January 30, 2022

"My mom was terrified that my dad, a police inspector in charge of Senate security, was not coming back on March 1, 1954, the day four Puerto Rican nationalists pulled out guns and sprayed bullets..."

"... from the spectators’ gallery above the House floor. Five representatives were wounded. My father ran over from the Senate and wrested a 38-caliber pistol from one of the shooters. My brother Kevin, then in second grade, was traumatized by my mom’s terror as she stood in the kitchen, frozen, before she got word that my dad was OK... I thought about this listening to Dominique Luzuriaga, Officer Rivera’s widow, give her eulogy through sobs... Officer Rivera and his 27-year-old partner, Wilbert Mora, died answering a 911 call from a mother in Harlem who said her son had verbally threatened her. They walked down a hall in the apartment and the son jumped out and opened fire, fatally wounding both officers... [Rivera] was the class clown, but he got a serious crush on Dominique in grade school. Teachers had to sit them apart so they could focus...  When she was called to Harlem Hospital, she said, 'Walking up those steps, seeing everybody staring at me, was the scariest moment I’ve experienced.' Standing by her dead husband, wrapped in sheets, she told him: 'Wake up, baby. I’m here.' In the eulogy, she often talked directly to her husband, as though he were standing at her side: 'The little bit of hope I had that you would come back to life just to say "Goodbye" or just to say "I love you" one more time had left. I was lost. I’m still lost.'"

From "Rhapsody for a Boy in Blue" by Maureen Dowd (NYT).

To read more about that March 1, 1954 incident, here's the Wikipedia article. Excerpt: "The assailants were arrested, tried and convicted in federal court, and given long sentences, amounting to life imprisonment. In 1978 and 1979, their sentences were commuted by President Jimmy Carter."

And from "Rafael Cancel Miranda, Gunman in ’54 Attack on Congress, Dies at 89/He and three others opened fire on a crowded House chamber in the cause of Puerto Rican independence. Some saw him as a terrorist, others as a hero" (NYT, March 3, 2020):

“Can you imagine us thinking we could overthrow the U.S. government with little pistols?” he told The Militant. “I wish I could!” 

He referred to the attack as “an armed demonstration.” 

“We knew that if we went with signs, we weren’t going to get attention,” he said.

50 comments:

Michael K said...

Clinton also pardoned Puerto Rico terrorists from a later generation. There is something about Democrats and terrorists. Hodgekinson could not be reached for comment. Dick Durban has not released any of his communications with the shooter.

Gerda Sprinchorn said...

fatally wounding both officers

Kind of an odd construction. Why "fatally wounding"? Why not just "killing", or "fatally shooting". To my mind, "wounding" implies hurting but not killing because if you actually kill someone, you say you killed them, you don't say you wounded them and then add that you fatally wounded them.

Maybe its a legal thing.

Skeptical Voter said...

Now there's a real "assault on our democracy". Not that Adam Schiff and Nancy Pelosi could grok that.

wendybar said...

THAT'S what a REAL armed Insurrection looks like.

John henry said...

None were charged with insurrection or seditious conspiracy.

Lame ass viking (commanche?) hats? Walking around inside rope lines? What kind of lame ass"insurrection" is that?

When you want an honest election or a real insurrection, Puerto Ricans know how to deliver

John LGBTQBNY Henry

khematite said...

I think "fatally wounded" is in contrast to "instantly killing." The former suggests some lapse of time between a shooting and the resulting actual death. A blog for criminal defense lawyers opens a hypothetical scenario with "Suddenly a gun holder opens fire on a crowd instantly killing some and fatally wounding quite a number."

mikee said...

Conflating two media narratives in one post? What next, peace in the Mideast?

narciso said...

so was the bombings of the capitol building in 1971 and 1983

Andrew said...

They should have been executed, as a deterrent.

narciso said...

that would be bill ayers, the father of the current da in san francisco and susan rosenberg, the godmother of so called black lives matter,

Drago said...

As any of the Althouse lefties and GOPe-ers can tell you, that was a mostly peaceful spraying of bullets....and probably is just a myth anyway, and russian disinformation to boot. Then they'll mention Charlottesville.....

