Convicted Armed Forces of National Liberation (FALN) terrorist leader Oscar Lopez Rivera appeared on a float at the front of the Puerto Rican Day Parade with New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito, The New York Post reported.
Parade organizers initially tried to honor Lopez Rivera with an official award, but a mass pull out by corporate sponsors and key regular attendees over that move caused Lopez Rivera to decline the honor. However, Lopez Rivera was highlighted just by riding on the front display that moved down 5th Avenue.
Oscar Lopez Rivera has arrived to Puerto Rican Day Parade. A lot of jostling as he got off van. @nytimes pic.twitter.com/sKVwV6FfRa
— Luis Ferré Sadurní (@luisferre) June 11, 2017
“I feel good about being here,” Lopez Rivera said to reporters as he exited a van to enter the parade. He pounded his chest yelling, “Que viva Puerto Rico!”
“This parade is for the Puerto Rican public,” he added.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio previously insisted Lopez Rivera would not receive any award and that he would not march in the parade if that award was given, but ultimately, de Blasio marched in the parade, the Post noted, and maintained a 10 block distance from Lopez Rivera.
Mayor @BilldeBlasio has arrived at Puerto Rican Day Parade. He leads his own delegation separate from controversial militant Oscar Lopez. pic.twitter.com/ExXJlsvRI1
— Luis Ferré Sadurní (@luisferre) June 11, 2017
The parade crowd chanted “Oscar!” and “Arriba!”
However, not every attendee was pleased. According to The Daily News, NYPD officers shook their heads and glared at Lopez Rivera and Mark Viverito when the float rolled by.
One officer who remained anonymous told the Daily News, “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t working. We gotta do our jobs man.”
A parade attendee from the Bronx told the Post that he was upset about Lopez Rivera.
“This really pisses me off,” seethed Mark Rivera, 38. “This is a day for honoring the republic of Puerto Rico, not honoring a terrorist. This man has no place in our parade. He makes me ashamed to be a Puerto Rican.”
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