Biography
José Vélez Acosta was one of dozens of Puerto Rican residents and solidarity activists who served substantial federal prison time for civil disobedience halting U.S. Navy bombing exercises on the inhabited island of Vieques. He was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison and held at the United States Penitentiary at Coleman, Florida.
From 1941 to 2003, the U.S. Navy used the inhabited Puerto Rican island of Vieques as a live-fire bombing range. After Navy bombs killed civilian security guard David Sanes in 1999, a sustained civil-disobedience movement of Puerto Rican residents and U.S. solidarity activists repeatedly entered Navy land to halt training. Hundreds were arrested and dozens served federal prison sentences for trespass, conspiracy, and damage to federal property. The Navy finally withdrew from Vieques in May 2003 — the largest victory in U.S. anti-base activism in a generation.