Butkus51 said...

Now they would have a prime time slot on CNN.

Achilles said...

This act was not an insurrection.

It was terrorism.

This is really quite ridiculous.

Drago said...

narciso: "that would be bill ayers, the father of the current da in san francisco and susan rosenberg, the godmother of so called black lives matter,"....

....and in whose living room obama launched his first political campaign....though obama claimed that this guy who mentored him, worked with him, helped obama purchase a nice house in the neighborhood and connected obama to other insiders, was, and I quote: "just a guy in the neighborhood".

narciso said...

it's striking all the things have to deny, to grovel for a space on the airways and intertubes.

Achilles said...

If you all think the Regime is desperate now. Just wait.

There will be an audit and an investigation of the 2020 election.

The Republicans that keep blocking these investigations will be defeated.

Sebastian said...

How many years in solitary prior to conviction?

Left Bank of the Charles said...

Pedro Albizu Campos, who as president of the Nationalist Party was suspected of complicity in the attack, was arrested and charged with sedition. Wikipedia say that were reports the Carter pardons were in exchange for release of several CIA agents held by Cuba, although that was officially denied by the U.S. government. So if the pardons Trump has dangled don’t happen, the January 6 perps can still hope that Putin will negotiate clemency for them.

gilbar said...

“Can you imagine us thinking we could overthrow the U.S. government with little pistols?”

How could they Not Realize.. That to Overthrow the U.S. government, you need a loincloth & buffalo horns

mezzrow said...

This is what repressive tolerance looks like.

Achilles said...


Blogger Left Bank of the Charles said...

Pedro Albizu Campos, who as president of the Nationalist Party was suspected of complicity in the attack, was arrested and charged with sedition. Wikipedia say that were reports the Carter pardons were in exchange for release of several CIA agents held by Cuba, although that was officially denied by the U.S. government. So if the pardons Trump has dangled don’t happen, the January 6 perps can still hope that Putin will negotiate clemency for them.

You see the leftists still believe that Trump colluded with Russia.

Despite the fact that Biden has shut down US production and forced us to import from Russia.

Despite the fact that Biden has removed sanctions on the Nordstream 2 pipeline.

Despite the fact that Biden has blocked the construction of as many pipelines that would compete with the Nordstream 2 pipeline as he can find.

Despite the fact that Ukraine has all but accused Biden of making a deal with Russia and Biden publicly invited Russia to invade Ukraine.

Despite the fact that Hunter Biden has been paid millions of dollars by businesses owned by Russian Oligarchs.

Despite the fact that Hunter Biden has been paid millions of dollars by businesses owned by Ukrainian Oligarchs.

Despite the fact that the Clinton campaign has been caught unequivocally working with Russian agents to concoct the Russian collusion hoax.


People like Left Bank no longer have an excuse pushing this crap.

They are just liars and they know it.

Big Mike said...

Kind of an odd construction. Why "fatally wounding"?

@Gerda, and according to the information I have read, kind of incorrect with respect to Officer Rivera, who was — again, according to the information I have read — pronounced dead at the scene. His partner, Officer Mora, was shot in the head but alive and transported to the hospital, where doctors tried to save his life but ultimately couldn’t.

narciso said...

oh never mind


https://www.theepochtimes.com/someone-opened-the-doors-from-the-inside-jan-6-defense-attorney-says_4242633.html

Drago said...

Russia Russia Russia Collusion Truther and Hoax Dossier Enthusiast Left Bank: "So if the pardons Trump has dangled don’t happen, the January 6 perps can still hope that Putin will negotiate clemency for them."

#BlueAnon!

Did anyone else catch the reports out of Canada where the Canadian versions of Left Bank are have switched from the narrative the truck convoy is insignificant to OMG!! Putin Is Controlling The Massive And Threatening Truck Convoys!!

One suspects Team #BlueAnon blames Putin for erectile dysfunction issues as well.

Drago said...

You know whats really amusing?

Left Bank probably believes his little Putin quip was clever and persuasive!

LOL

Someone should ask him.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

"“Can you imagine us thinking we could overthrow the U.S. government with little pistols?” he told The Militant. “I wish I could!”

