Protests in Puerto Rico mount against FBI over tactics (Miami Herald)

[seafan]

Protests in Puerto Rico mount against FBI over tactics

BY FRANCES ROBLES
March 27, 2006


SAN JUAN - Students masqueraded as rifle-toting federal agents, while others donned T-shirts with the face of a man they called Puerto Rico's ``liberator.''
Near the angry shouts and political placards stood Elma Beatriz Rosado with a calm explanation for it all: ``I want the FBI out of Puerto Rico. The time has come for them to leave, now.''
Rosado's husband -- convicted bank robber, fugitive and pro-independence activist Filiberto Ojeda Ríos -- was killed in an FBI shootout in September. In the months since, the FBI has catapulted onto the front pages here, accused of deliberately letting the founder of the radical Macheteros group bleed to death as well as stonewalling follow-up investigations.

Last month, federal agents executing search warrants on the homes of independentistas were captured on video pepper-spraying journalists covering the story, with seemingly little or no provocation, further fueling anti-FBI sentiment.
The Puerto Rico Department of Justice sued the FBI last week in federal court, saying the agency is obstructing local law enforcement investigations into the two incidents. Puerto Rico's Justice Secretary recently traveled to Washington to lobby Congress to pressure the FBI into releasing information about them.
Citing an ongoing investigation into Ojeda Ríos' death, the FBI officials declined to be interviewed for this article. In media releases, the FBI said it acted in good faith when facing an armed fugitive as well as reporters who were impeding an investigation by crossing a police line.

snip

Now protests demanding the FBI's ouster are growing not just in frequency but also in participation. Thousands of Puerto Rican students, union activists, environmentalists and other sympathizers of liberal causes are joining the independentistas to rally against the FBI's presence on the island. When the international media convened at a San Juan baseball stadium for the World Baseball Classic earlier this month, they encountered demonstrators -- some wearing shirts bearing Ojeda Ríos' face -- stretched for a half mile across one of San Juan's biggest avenues.

snip

`POTENTIAL ATTACK'

On Feb. 10, the FBI executed six search warrants on independence movement leaders to prevent ''a potential domestic terrorist attack'' against ''privately owned interests in Puerto Rico,'' according to an FBI statement. Activists and politicians scoffed at the statement, because the governor and law enforcement authorities have said they were unaware of any such threats.
Puerto Rican politicians were infuriated when FBI agents were captured that day on video, showering reporters and photographers with pepper spray as the agents executed search warrants on activists' homes. The FBI defended the move, saying agents ''acted with restraint'' considering reporters had crossed a police perimeter.
Puerto Rico's justice secretary has said the FBI turned over weapons used on the Ojeda Ríos raid, but has not made agents available for interviews. In the pepper spray incident, the FBI has refused to identify the agent in the video, he said.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/14194413.htm

[Dogmudgeon]

1. The latest manufactured enemy: Latinos

I can't even come up with a suitably scathing comment for this newest tactic.

--p!

[MasonJar]

2. Good for you, Puerto Rica. The US government lies just for the

fun of it.

[IndianaGreen]

3. The FBI executed Ojeda

and the US occupation of Puerto Rico must come to an end!

[Lost-in-FL]

4. It seem Conyers is getting involved!

:bounce:

Link in spanish http://www.endi.com/2006/03/27/elpais/390946.asp?category=El+Pais&title=Impulso+a+denuncias+contra+el+FBI+en+foro+congresional&artdate=2006/03/27

[Judi Lynn]

5. After seeing your post, I did a quick look for Conyers news on Puerto Rico

He's going to give a briefing tomorrow, noted in this story:

Concerns raised as FBI agents use pepper spray on reporters

New York, March 27, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned about the use of pepper spray by U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents against journalists covering an FBI raid last month in San Juan, Puerto Rico. U.S. Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan has scheduled a briefing on Tuesday in Washington, D.C., on this and other recent incidents involving law enforcement officials in Puerto Rico.

The incident occurred February 10 at a San Juan condominium, where FBI agents executed a search warrant related to an investigation of a Puerto Rican separatist group. A group of journalists arrived at the building during the raid. The FBI said in a statement that agents established a crime scene perimeter at the front gate and the parking lot entrance to the condominium complex. "Although members of the general public and media were repeatedly told not to cross the perimeter throughout the day, residents were allowed to enter and exit the building," the FBI said in its statement.

Normando Valentín, an anchor for the local Channel 4 News, told CPJ that the gate was unguarded when he and other journalists arrived, and at least 20 reporters were allowed inside by a resident who waved them in after opening the gate. Harry Rodriguez, an FBI spokesman in San Juan, told CPJ that the altercation occurred when agents tried to leave the scene.

