Armed Forces of National Liberation
The Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN) or Armed Forces of National Liberation, was a Marxist-Stalinist Puerto Rican domestic terrorist group that was active during the Cold War.
On January 24, 1975 the FALN bombed Fraunces Tavern in Manhattan killing four people. Over a six-year period, the group claimed responsibility for more than 100 bombings that took six lives and injured some 130 people.[1]
On August 11, 1999, President Bill Clinton offered clemency to 16 members of the FALN. Clinton administration Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder was credited with an "unconscionable" effort to circumvent the standard pardon process, not consulting with the Department of Justice's pardon attorney and keeping deliberations hidden from the district U.S. attorney and investigative agencies. Weather Underground terrorists Linda Evans and Susan Rosenberg were also pardoned.[2][3] Holder later served as Obama administration Attorney General. Besides Holder, then-First Lady of the United States Hillary Clinton also had some involvement in the FALN pardons, as she wanted to secure votes from more radical Puerto Rican voters during her bid for Senator of New York under the suggestion of spokesperson Jose Rivera, who at the time was a member of New York City's city council.[4]
References
- ↑ Clinton Pardons Terror, New York Post, August 13, 1999. retrieved from http://www.latinamericanstudies.org September 14, 2007.
- ↑ Confirming Fears, Editorial, National Review Online, November 19, 2008.
- ↑ U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee testimony available at https://www.senate.gov/~judiciary/wl91599.htm, The Tampa Tribune, S.J.Res. 33 (passed 95-2).
- ↑ Hillary: The Movie by Citizens United
