Biography
The Reverend Al Sharpton, the New York civil-rights leader and founder of the National Action Network, traveled to Vieques in 2001 in solidarity with Puerto Rican civil-disobedience efforts to halt U.S. Navy bombing of the inhabited island. He was arrested for repeat trespass on the bombing range and sentenced to 90 days in federal custody. His arrest was a major catalyst for African-American solidarity with the Vieques campaign.
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.
