–0 (5 members wounded). US House. “Timeline of 1954 Shooting Events.” Accessed Dec 2017

–0 (5 members wounded). USA Today. “Six decades ago, shots rained…Congress.” 10-22-2014

Narrative Information

U.S. House of Representatives: “On the morning of March 1, 1954, four Puerto Rican nationalists—Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andres Figueroa Cordero, and Irving Flores Rodriguez—boarded a train from New York City for Washington, D.C. Since 1898, when the United States took control of Puerto Rico, the status of the island has been debated. Over time, three main viewpoints took shape concerning Puerto Rico’s relationship with the United States: territory, state, or independent nation. The nationalists who traveled to the Capitol supported the most extreme interpretation of the latter—one which called for violence to draw attention to their goal of complete Puerto Rican independence from the United States….

“During…debate, between 2:00 and 2:30 pm, a number of visitors entered Gallery 11 on the southwest side of the chamber, including the four Puerto Rican nationalists and a group of sixth-grade students from Maryland….

“At 2:30 pm, as Members waited to have their votes counted by Speaker Martin, Lebron began firing a .38 caliber German pistol while shouting about Puerto Rican independence. Her companions joined her, firing at the House Floor. Many witnesses initially mistook the shooting for firecrackers. “A lot of the Congressmen didn’t realize they were real guns,” recalled House Page Bill Goodwin….

“During the next several minutes, some 16 shots were fired according to police records. [Speaker] Martin later recalled, “Bullets whistled through the chamber in the wildest scene in the entire history of Congress . . . ‘The house stands recessed,’ I declared, unhindered by any parliamentarian.”

“Three of the shooters attempted to exit the gallery, but were overpowered by visitors, Capitol and Metropolitan police officers, House staff, and Representative James Van Zandt of Pennsylvania. The fourth shooter escaped in the chaos, but was apprehended later in the day….

“Five Congressmen were wounded in the shooting, including Representatives Alvin Bentley of Michigan, Kenneth Roberts of Alabama, George Fallon of Maryland, Ben Jenson of Iowa, and Clifford Davis of Tennessee. Bentley, the most seriously injured…

“Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner Antonio Fernós-Isern, who could not vote, was in his office during the shooting. A trained doctor, he ran toward the Capitol after hearing about the attack to see if he could help the medical personnel. Capitol Police stopped him for security reasons, confining him to his office on the seventh floor of the New (Longworth) House Office Building. Fernós-Isern denounced the attackers as “communist dupes.” “Can it be the doing just of Puerto Rican Nationalists?” he asked a Baltimore Sun journalist rhetorically. “Who benefits? Certainly not Puerto Rico.”….

“March 2, 1954

“Puerto Rican Governor Luis Muñoz Marín flew to Washington on March 2 to express his condolences. The governor visited all the wounded Congressmen, except Bentley, who was unable to receive visitors.

“When the House reconvened at noon, Resident Commissioner Fernós-Isern was the first to speak, walking to the well as his colleagues applauded. “Mr. Speaker, on no occasion could I address this House with deeper sorrow,” he intoned. “To add to my consternation, the name of the dear island of my birth was invoked by the reckless vandals who staged this terrible deed yesterday. . . . The bullets that were shot did not only sorely hurt five of our colleagues; they all hit the heart of Puerto Rico.” He submitted resolutions of condemnation from Muñoz Marín and from the Puerto Rican legislature.

“Governor Muñoz Marín stood in the well of the House, shook hands with Members, and received a standing ovation. Speaker Martin voiced his support for the Puerto Rican government. “A few gangsters can’t break up the friendship of great nations,” he said.

“Conclusion

“Presented with a range of new security options in the wake of the attack, Speaker Martin remained careful to balance safety with public access to the House of Representatives. “We did indeed tighten up the security arrangements a good deal,” the Speaker observed. “Nevertheless I rejected the most ambitious proposal, one that called for installation of bullet-proof glass around the front of the galleries. For one thing, I was advised that the weight of this glass would be too great for the galleries to support. For another, I felt that, danger or not, Americans do not want their Congress walled off from the people by glass.”

“All five injured Members recovered from their wounds and returned to their House service. Congressman Bentley, the most seriously injured, continued serving in the House until 1961. Representatives Davis, Jensen, and Roberts served for a decade before leaving the House in 1965. Of the group, Representative Fallon remained the longest, serving until 1971 and chairing the Committee on Public Works….

“The four Puerto Rican nationalists—Lebron, Miranda, Cordero, and Rodriguez—were indicted, tried, and convicted in federal court for their actions. They received sentences ranging from 16 to 75 years in federal prison. More than two decades later, President Jimmy Carter granted clemency to the shooters.”

USA Today: “Six decades ago, the U.S. Congress found itself in the direct line of fire when four Puerto Rican nationalists began shooting onto the floor of the House of Representatives from the spectators’ gallery, injuring five members, one seriously….

“The stunning attack on March 1, 1954, was mounted by four members of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party — Lolita Lebron, Rafael Miranda, Irving Flores Rodriguez and Andres Figueroa Cordero — who shouted “Viva Puerto Rico Libre” (Long live free Puerto Rico) as they opened fire at random….

“The assault coincided with the opening of an InterAmerican Conference in Venezuela and was designed to draw attention to a bid for independence for Puerto Rico, which had become a U.S. territory with Commonwealth status in 1952….

“…Rep. Alvin Bentley, R-Mich.,…was seriously wounded in the chest. Also hit were George Hyde Fallon, D-Md., Kenneth Roberts, D-Ala., Clifford Davis, D-Tenn., and Ben Jensen, R-Iowa….” (USA Today (Doug Stanglin) “Six decades ago, shots rained down on Congress.” 10-22-2014.)

Sources

United States House of Representatives, Office of the Historian. Timeline of 1954 Shooting Events. Accessed 12-28-2017 at: http://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/1954-Shooting/Essays/Timeline/

USA Today (Doug Stanglin) “Six decades ago, shots rained down on Congress.” 10-22-2014. Accessed 12-28-2017 at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/10/22/congress-puerto-rico-nationalists-shooting/17721187/

1954 — March 1, Puerto Rican Nationalists shoot onto floor of US House of Representatives–0