Filiberto Ojeda Ríos

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Ojeda Ríos was born on April 26, 1933, in the barrio of Río Blanco in Naguabo, Puerto Rico. He entered college when he was fifteen years old and was described as having an 'engaging intelligence'. As a child, he played the trumpet and guitar, and joined La Sonora Ponceña, a salsa band from Ponce, Puerto Rico. In the 1960s, he founded the Armed Revolutionary Independence Movement, aka MIRA. The group was involved in the killing of a Puerto Rican policeman who refused to surrender his car, and was responsible for nearly 120 bombings in the United States between 1974 and 1983, including the 1975 bombing of the Fraunces Tavern in which four civilians were killed. On September 12, 1983, Los Macheteros stole more than US$7 million from a Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Connecticut. In 1989, a jury of 12 found Ojeda Ríos 'innocent of all charges filed against him for shooting at FBI agents during his 1985 arrest.' He was released on bond, but on September 23, 1990, the anniversary of the Grito de Lares, he cut off his electronic ankle tag and became a fugitive. In July 1992, he was sentenced in absentia to 55 years in prison and fined $600,000 for his role in the Wells Fargo heist.

In Their Own Story

On September 23, 2005, Ojeda Ríos was surrounded in his home in Hormigueros, Puerto Rico by the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) and fatally shot. The FBI recounted that as agents approached the home, Ojeda opened fire, wounding one agent. The official report found 'this daylight assault was extremely dangerous and not the best option available to the FBI.' According to Ojeda Rios' wife, Elma Beatriz Rosado Barbosa, and neighbor Héctor Reyes, it was the FBI agents who initiated the shooting at 3:00 pm. The Office of the Inspector General's report stated that an FBI agent detonated a non-lethal 'flash bang' grenade outside the house before any gunfire began. The FBI did not enter the house until shortly after noon the next day, finding Ojeda Ríos dead on the floor from a single bullet wound that had punctured his lung. The forensic pathologist estimated he died from blood loss approximately 15 to 30 minutes after being shot, placing the time of death between 6:23 p.m. and 6:38 p.m. He was buried at Cementerio Municipal Barrio Rio Blanco in Naguabo, Puerto Rico.

Reader's Guide

The FBI operation in Hormigueros was questioned by local Puerto Rican authorities and international organizations. FBI director Robert Mueller requested an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General, which concluded that 'the FBI agents' use of force in the Ojeda operation did not violate the Department of Justice Deadly Force Policy' and that Ojeda Ríos had initiated the exchange of gunfire. The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission conducted its own investigation and on September 22, 2011, issued a report calling Ojeda Ríos's death an 'illegal killing'. The Puerto Rico Department of Justice filed suit in federal court against the FBI and the US Attorney General, demanding information. A U.S. District Court judge ruled against them, and the Supreme Court refused to consider the lawsuit. Amnesty International demanded an independent investigation into the possibility of 'extra-judicial execution'. A United Nations General Assembly Special Committee resolution labeled the killing an 'assassination'.

Did You Know?

• Ojeda Ríos entered college when he was fifteen years old.
• As a child, he played the trumpet and guitar and joined the salsa band La Sonora Ponceña.
• He was found innocent by a jury of 12 of all charges for shooting at FBI agents during his 1985 arrest.
• The Wells Fargo heist netted more than US$7 million, equivalent to more than $22.6 million in 2025.
• The Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission called his death an 'illegal killing' in a 2011 report.