Gov. Cuomo said Thursday he hasn’t made a final decision on whether to march in the Puerto Rican Day Parade, which is honoring pardoned FALN terrorist Oscar Lopez Rivera.
Lopez Rivera spent 36 years in prison after being convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government. He was pardoned by former President Obama in December and was released from house arrest on Wednesday.
“This is something that I’m reviewing right now. I know he was pardoned by President Obama. I just heard about it, so I’m going to look at the situation,” Cuomo told reporters in Manhattan following a housing event.
“I love the parade. I love the people, I love the cause. I want to find out the rest of the facts. My inclination would be to march, but I don’t know the facts of the situation.”
FALN claimed responsibility for more than 100 bombings in the Big Apple and other cities in the 1970s and early 1980s, including the deadly explosion at Fraunces Tavern that killed four people and injured 60 others.
Lopez Rivera is being honored with the parade’s first “Freedom Hero Award” and is expected to march at the front of the June 11 event.
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito campaigned for Lopez Rivera’s pardon and pushed to get him honored at the parade. She personally greeted him at his release in Puerto Rico Wednesday, posting photos on her Twitter account.
Mayor de Blasio said Wednesday he’ll be marching.