ACLU Commission of Inquiry: The Ponce Massacre (1937)

Overview

In response to the March 21, 1937 massacre in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where police opened fire on a peaceful Nationalist Party march killing 19 and wounding over 200, the American Civil Liberties Union dispatched a Commission of Inquiry headed by Arthur Garfield Hays.

Key Findings

The Event

The Nationalist Party had organized a peaceful march in Ponce to commemorate the abolition of slavery and to protest the imprisonment of Nationalist Party president Pedro Albizu Campos. The march had initially received a police permit, which was revoked at the last minute under pressure from Governor Blanton Winship.

Despite the permit revocation, approximately 100 marchers assembled. They were surrounded by armed police. When the march began, police opened fire.

Commission Conclusions

1. The firing was unprovoked: 'The facts show that the weights of the evidence is that the affair of Palm Sunday, March 21, 1937, in Ponce, Puerto Rico, was a massacre.'

2. No Nationalist weapons: The Commission found no credible evidence that the Nationalists were armed or fired shots.

3. Police positioning: Police had positioned themselves in a formation designed to crossfire on the marchers — indicating premeditation, not spontaneous response.

4. Civilian casualties: Of the 19 dead, several were bystanders — not marchers. The police firing was indiscriminate.

5. Governor's responsibility: Governor Winship's revocation of the permit and deployment of armed police created the conditions for the massacre.

6. Cover-up: The colonial government's subsequent investigation attempted to blame the Nationalists and characterize the event as a 'riot' — the Commission rejected this characterization entirely.

The Commission's Language

The Hays Commission explicitly used the word 'massacre' — rejecting the colonial government's framing as a 'riot' or 'incident.' This language was significant: it named what happened as state violence against civilians, not a mutual confrontation.

Aftermath

Despite the Commission's findings:
- No police officer was ever prosecuted
- Governor Winship remained in office until 1939
- The colonial government continued to characterize the event as provoked by Nationalists
- The U.S. Congress did not investigate or act on the findings
- The massacre intensified repression of the independence movement

Significance

The Hays Commission Report is one of the most important documents in Puerto Rican history because it represents a credible, independent, American investigation that confirmed what Puerto Ricans already knew: the colonial government committed a massacre of unarmed civilians, then lied about it.