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 Saturday, May 25, 2013
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Comments on DOJ Report
Regarding Ojeda Killing |
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MIGUEL GUZMÁN
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Saturday, August 12, 2006 |
FILIBERTO OJEDA RÍOS
Photo: Claridad
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 he Office of the Inspector General of the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) released a report regarding the September 23, 2005 assault and killing of Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, the independence leader and Responsible General of the Ejército Popular Boricua - Los Macheteros.
Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) shot the independence leader to death during a controversial operation. The date on which the operation took place has added speculation that the DOJ, under the Bush Administration, intentionally rattled Puerto Rico’s colonial cage.
In the report, the DOJ states that they “found no evidence to suggest that the FBI wanted to arrest Ojeda on El Grito de Lares because of the symbolic significance of that day [September 23]. It is true that the FBI perceived the holiday as a potential opportunity to arrest Ojeda if he left his house to attend the festival...”
On that date in 1865, a large-scale revolt was launched against the Spaniards in the town of Lares, Puerto Rico, proclaiming, for the first time, the island as a free and sovereign nation. Although the revolt was short-lived, the day, known as El Grito de Lares, is held as almost sacred to the independence movement.
Adding fuel to the conspiracy theories, the report also concluded that 107 shots were fired by the FBI into the house that Ojeda Ríos was in. The year 2005 marked the 107th year of Puerto Rico under US colonial rule. More concrete ideas in the report, however, revealed that Special Agent in Charge Luis Fraticelli “approved [an] extremely aggressive immediate assault strategy.” The DOJ determined this strategy was “a flawed decision and not the best option available.” In addition, there was a “lack of confidence” and “confusion” regarding procedure after the shooting. With this and other operational flaws, however, the actions by the FBI did not constitute “misconduct,” yet the killing of Ojeda Ríos “should provide important lessons for the FBI in the future,” according to the report.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation was founded in 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation.
“The presence in Puerto Rico of Special Agents of the US Department of Justice can be traced back to even the first decades of the twentieth century. However, it was not until the 1930s that the Bureau established a regular and permanent presence on the island,” according to Ramón Bosque-Pérez, a Researcher at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies in New York, in a document titled, “The FBI and Puerto Rico: Notes On A Conflicted History.”
Special Agent in Charge Luis Fraticelli “approved [an] extremely aggressive immediate assault strategy,” according to the report. The DOJ determined this strategy was “a flawed decision and not the best option available.”
Despite the FBI’s long legacy in Puerto Rico, an island where the majority of its inhabitants has spoken Spanish for centuries, some lapses in intelligence were noted during the operation. Hours before the assault, sniper-observer teams from the FBI were deployed on a reconnaissance detail to gather information in the area of the residence Ojeda Ríos was suspected to be located in. Unfortunately, the agents did not speak Spanish. According to the report, “It clearly would have been useful to have had some Spanish-speaking agents on the sniper-observer team,” prior to the assault on Ojeda Ríos.
SERRANO: “OPERATIONAL CALAMITIES” BY THE
FBI IN PUERTO RICO NEED TO BE ANSWERED."
Congressman José Serrano commented on the FBI killing of Filiberto Ojeda Ríos during a public forum in Spanish Harlem on February of 2006, days after heavily
armed and militarized units of the FBI infiltrated six
different locations in Puerto Rico in search for more people allegedly involved with the Macheteros. In Rio
Piedras, the FBI attacked several members of the press with pepper spray. The FBI operation was later called off. Congressman Serrano has criticized the FBI in Puerto Rico, calling for answers to “operational calamities” on the island. Photo: Rafael Merino Cortés/
grupoHuracán
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The Gunfire Exchange
RESIDENCE WHERE OJEDA RÍOS WAS KILLED
1) Gazebo roof, 2) front door, 3) Kitchen Window,
4) Gated Doorway 5) Alcove
The image represents the view from the approximate position of the agent who fired the fatal shot, identified as “Brian” in the report (not real name). Ojeda Ríos shot “Brian” twice with his Browning 9MM, hitting him on the side and chest. This photo is from the DOJ report. The notes were altered for this publication but reflect the exact information in the report (figure 9 “View of Residence from Approximate Position of Shooter,” page 61).
The gunfire exchange began at approximately 4:28 p.m. on September 23, 2005, and lasted for about 2 to 3 minutes, according to the report. Agents “thought they heard small arms semi-automatic gunfire from the house” shortly before throwing “a non-lethal ‘flash-bang’ grenade toward the house as a diversionary tactic.” The grenade frightened a large dog, which ran from the side of the house to toward the front. The agents again “perceived small arms fire coming from the kitchen window as they approached the house.” The approaching dog was shot to prevent an attack on the agents. After an agent reported seeing a gun and being hit by gunfire, the exchange began.
