The victims and family members of the 1975 bombing of Fraunces Tavern are joining law enforcement to hold a press conference today to demand the extradition of terrorists from Cuba on the event’s 50th anniversary.

A bomb planted in the tavern exploded at 1:29pm on January 24, 1975, killing four people and injuring more than 50 others. The Puerto Rican clandestine paramilitary organization “Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional Puertorriqueña” (Armed Forces of Puerto Rican National Liberation, or FALN), which had executed other bomb incidents in New York in the 1970s, claimed responsibility.

No one has ever been prosecuted for the bombing.

In a note police found in a phone booth nearby, the FALN wrote, “we…take full responsibility for the especially detornated (sic) bomb that exploded today at Fraunces Tavern, with reactionary corporate executives inside.”

The note claimed the bomb — roughly 10 pounds of dynamite that had been crammed into an attaché case and slipped into the tavern’s entrance hallway — was retaliation for the “CIA ordered bomb” that killed three and injured 11 in a restaurant in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, two weeks earlier. “You have unleashed a storm from which you comfortable Yankis (sic) cannot escape,” the note said.

Baruch College had more information on the bombing:

“FALN members represented a small minority of Puerto Rican nationalists who expressed great dissatisfaction of Puerto Rico’s commonwealth status, enforced by the United States of America. FALN carried out numerous such attacks, including one bombing at LaGuardia airport several years prior.

“Following the Fraunces Tavern bombing, the FBI and CIA had difficulty locating information regarding the terrorists responsible. It wasn’t until 1978, when an accidental explosion in the home of William Morales provided them with an important lead in the FALN terrorist organization. William Morales turned out to be a member of FALN, and was their main explosives expert. The explosion left him severely disfigured. In his apartment, a seemingly endless supply of explosives were discovered by police and ultimately earned Mr. Morales a 89 year jail sentence. No one was ever officially arrested for the bombing. However, in 1980, sixteen members of the terrorist organization were arrested and convicted for trying to overthrow the government. Among them was Oscar Lopez Rivera, one of the leaders of the organization. In 1999, President Clinton offered the prisoners clemency. All prisoners, except for Oscar Lopez Rivera, accepted the offer of clemency.”