He referred to the attack as “an armed demonstration.”

“We knew that if we went with signs, we weren’t going to get attention,” he said."

He certainly sounds like a good candidate for a pardon.

We'll done, Jimmah, well done.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Gov Polis(D-yet another greedy money whore) (who was influenced by Kim Kardashian) commuted the sentence of a man who recklessly drove thru the mountains of CO - and ended up killed 4 people and seriously injuring others by plowing his truck into them on a crowded highway.

Polis did this before the court had a chance to wrap up.

"In a joint, bipartisan letter from Democrat Michael Dougherty of Boulder County and Republican Daniel Rubenstein of Mesa County, the two district attorneys take issue - in stark terms - with the decision by Governor Jared Polis to commute the sentence of runaway truck driver Rogel Aguilera-Mederos from 110 years to just 10, before the judge in the case even had an opportunity to sentence the convicted killer. Dougherty joins Dan to offer his perspective on the case and explain why he felt it was important to write the open letter."

The Truck driver removed the device that monitors speed on commercial trucks. His brakes over-heated and ultimately became useless. At one point as he recklessly drove for hours thru the mountains of CO on I-70, he pulled over and his boss told him to let the brakes cool for several hours. The driver waited 5 minutes.

bottom line- leftists throughout history love them some killers. their hearts bleed for killers.

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

Were any wearing buffalo horn helmets?

Hammond X. Gritzkofe said...

I remember this one also. One of my pilot training classmates in 1965 was from the PRANG.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico_Air_National_Guard#1981_Mu%C3%B1iz_Air_National_Guard_Base_attack

Quaestor said...

Amazing! In 1954, Capitol security men (they were all biological inseminating persons in those days) arrested and disarmed actual armed insurrectionists without killing anyone. Those guys were probably WWII vets who were brainwashed by politically incorrect non-commissioned officers into violent behavior patterns that completely ignored the right to life and autonomy of entire ethnic/national groups, and yet they were able to turn off their evil military conditioning and NOT shoot those Puerto Ricans or nuke San Juan. Amazing.

Luckily we're much more enlightened today. We always respect the pronoun choices of anyone no matter what obsolete politically-neutral science claims about entirely fictional X and Y chromosomes, and we always shoot unarmed mensurating persons if they scare us even a little. We're so nice and smart, not like those dumb military subhumans. I'd worship me if I weren't so admirably humble.

William said...

I read the Dowd column. While praising the officer who was recently shot, she took a quick swipe at Chauvin. She claimed that Officer Jason Rivera was "the mirror opposite of the brutal Derek Chauvin".....I think Chauvin will end up doing more time than a lot of criminals, including those who shot up Congress. Dowd's sympathies towards the police extend so far and no further.....I think Chauvin was to some extent culpable in Floyd's homicide, but people feel obliged to put him in the same category of Nazi concentration camp guards when describing his activities during the Floyd arrest.

rhhardin said...

Dowd's father was a policeman.

Quaestor said...

One suspects Team #BlueAnon blames Putin for erectile dysfunction issues as well.

Left Bank's limp pre-dates Putin. Obviously, it was Ronnie Raygun who ruined his woody.

rhhardin said...

As Loury said people say dismissively of blacks, "Look at how they treat each other." He's not open to my solution.

Let blacks take up a collection to help poor whites, and see what changes in what blacks think of their themselves. I'd guess very positive. It's a place to find dignity, which being a victim never is.

It would even attract teen-aged males.

rhhardin said...

Chauvin used minimal force. The point of the knee restraint is that you can put down only a very light force but one that can't he moved since your full weight is millimeters away if the guy rises against it. Try it on something.

There's no physics in a show trial.

Iman said...

Crocodile tears, Democrats. Own it.

Floris said...

So according to the NYT, when people spray the house floor with bullets, that's "an armed demonstration". When unarmed people enter the capital without permission, that's "an attempted coup".

Something is not adding up here.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Armed demonstration my ass. I bet those Puerto Ricans couldn't even drive a Freightliner!

n.n said...

Why "fatally wounding"? Why not just "killing", or "fatally shooting
...
Maybe its a legal thing.