“The fact that the agents fired a large number of shots [106 rounds] without hitting Ojeda reflected Ojeda’s superior position of cover and elevation and did not necessarily reflect indiscriminate targeting,” the report states.
Ojeda Ríos was killed because of a single shot out of 107 total shots fired by FBI sharpshooters using Colt M4 carbine automatic assault rifles with scopes. Ojeda Ríos fired 19 “poorly aimed” rounds from a Browning 9MM pistol, hitting three agents with seven shots -- one agent was hit in the helmet, another agent in the side and chest area of his protective body armor and a third agent was severely wounded with a shot to the helmet, two shots to the side and chest of his body armor and one shot which penetrated his abdomen. This agent underwent surgery and has fully recovered from his injuries.
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In a press release regarding the DOJ report, Congressman José Serrano (D-NY) stated that many of his “suspicions about the killing of...Filiberto Ojeda Rios by the FBI were confirmed by the Inspector General’s report on the incident.”
“FBI Director Robert Mueller called me today to discuss this report,” Serrano said. “I reiterated to him my concern that the FBI in Puerto Rico seems to be unable to operate without generating controversy. I also expressed my belief that the FBI seems to act differently in Puerto Rico than anywhere else it operates and that changes need to be made.”
While the DOJ report is riddled with observations of missteps, deviations from FBI protocol, communication anomalies, ambiguities and inconsistencies in some aspects of the operation, the DOJ absolved its FBI division from any wrongdoing. These actions, along with subsequent FBI assaults in February of 2006, will undoubtedly add to the controversial history of US law enforcement in Puerto Rico.
The FBI has a legacy of infiltrating and disrupting the political process in Puerto Rico decades long. Since the 1930s, US federal agents have decimated the independence movement in order to maintain the status quo on the island. And although Luis Muñoz Marín helped the United States forge that status quo back in 1952, with the creation of the “Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico,” the FBI had thousands of files on him as well.
The most damage, however, was committed on the more devoted independence leaders like Don Pedro Albízu Campos of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party who, from the late 1930s to the 1950s was a major proponent of a growing movement toward self-determination and self-rule in Puerto Rico. Several clashes between the US government and members of the independence movement took place throughout this time, including the infamous Ponce Massacre, where 19 unarmed men, women and children were killed during a parade on orders of the colonial governor of Puerto Rico at the time, General Blanton Winship.
From October 30, 1950, the Nationalists held the town of Jayuya for three days (known as El Grito de Jayuya). The United States declared martial law in Puerto Rico and sent the Puerto Rico National Guard to infiltrate and take back Jayuya. The town was attacked by US bomber planes and on land by artillery. A major military campaign on a US territory of this magnitude had not been seen since the Civil War. Although part of the town was destroyed in the US attack and dozens were killed and injured, news of this military operation was prevented from spreading outside of Puerto Rico. The colonial status of Puerto Rico was becoming an embarrassing public relations issue for the new superpower and a compromise was swiftly being designed with the help of the newly elected Governor Muñoz Marín.
In the struggle against colonial rule, the Puerto Rican Nationalists and other members of the independence movement continued to clash against the US government, even after the establishment of the “Constitution of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.”
In order to combat this and other domestic problems, the FBI would later consolidate its surveillance efforts in a controversial operation called COINTELPRO. This broad maneuver aimed at investigating and disrupting dissident political organizations within the United States and its territories, including Puerto Rico.
Congressman Serrano has led the effort in getting the FBI to release files regarding their history of operations in Puerto Rico. The Research Foundation of the City University of New York and The Center for Puerto Rican Studies are now managing this effort under a program titled, “The FBI Files on Puerto Ricans.”
Regarding the shooting and subsequent assaults by the FBI, Congressman Serrano concluded, “Incidents of this nature in any other jurisdiction under the American flag would be a major scandal."
Thousands
of political activists, like Albízu Campos, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos and others who advocated for
self-determination or independence have been killed or
arrested under the pretext of preventing the spread of Communism,
terrorism or conspiring to overthrow the US government. At the end, one
of the victims would be the political process in Puerto Rico itself,
specifically the Independence Party, which is one of the reasons it
experiences a low vote during elections in Puerto Rico. Whether fear,
intimidation or self-fulfilling prophecy, the independence movement
continues to operate in a subdued mode. At the same time, confusion and
frustration has overwhelmed the other political parties. Almost half
the electorate still believes that the United States, after four major
wars, the Cold War and having incorporated two other territories into
the Union in the same time period, will one day embrace Puerto Rico as
the 51st state.
In the meantime, members of the independence movement continue to die or face persecution, while Puerto Ricans in the US military are killed defending a nation that does not represent them in the electoral process.
{mos_ri}
MIGUEL GUZMÁN
THE REPORT -- "A Review of the September 2005 Shooting Incident Involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Filiberto Ojeda Riíos" US Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, August 2006 [PDF format, 2.5MB]
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