vice-president, and executive delegate of its delegation in New York. On May 21, 1948, a bill was introduced before the Puerto Rican Senate which would restrain the rights of the independence and nationalist movements in the archipelago. The Senate, controlled by the Partido Popular Democrático (PPD) and presided by Luis Muñoz Marín, approved the bill that day. This bill, which resembled the anti-communist Smith Act passed in the United States in 1940, became known as the Ley de la Mordaza (Gag Law) when the U.S.-appointed governor of Puerto Rico, Jesús T. Piñero, signed it into law on June 10, 1948. Under this new law it would be a crime to print, publish, sell, or exhibit any material intended to paralyze or destroy the insular government; or to organize any society, group or assembly of people with a similar destructive intent. It made it illegal to sing a patriotic song, and reinforced the 1898 law that had made it illegal to display the Flag of Puerto Rico, with anyone found guilty of disobeying the law in any way being subject to a sentence of up to ten years imprisonment, a fine of up to US$10,000 (), or both. According to Dr. Leopoldo Figueroa, the only non-PPD member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives, the law was repressive and was in violation of the First Amendment of the US Constitution which guarantees Freedom of Speech. He pointed out that the law as such was a violation of the civil rights of the people of Puerto Rico. On November 1, 1950, following a series of uprisings in Puerto Rico which included the Jayuya Uprising and the Utuado Uprising which culminated in a massacre, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola invaded Harry S. Truman's residence, carrying a letter written by Albizu Campos and addressed to Truman. A shootout erupted between the duo and the guard stationed there, killing Torresola. Collazo was badly injured but survived and was sentenced to death by an American jury. The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party claimed that their goal was to "draw attention to the fact of Puerto Rico's continued colonial status", while the American government and media treated it as an assassination attempt. Following the sentence, Lebrón quickly joined the "Committee for Oscar Collazo's defense", participating in numerous public manifestations which eventually led to a presidential commutation. On July 25, 1952, the official name of Puerto Rico was changed