Vidal Santiago Diaz was a member of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and served as president of the Santurce Municipal Board of officers of the party.
He was also a barber. Though not involved in the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party Revolts of the 1950s, Santiago was attacked at his barbershop by forty armed police officers and U.S. National Guardsmen because of his Puerto Rican independence ideals.
The attack was historic in Puerto Rico: The first time an event of that magnitude had ever been transmitted live via radio, and heard all over the island.
During this attack, Santiago took on 40 cops and survived, despite being shot in the head and having a staircase falling on him.
After the cops were carrying him, they realized he wasn’t dead at all, and was taken to the hospital immediately. After he recovered from most of his wounds he was later sent to court.
Since he didn’t kill anybody, he was later granted a pardon, he never fully recovered from his head wound and moved with this wife to a new place. He died on March of 1982.