were arrested and accused of participating in an ambush against the local Insular Police. Members of the Nationalist Party had stored weapons in Canales's house in Jayuya. Canales and the other leaders, including her cousin Elio Torresola and Carlos Irizarry, led the armed Nationalists into the town and invaded the police station. Shots were fired, one officer was killed, three were wounded, and the other officers surrendered. The Nationalists cut the telephone lines and burned the U.S. post office. Canales led the group into the town square where, in defiance of the Ley de la Mordaza (Gag Law), they raised the Flag of Puerto Rico. In the town square, Canales declared Puerto Rico a free Republic. Torresola had a brother, Griselio Torresola, living in New York City, who was outraged by the attacks. The governor, Luis Muñoz Marín, declared martial law. The Puerto Rico National Guard, under the command of the Puerto Rico Adjutant General, Major General Luis R. Esteves, used P-47 Thunderbolt attack aircraft, land-based artillery, mortar fire, and grenades to counterattack the Nationalists. The planes dropped 500-pound bombs and machine-gunned nearly every rooftop in the town, leaving the town in ruins. After the Nationalists were forced to surrender, the Puerto Rican government made mass arrests. Although an extensive part of Jayuya was destroyed, news of the military action was prevented from spreading outside of Puerto Rico. Instead, the American media reported President Truman saying it was "an incident between Puerto Ricans." Nationalists in New York City as well as Puerto Rico were outraged by the counterattack. Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo, among other Nationalists in the city, made a quick plan to assassinate the U.S. President, Harry S. Truman. He was reported as staying at Blair House while the living quarters of the White House were under renovation. After traveling south by train, on November 1, 1950, they attacked guards at the Blair House, seeking to gain entry. Torresola and White House police officer Leslie Coffelt were killed in the attempt; Collazo and two American officers were wounded. Aftermath The top leaders of the Nationalist party were arrested, including Albizu Campos and Blanca Canales, and sent to jail to serve long prison terms. Oscar Collazo was convicted of murder in the US and sentenced to death. U.S. President Truman commuted his sentence to life. In 1979 President Carter commuted Collazo's sentence to time served and he returned to