Oscar Collazo

Released
Date of birth:20. 01. 1914
Date of death:21. 02. 1994
Age:80† Deceased
Gender:Male
Race:Hispanic
Era:1950s
State:Puerto Rico
Time Imprisoned:
28 Years 6 Months 3 Days
Support
Puerto Rican Independence Anti-Imperialism Puerto Rican Nationalist Party
Oscar Collazo

Biography

Puerto Rican Nationalist who, with Griselio Torresola, attempted to assassinate President Harry S. Truman at Blair House on November 1, 1950, during the Jayuya Uprising. Wounded in the gunfight that killed Torresola and White House police officer Leslie Coffelt, he was convicted and sentenced to death, but Truman commuted the sentence to life in 1952. After 29 years in federal prison, mostly at Leavenworth, he was pardoned by President Jimmy Carter in September 1979 and returned to Puerto Rico a hero of the independence movement.

Case

United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth
Charges: Murder of a federal officer; attempted assassination of the President; assault with intent to kill
Arrested: Nov 1, 1950
Incarcerated: Mar 7, 1951
Released: Sep 10, 1979
Sentence: Death (commuted to life by Truman 1952; pardoned by Carter 1979) Verdict as recorded: Yes — convicted March 7, 1951
Judge: T. Alan Goldsborough
Convicted: Yes
Institution State: Kansas

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