33. Planning the Assassination of President Truman
The failed uprising in Puerto Rico frustrated PRNP activists. In the Bronx, two Puerto Rican nationalists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, were further angered by what they saw as excessive force by the US military to beat back the rebels. So they decided to retaliate – and draw attention to their cause – with an assassination of the American president.
At the time, Truman was not living in the White House, which was undergoing a renovation, but in the nearby – and less secure – Blair House. Torresola, an experienced gunman, secured a Walther P38 pistol and a German Luger, and taught the less experienced Collazo how to load and handle them. The duo then caught a train from NYC to Washington, DC, to reconnoiter. On November 1st, 1950, they sprang into action.