Terrorist or Hero? Puerto Rican Nationalist to Be Freed

A Puerto Rican nationalist is set to be freed after decades behind bars for his role in a violent struggle for independence from the U.S.

Jose Lopez Rivera is expected to be released in Puerto Rico Wednesday, and the 74-year-old is also slated to be honored as a hero at New York City's Puerto Rican Day parade next month.

But not everyone sees him as a hero. Lopez Rivera was a member of the leftist group FALN that claimed responsibility for more than 100 bombings across New York, Chicago and Washington, as well as in Puerto Rico in the 1970s and early '80s.

One still-unsolved bombing at a New York tavern in 1975 killed four people and injured more than 60.

Lopez Rivera was never tied to any specific bombing.

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By COLLEEN LONG

FILE- In this Jan. 24, 1975, file photo, a New York City police officer calls for help as he kneels near a victim of a bombing at the annex of Fraunces Tavern in New York. The leftist group Armed Forces of National Liberation, also known as FALN, claimed responsibility for the bombing that killed four people and injured more than 60. Puerto Rico nationalist and FALN leader, Jose Lopez Rivera, will be freed on Wednesday, May 17, 2017, after serving the longest prison time of any member of the violent separatist group that sought independence for the U.S. territory. (The Daily News via AP, File) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A Puerto Rican nationalist is set to be freed after decades behind bars for his role in a violent struggle for independence from the U.S.

Terrorist or Hero? Puerto Rican Nationalist to Be Freed