When FBI agents emerged from the building, they were confronted by journalists in the parking lot, according to videotapes of the incident taken by four news organizations and compiled by the Puerto Rico Journalists Association. The journalists began asking questions about the raid, while the agents, most armed and wearing flak jackets, began ordering the reporters to move back, the tapes show. Journalists stepped backward, but the gate was closed by then. The only apparent exit was a narrow passageway, the tapes show, which was large enough for one person to pass through at a time. None of the reporters appeared to leave the parking area at that point.
(snip/...)

http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/americas/usa27mar06na.html

Thanks for the info. on Conyers. He's truly courageous. Stands up to some vicious people.

[IndianaGreen]

6. Charlie Rangel and John Conyers calling for investigation

PRESS RELEASE
CONGRESSMAN CHARLES RANGEL

CONG RANGEL DEMANDS FEDERAL PROBES INTO KILLING OF PUERTO RICAN ACTIVIST
BY FBI AGENTS

Lawmaker Calls on Justice Department and Congress to Bring
Those Responsible to Justice

Outraged by the killing of Puerto Rican political activist, Filiberto
Ojeda Rios, by federal authorities, Congressman Charles Rangel today
called for thorough investigations of the incident by the U.S. Justice
Department and Congress in order to bring those responsible to
justice.

Congressman Rangel said he was outraged by press reports about the
incident. "No matter what controversy Mr. Rios may have been
involved in, the authorities had absolutely no right to shoot him down
and then leave him to die alone without medical attention. I share the
pain and grief of his family and the people of Puerto Rico who are
rightfully outraged by this incident."

In letters to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and House of
Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner
and Ranking Member John Conyers, Congressman Rangel said he
wanted a "thorough investigation into this matter to determine the
reasons for this action, and what will be done to bring those
responsible-- from the lowest to the highest levels--to justice.
"His killing appears to have resulted from the use of deadly force in a
way that was totally unjustified," Congressman Rangel wrote.

http://www.virtualboricua.org/Docs/PDF/ojeda_rios.pdf

[Judi Lynn]

8. There's an odd touch mentioned here which is a little sadistic:

Filiberto Ojeda Ríos Killed by US in His Home in Puerto Rico
09/29/2005 PUERTO RICAN INDEPENDENCE ACTIVIST KILLED AFTER LIVING UNDERGROUND FOR 15 YEARS
Filiberto Ojeda Ríos was assassinated in his home in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico by the FBI on September 23rd. Ojeda Ríos was a member of the Macheteros (also known as the Ejercito Popular Boricua or Boricua Popular Army), a militant pro-independence organization in Puerto Rico. He had been labeled a terrorist and sought by US authorities since 1990. In that year he had removed his electronic ankle bracelet while he awaited trial for his involvement in a 1983 $7 million Wells Fargo truck heist in West Hartford, Connecticut. He had been living clandestinely ever since.

On September 23rd, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos and his wife were alone in their home when they were shot at over 100 times. Ojeda Ríos was hit in the shoulder on Friday afternoon. Law enforcement waited 20 hours before entering the house, and found him dead. Autopsy reports show that he had bled to death from the wound in his shoulder.

The killing of Ojeda Ríos added insult to injury for Puerto Ricans, who are fighting for indepdendence from the United States. He was killed on the anniversary of the Grito de Lares, which is considered to have been the launching point of Puerto Rican nationalism, and is a national holiday.
(snip/...)

http://www.indybay.org/archives/archive_by_id.php?id=3633&category_id=53



Independentistas Denounce FBI Assassination of Revolutionary Filiberto Ojeda Rios
By Bryan G. Pfeifer

Denouncing the assassination of Puerto Rican revolutionary patriot Filiberto Ojeda Rios, over 50 independentisas and their allies protested at the JFK Federal Building at noon in downtown Boston September 29.

The FBI perpetrated this despicable and cowardly act against the Puerto Rican nation by carrying out the assassination on Sept. 23, the 137th anniversary of El Grito de Lares, the day the first Republic of Puerto Rico was proclaimed in 1868 and which Puerto Ricans view as the birth of the nation.

Seventy two year old Ojeda Ríos was a leader of the clandestine Popular Boricua Army (EPB-Macheteros) – Machete Wielders. He had an arrest warrant from a Connecticut District Court that convicted him in absentia for 55 years for his presumed participation in the 1983 famous $7 million Wells Fargo robbery. This robbery, according to many sources, went to fund toys for poor children and the Macheteros’ work.

Over 250 FBI agents including two dozen trained sharp shooters shot at Ojeda Rios at least 100 times. After he was hit by a sharpshooters bullet he was left to die on the floor of his Machertos home bleeding for 20 hours as U.S. agents coldy stood by and refused even medical personnel to enter the residence.
(snip/...)

http://www.iacboston.org/puerto_rico/0929-Filiberto-Rios.html

[bemildred]

7. FBI death squads need to be dismantled.

It should stick to investigation, like the name says.