Attack on the U.S. Capitol

On March 1, 1954, four Puerto Rican Nationalists — Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andrés Figueroa Cordero, and Irving Flores Rodríguez — entered the visitors' gallery of the U.S. House of Representatives. Lebrón unfurled a Puerto Rican flag and shouted "Viva Puerto Rico Libre!" before the group opened fire on the House floor.

Five congressmen were wounded: Alvin Bentley of Michigan (most seriously), Ben Jensen of Iowa, Clifford Davis of Tennessee, George Fallon of Maryland, and Kenneth Roberts of Alabama. All survived.

The attackers stated their goal was not to kill but to draw international attention to Puerto Rico's colonial status, which the United States had been obscuring through the recent establishment of the Commonwealth in 1952. Lebrón carried a note in her purse reading: "Before God and the world, my blood claims for the independence of Puerto Rico."

All four were convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. They served over 25 years each before President Jimmy Carter commuted their sentences in 1979. The attack remains one of the most dramatic acts of anti-colonial protest in U.S. history.