
A witness of the massacre, Isolina Rondón, testified how she saw the police officers shooting at the victims and how she heard one police officer screaming not to let them "escape alive". However, her testimony was ignored and there were no charges raised against the officers. They were instead given a promotion. In 1936, Nationalists Hiram Rosado and Elías Beauchamp assassinated Colonel Elisha Francis Riggs, who was the superior police officer in the island and was considered responsible for the massacre. Rosado and Beauchamp were arrested, and summarily executed without a trial at the police headquarters in San Juan but not before one of them posed solemnly for a news photographer outside and proffered a stiff military salute. The Puerto Ricans: a documentary history. Markus Wiener Publishers, 2008P179 Soon after legislation was proposed by U.S Senator Millard Tydings to grant independence to Puerto Rico.References
See also
- Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
- Ponce Massacre
- Jayuya Uprising
- Nationalist attack of San Juan
- Utuado Uprising
- Grito de Lares
- Pedro Albizu Campos
- Truman assassination attempt
- Puerto Rican Independence Party
- List of famous Puerto Ricans