| 1954 United States Capitol attack | |
|---|---|
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Date | March 1, 1954 |
| Target | United States Capitol (chamber of the House of Representatives) |
Attack type | Mass shooting |
| Weapons | Semi-automatic pistols: Walther P38 9mm, Luger P08 9mm, Artillery Luger 9mm.[1] |
| Deaths | 0 |
| Injured | 5 (Alvin M. Bentley, Clifford Davis, Ben F. Jensen, George Hyde Fallon, and Kenneth A. Roberts) |
| Perpetrators | Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andrés Figueroa Cordero, and Irvin Flores Rodríguez |
| Motive | Puerto Rican independence movement |
| Part of a series on the |
| Puerto Rican Nationalist Party |
|---|
 |
The 1954 United States Capitol shooting was an attack on March 1, 1954, by four Puerto Rican nationalists seeking to promote Puerto Rican independence from the United States. They fired 30 rounds from semi-automatic pistols onto the legislative floor from the Ladies' Gallery (a balcony for visitors) of the House of Representatives chamber within the United States Capitol.
The nationalists, identified as Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andres Figueroa Cordero, and Irvin Flores Rodríguez, unfurled a Puerto Rican flag and began shooting at Representatives in the 83rd Congress, who were debating an immigration bill. Five Representatives were wounded, one seriously, but all recovered. The assailants were arrested, tried successively in two federal courts and convicted. All received long consecutive sentences, amounting to life imprisonment. In 1978 and 1979, their sentences were commuted by President Jimmy Carter.[2] All four returned to Puerto Rico.
- ^ "Congress Congressmen Capitol Shooting 1954". AP Images.
- ^ "Commutations Granted by President Jimmy Carter (1977 - 1981)". www.justice.gov. December 8, 2017.