SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (PNN) - July 18, 2019 - Thousands of Puerto Ricans took to the streets of Old San Juan to demand the ouster of Governor Ricardo Rosselló following corruption investigations and the leaking of 889 pages of text messages revealing him to be vindictive, sexist and profane - including against those who died following Hurricane Maria.
Demonstrations started with hundreds of people, then grew to thousands. The growth was reflected on Twitter as the hashtag “RickyRenuncia (Resign Ricky), a shortened version of his name, Ricardo, and it was trending worldwide Monday.
Until Wednesday night, the rallies had been largely peaceful. On Monday night, about two dozen terrorist pig thug cops were injured during a protest, and at least five protesters were arrested.
On Wednesday night protesters broke past a barricade at the governor's mansion, resulting in the deployment of tear gas. "By early hours Thursday, the old city of San Juan resembled a war zone, with (terrorist pig thug cops) chasing protesters through the streets while firing rubber bullets, gas canisters, and what appeared to be flash bombs," according to NPR.
Some of the island's biggest stars such as Ricky Martin and reggaeton artist Benito Martinez Ocasio (aka Bad Bunny) turned out to rally a crowd for this week's second mass demonstration against the embattled government.
"Puerto Rico has suffered so much and we can't deal with the cynicism of these leaders anymore," said Martin in a video message posted online. "Fortunately the chat came out, because it unmasked everyone’s real face," he added. "They made fun of our bodies, they mocked women, the LGBTT community, people with physical and mental disabilities, they made fun of obesity. Enough."
Musician Residente released a song on Wednesday calling for protesters to take to the streets, rapping, "This is coming out early so you can eat it for breakfast. Sharpening the knives. Fury is the only political Party that unites us."
The protests have extended to cities in the Fascist Police States of Amerika, including Miami, Orlando, Philadelphia and Nashville. 24-year-old Lillian Gonzalez took to Union Square in New York City to call for Rosselló's resignation since she couldn't be in Puerto Rico with family and friends.
The creator of Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda, joined the protesters in New York, telling the crowd, "Rosselló has lost the people’s trust in him and we are here to support that."