Honor fallen, not FALN
Vets slam DeB, Viv for terrorist salute
The Puerto Rican Day Parade controversy spilled over into Memorial Day.
Veterans on Monday ripped Mayor de Blasio and Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito for planning to march alongside convicted terrorist Oscar López Rivera in the June 11 parade.
The politicians attended a Memorial Day ceremony at the Intrepid Sea, Air And Space Museum, where one former soldier from Puerto Rico called the mayor a hypocrite for praising veterans during his speech while still supporting the former FALN leader.
“He’s a double talker and a bully,” said Hector Cortez, 67, a former Army sergeant and retired city firefighter.
“I’m Puerto Rican and I don’t believe he [Lopez Rivera] should be honored. [Mark-Viverito] is full of baloney as a politician. ”
Half a dozen elected officials, including Gov. Cuomo, and nearly all major sponsors have pulled out of the parade, where López Rivera will receive a National Freedom Hero award.
Army veteran David Dana, 80, said it’s “wrong” for de Blasio to join in, but cited Mark-Viverito as the main force behind the push to paint the terrorist as a hero.
“I think they should fire her. I think they should get rid of her. I can’t understand why [she supports López Rivera]. He organized the bombers, so it makes no sense at all,” said the Manhattanite.
The backlash continued later Monday as the mayor moved on to the Little Neck-Douglaston Memorial Day Parade in Queens.
Larry Penner, 64, a retired transportation worker, was booing the mayor.
“To honor a terrorist is obscene and absurd,” Penner said. “Politicians should be brave enough to have some class and stand up for principles. “
Peter Molina, a “60-something” retired Department of Education worker, was equally angry.
“It’s despicable,” Molina said. “They’re ruining the parade. It’s a parade. It’s supposed to be a nice time. Why do you gotta ruin it by bringing this kind of crap into the parade?”
The FALN unleashed a terror campaign across the US in the 1970s and 1980s in support of Puerto Rican independence — including a 1975 bombing that killed four people at lower Manhattan’s landmarked Fraunces Tavern.
The son of one of those victims joined in the chorus of criticism.
“What Mayor de Blasio is doing is tainting the city by marching in this parade,” said Thomas Connor, who was 11 when he lost his dad, Frank, in the attack.
López Rivera was convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the government, robbery and transportation of explosives in 1981 and sentenced to 55 years in prison.
He served 35 years before former President Barack Obama commuted his sentence in January.
Goya Foods, AT&T, Corona, Coca-Cola, JetBlue, the Yankees and television stations Univision, Telemundo and NBC are among the big-name sponsors who have pulled out of the parade.
''m Puerto Rican and I don't believe he should be honored. [Mark-Viverito] is full of baloney' Army vet Hector Cortez, on parade honoring FALN's Oscar Lopez Rivera (pictured)