#Blair house vice president residence how to
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Meanwhile, Torresola had approached a guard booth at the west corner, where he took White House Police officer Leslie Coffelt by surprise, shooting four times at close range and mortally wounding him with a 9×19mm German Luger. Two other officers also shot Collazo, in what was described as 'the biggest gunfight in Secret Service history.' Mroz stopped Collazo with a bullet to the chest while he was on the entrance steps. Īfter hearing the gunshots, Secret Service agent Vincent Mroz ran through a basement corridor, stepping out of a street-level door on the east side of the House, where he opened fire on Collazo. Collazo chambered a round and fired the weapon just as Birdzell was turning to face him, and shot the officer in his right knee. Collazo tried to shoot Birdzell in the back, but had failed to chamber a round in his pistol, and the gun did not fire. President Truman was napping in his quarters on the second floor. Torresola approached Blair House, located on Pennsylvania Avenue, from the west side, while Collazo walked up behind Capitol police officer, Donald Birdzell, who was standing on the steps of the Blair House. They took the train from New York to Washington, DC to reconnoiter the area.

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Torresola, a skilled gunman, taught Collazo how to load and handle the guns they would use, as his experience had been with other types. The two men realized that their attempt was near-suicidal and that they likely would be killed. They had learned that Truman was living at the Blair House, while the White House was being renovated. Truman in order to raise world attention to the Puerto Rican independence movement and the government's suppression of the uprisings. In New York City, nationalists Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo, after learning of the failure of the October 30 uprising, developed a plan to assassinate President Harry S. The town of Jayuya was badly damaged as a result. These were suppressed by the Puerto Rico National Guard with strong military force, including the use of planes, 500-pound bombs, and 50-calibre machine guns. The most notable uprisings occurred in Utuado, Jayuya, and San Juan. Uprisings occurred in Peñuelas, Mayagüez, Naranjito, Arecibo and Ponce. The revolts began on October 30, 1950, upon the orders of Pedro Albizu Campos, president of the Nationalist Party. The Party repudiated the 'Free Associated State' ( Estado Libre Asociado) status that had been enacted in 1950, as the Nationalists considered it to be a continuation of colonialism. The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s were an armed protest for independence from United States Government rule over Puerto Rico. The PPD was supporting negotiations with the United States to create a 'new' political status for the island. Nationalists believed that Puerto Rico suffered under American colonialism and wanted independence. In the 1940s, the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico had little political power in the country, where voters had elected the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico (PPD) as the majority in the legislature. Main article: Independence movement in Puerto Rico Background Puerto Rican independence movement In 1979, President Jimmy Carter commuted the sentence to the time served and Collazo was released.

Collazo was convicted in federal court and sentenced to death, which Truman commuted to life in prison.

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81.9% of votes were in favor of Puerto Rico continuing as a Free Associated State of the US. In acknowledgement of the issues related to Puerto Rico's status, Truman supported a 1952 plebiscite in Puerto Rico. Air Force bombed and strafed Jayuya, destroying it, and they bombed the neighboring town of Utuado. Uprisings occurred in many towns, including Jayuya where the two would-be assassins were born, and where their families still lived. Two days before the assassination attempt, Puerto Rican nationalists had attempted to overthrow the government of Puerto Rico.

Truman was upstairs in the house and not harmed. Torresola mortally wounded White House Police officer Leslie Coffelt, who killed him in return fire. Both men were stopped before gaining entry to the house. Truman resided at Blair House during the renovation of the White House. It was carried out by militant Puerto Rican pro-independence activists Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola while President Harry S.