We seized the Statue of Liberty in 1977 to expose to the world the hypocrisy of the United States that projects itself as a beacon of freedom. When in fact, it is the colonizer of Puerto Ricans and unjustly imprisons us when we challenge their rule. The takeover was also an act of solidarity with the struggles of our Black, Native American, Chicano-Mexican, Asian, and Arab brothers and sisters, whom we share a common oppressor. — Fernando Ponce Laspina, Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico–NY Committee, a participant and arrestee of the 1977 Statue of Liberty takeover
Source: Carlito Rovira
On October 25, 1977, 30 Puerto Rican nationalists and their supporters (including Yuri Kochiyama) occupied the Statue of Liberty for eight hours, hanging the Puerto Rican flag from Lady Liberty’s crown.
According to an article by Carlos Rovira, the group called themselves the New York Committee to Free the Five Puerto Rican Nationalists. This referred to Lolita Lebron, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Irvin Flores Rodriguez, Andres Figueroa Cordero, and Oscar Collazo, all U.S.-held Puerto Rican political prisoners.
As Bruce Kayton describes in Radical Walking Tours of New York City, this was not the first time that the Statue of Liberty had been occupied.
In 1971, fifteen members of the Vietnam Veterans Against the War occupied the statue for thirty-six hours, and then left with no charges filed against them. In 1974, twenty-one college-age students barricaded themselves inside the statue for fourteen hours. They were members of the Attica Brigade, and demanded the removal of President Nixon. . . .
Protesters are arrested following their occupation of the Statue of Liberty. Fernando Ponce Laspina is holding up the Puerto Rican flag. Source: Carlito Rovira
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