Freed Political Prisoner Oscar López Rivera Joins Tens of Thousands at NYC Puerto Rican Day Parade
by mail@democracynow.org (Democracy Now!) from Democracy Now! on (#2SPNZ)
Tens of thousands took part in Sunday's National Puerto Rican Day Parade here in New York. Marchers at the parade included Puerto Rican independence activist Oscar Lopez Rivera, who was imprisoned for about 35 years. This year's organizers chose to honor Lopez Rivera as the parade's first "National Freedom Hero." But after a boycott campaign was organized by a right-wing conservative group funded by donors close to both President Trump and to Breitbart News, Oscar Lopez Rivera announced he would march not as an official honoree but as a humble Puerto Rican and a grandfather. Democracy Now!'s Juan Gonzilez was at the parade on Sunday.