Homicide. Abortion. Planned Policehood.

Yeah, it's a legal thing, it's also to socially distance, but, more so, it is religious (e.g. the nominally secular, relativistic "ethics"). They like to play with double-edged scalpels in semantics, concepts, history, science, etc.

n.n said...

I think Chauvin was to some extent culpable in Floyd's homicide

Perhaps. Floyd suffered from comorbidities and a Fentanyl-induced progressive condition that preceded and prompted exit from the vehicle. The assembled mob prevented or delayed access by authorized (per legal liability) medical personnel.

n.n said...

so was the bombings of the capitol building in 1971 and 1983

Americans, on principle (i.e. conservativism), are, for better and worse, guided to moderation in judgment and practice, but there has been progress.

robother said...

Somehow, for the New York Times, it seems the only good cops are dead cops.

BUMBLE BEE said...

Those Puerto Ricans should have used bombs. I worked for Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn. They got to live down the block from a future president. Imagine that.

tim in vermont said...

Then there was no sound at all
But the clock upon the wall
Then the door burst open wide
And my daddy stepped inside
And he kissed my momma's face
And he brushed her tears away

The night Chicago died
Na-na na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na
The night Chicago died


Wince said...

Are we sure Dowd isn’t just confused after listening to “The Night Chicago Died” on Lost 45’s?

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dLSrQh2cBxE

My daddy was a cop on the east side of Chicago
Back in the U.S.A. back in the bad old days…

I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night it really was
Brother what a fight it really was
Glory be!
I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed!

There was shouting in the street
And the sound of running feet
And I asked someone who said
"'Bout a hundred cops are dead!"
I heard my mama cry
I heard her pray the night Chicago died
Brother what a night it really was
Brother what a fight it really was
Glory be!

And ther was no sound at all
But the clock upon the wall
Then the door burst open wide
And my daddy stepped inside
And he kissed my mama's face
And he brushed her tears away
The night Chicago died
Na-na na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na
The night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed!
The night Chicago died
Na-na na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na
The night Chicago died
Brother what a night it really was
Brother what a fight it really was
Glory be!
The night Chicago died
Na-na na, na-na-na, na-na-na-na-na
The night Chicago died
Brother what a night the people saw
Brother what a fight the people saw
Yes indeed!

tim in vermont said...

Trump 'dangled' fair treatment, something that the political prisoners held without trial or even charges are being denied.

Gahrie said...

Somehow, for the New York Times, it seems the only good cops are dead cops.

They feel the same way about Republicans.

Big Mike said...

Dowd’s sympathy, feigned or otherwise, is not universal among New Yorkers. An actress named Jacqueline Guzman made a TikTok video complaining about the street closures for Officer Rivera’s funeral.

”We do not need to shut down most of Lower Manhattan because one cop died for probably doing his job incorrectly,”

There was just a bit of a backlash (well, more than just “a bit”) and the film production company she had been working for felt constrained to fire her. Undaunted, an individual identifying himself as Christopher Flanigan, a mathematics teacher at Coney Island Prep in Brooklyn, posted an overhead shot of thousands of officers lining Fifth Avenue for Rivera’s funeral Friday at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He wrote

“5/30/20: NYPD SUV drives into a crowd of protestors. Ideal conditions for reciprocityan .”.

Apparently there was an incident with an NYPD vehicle and New York’s George Floyd riots in May 2020. No doubt Mr. Flanigan felt so aggrieved by that incident he felt the need to piss off thousands of New York cops. Perhaps not his best move. We shall see.

Tina Trent said...

Jimmy Carter's commutation of those sentences is only one deadly blot on his career. He and his wife had some covered-up interactions with the Jim Jones cult, which murdered hundreds, mostly poor minorities. Their support encouraged Jones.

Based on some pretty close contact, I never could tell if the Carters were blinded by narcissism or just purely evil. Maybe both.

Note that all the radical chic terrorist cop killers were pardoned or had their sentences commuted, or were not tried at all.

Christopher B said...

In addition to Billy Jeff pardoning over a dozen FALN to grease Hillary's path into the Senate with the PR vote in NY, Obama also pardoned at least one other FALN terrorist.