In the wake of the January 6, 2021 capitol insurrection, there were comments in the news media that such violence at the United States Capitol was unprecedented. This is not true.
It is apparently largely forgotten now, but on March 1, 1954, Puerto Rican nationalists entered a balcony above the House of Representatives chamber and opened fire on Representatives who were debating an immigration bill.
Five Representatives were shot: Alvin Bentley (R-Michigan), Clifford Davids (D-Tennessee), Ben Jensen (R-Iowa), George Fallon (D-Maryland), and Kenneth Roberts (D-Alabama). Fortunately, all of them made full recoveries.
Four years prior, on November 1, 1950, Puerto Rican Nationalists attacked police and Secret Service members who were guarding U.S. President Harry Truman, who was staying at Blair House while the White House was undergoing renovations.
Their plan to assassinate Truman failed, but a police officer was killed in the process.
In 1978 and 1979, US President Jimmy Carter commuted the life sentences of those convicted in both the attack on the US Capitol and Truman’s attempted assassination.