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In Washington D.C., ruthless, fanatic violence erupted in the halls of Congress.  

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Three men and a woman, believed to be members of the Puerto Rican nationalist gang 

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that in November 1950 attempted the assassination of President Truman, 

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opened fire from the visitors' gallery of the House of Representatives.  

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Five Congressmen were hit, Ben F. Jensen of Iowa,

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Clifford Davis of Tennessee, Kenneth Roberts of Alabama, George H. Fallon of Maryland, 

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and Albert Bentley of Michigan, who was seriously injured.

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Observers noted the attack came as the Inter-American Conference opened in Venezuela, 

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and it's suggested the motive may have been to arouse anti-United States feeling in Latin America 

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through an act of apparently blind violence 

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carefully calculated to inflame America's relations with her neighbors.  

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Estimates of the numbers of shots fired range from 15 to 30, 

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and each bullet hole found is a grim reminder 

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to those who were present of the terrible surprise attack.

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The gang, seized by shocked bystanders as they emptied their guns, 

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was held at police headquarters as a widespread search was launched 

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for others who shared in the plot.

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To Irving Flores, Rafael Miranda, Mrs. Lolita Lebron, 

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Andres Cordero, the gun wielders, and to their accomplices, goes the evil distinction 

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of having perpetrated a criminal outrage almost unique in America's history.

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Wanton violence that shocked and stirred the nation 

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and did only harm to the cause of the Puerto Rican people.