An assassination attempt on U.S. President Harry S. Truman occurred on November 1, 1950. It was carried out by militant Puerto Rican pro-independence nationalists Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola while President Truman was staying at Blair House during the renovation of the White House. Both men were stopped before gaining entry to the house. Torresola mortally wounded White House Police officer Leslie Coffelt, who killed him in return fire. Secret Service agents wounded Collazo. President Harry S. Truman was upstairs in the house and was unharmed. Two days before the assassination attempt, Armed nationalist uprisings occurred in many towns, including Jayuya, where the two would-be assassins were from, and in neighbouring Utuado. These were quickly suppressed by the Puerto Rico National Guard, with both Jayuya and Utuado badly damaged. In acknowledgement of the issues related to Puerto Rico's status, Truman supported a 1952 plebiscite in Puerto Rico. 81.9% of votes were in favor of Puerto Rico continuing as a Free Associated State of U.S. Collazo was convicted and sentenced to death, which Truman commuted to life in prison. Collazo was released in 1979 after his sentence was commuted by Jimmy Carter. Background Puerto Rican independence movement In the 1940s, the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico had little political power in the country, where voters had elected the Popular Democratic Party of Puerto Rico (PPD) as the majority in the legislature. Nationalists believed that Puerto Rico suffered under American colonialism and wanted independence. The PPD was supporting negotiations with the United States to create a "new" political status for the island. The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s were an armed protest for independence from United States Government rule over Puerto Rico. The Party repudiated the "Free Associated State" (Estado Libre Asociado) status that had been enacted in 1950, as the Nationalists considered it to be a continuation of colonialism. The revolts began on October 30, 1950, two days before the assassination attempt on Truman. The revolts began on the orders of Pedro Albizu Campos, president of the Nationalist Party. Armed uprisings occurred in Peñuelas, Mayagüez, Naranjito, Arecibo and Ponce. The most notable uprisings occurred in Utuado, Jayuya, and San Juan. The would-be assassins, Collazo and Torresola were from Jayuya and their families still lived there. These uprisings were suppressed by the Puerto Rico National Guard with strong military force, including the use of planes, U.S. Air Force planes