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#1
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06-19-2009, 05:55 PM
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 ★ Legacy Member ★ Poster Rank:125 Male Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 12,782
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Ponce Massacre Shootout
Nice vintage photo.
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#3
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06-19-2009, 06:14 PM
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| ★ Legacy Member ★ Poster Rank:125 Male Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 12,782
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Re: Ponce Massacre Shootout
via wikipedia: Days before, the march organizers applied for and received permits for a peaceful protest with the municipality of Ponce, under Jose Tormos Diego. Upon learning of the protests, however, the colonial governor of Puerto Rico at the time, General Blanton Winship, who had been appointed by Democratic president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, demanded the immediate withdrawal of the permits. They were withdrawn a short time before the protest was scheduled to begin. [2] Colonel Orbeta went to Ponce and concentrated police from across the island, among which he included all the machine gunners.[3] For many days, the government had planned to restrict the activities of the nationalists and their leader, Pedro Albizu Campos. Chief of Police Guillermo Soldevilla, with 14 policemen, placed himself in front of the marchers. Chief Perez Segarra and Sgt. Rafael Molina, commanding 9 men who were armed with Thompson submachine guns[2] and tear gas bombs, stood in the back. Chief of Police Antonio Bernardi, heading 11 policemen armed with machine guns, stood in the east; and another group of 12 police, armed with rifles, was placed in the west. As "La Borinqueña", (the national song) was being played, the demonstrators began to march.[3] They were then fired upon for over 15 minutes by the police from their four positions. About 235 were wounded and nineteen were killed[2]. The dead included 17 men, one woman, and a seven-year-old girl. Some of the dead were demonstrators, while others were simply passers-by. At the present time, only two survivors are still alive, Fernando Velez and his sister Beatriz Velez (the Velez siblings), nephew and niece of patriots Emeli Velez and Erasmo Vando. Many were chased by the police and shot or clubbed at the entrance of their houses. Others were taken from their hiding places and killed. Leopold Tormes, a member of the legislature, told reporters how a policeman murdered a nationalist with his bare hands. Dr. Jose N. Gandara, one of the physicians who assisted the wounded, testified that wounded people running away were shot, and that many were again wounded by the clubs and bare fists of the police. No arms were found in the hands of the civilians wounded, nor on the dead ones. About 150 of the demonstrators were arrested immediately afterward; they were later released on bail. |
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#10
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09-30-2009, 04:33 PM
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 My Rank: LANCE CORPORAL Poster Rank:2928 Female Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 135 Mentioned: 0 Post(s) Quoted: 1 Post(s)
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Re: Ponce Massacre Shootout
How sad... I wonder if something similar might happen very soon...with all this economic depression on the island, people be going crazy.  LOL!! And just to show that shit is starting to hit the fan.. Yesterday, the governor of Puerto Rico (Ponce is in Puerto Rico) got egged!!...It was hilarious! xD I mean come on, an egg?  But then again bush got shoed... hahaha(national strike is igniting on the 15th. serious shit.) |
sweet, i love the old B&W photos.
