Police fire rubber bullets, tear gas at peaceful May Day protesters in Puerto Rico – ThinkProgress

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Puerto Ricans clashed with police in the streets of San Juan after protests against austerity measures took a violent turn Tuesday. The demonstration was in protest of proposed cuts to retirement benefits and looser labor laws, as well as school closures and slow hurricane recovery efforts.

One woman, Adria Bermudez, told The Associated Press that she was marching to protest the increase of the undergraduate cost per credit from $57 to $115, then to an eventual $157 over five years. She also called for government officials and legislators to reduce their salaries instead of implementing more austerity measures.

“The measures are aimed at the middle class and low middle class,” she said. “The rich don’t suffer.”

The protests reportedly became violent after hundreds of young protesters tried to enter the Hato Rey neighborhood, San Juan’s banking center. There, according to Bloomberg, helmeted police officers wearing gas masks formed lines to block them from advancing.

When the protesters tried to push their way through the police line, the officers reportedly responded by indiscriminately firing rubber bullets and tear gas at peaceful protesters.

Lanzan gases lacrimógenos en la Milla de Oro. #ParoNacional pic.twitter.com/qxyXfzjRIj

— El Nuevo Día (@ElNuevoDia) May 1, 2018

The police in Puerto Rico just pepper spayed a peaceful gathering. #ParoNacionalPR pic.twitter.com/2fNFQI5pEh

— AnaMariaArchila (@AnaMariaArchil2) May 1, 2018

This is just a glimpse of the protests in Puerto Rico today. And if you're not sure why they're protesting, imagine feeling completely forgotten and abandoned by your government while people literally die. #ParoNacional

Photos from @ElNuevoDia https://t.co/grYdmv24Ws pic.twitter.com/deiLLWCk9h

— Leani García Torres (@LeaniGarcia) May 1, 2018

In another video, police arrest two protesters on private property onto which the protesters were reportedly invited.

Según vídeo de un residente, la Policía llegó hasta un apartamento para arrestar a dos manifestantes.

Vídeo: Edwin Caraballo pic.twitter.com/4ip9Z9jcrl

— Pulso Estudiantil (@PulsoEST) May 1, 2018

One woman reported on Twitter that police had arrested an activist who has been working to provide solar and water to his community in the wake of Hurricane Maria and that police beat him after he had been handcuffed.

My friend Luis Rodriguez Sanchez was just arrested in San Juan. Police apparently beat him while he was handcuffed. Luis is a musician and co-runs Proyecto de Apoyo Mutuo Mariana, which has been feeding and providing solar and water to his community since Maria https://t.co/IVjdGGMwuE

— Molly Crabapple (@mollycrabapple) May 1, 2018

Police also reportedly entered the home of another activist, beat her, and arrested her.

La policía entró a la residencia de Alfonso y @angelicquestell en Río Piedras, los agredieron y los arrestaron frente a su padre. pic.twitter.com/C0wVhUJNyw

— Guarionex (@GuarioCandanga) May 1, 2018

The protests come as Puerto Rico is still trying to recover from the devastating effects of Hurricane Maria, which hit the island last fall.

More than seven months later, about 30,000 people on the island still don’t have power, and a recent Politico report confirmed that the Trump administration favored Texas recovery efforts over those in Puerto Rico. The botched recovery effort has had a devastating effect on the mental health of those living in Puerto Rico, too: Reports of suicide attempts on the island more than tripled between November 2017 and January 2018.

Now, Puerto Rico is trying to overcome a recession that has lasted more than a decade as well as restructure a portion of its $72 billion public debt. According to the AP, economists have warned that the poverty rate on the island could rise from 45 percent to as high as 60. The Atlantic hurricane season officially begins again in one month.

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Disaster Aid in Puerto Rico Bypasses a Devastated Island’s Universities

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N.Y.U., which received $264,850, led a public campaign to take in students from Puerto Rico and enrolled about 70 students. Students were required to pay tuition to their home universities in Puerto Rico, and had virtually all costs covered while attending N.Y.U. The students are expected to leave when the semester ends.

“We are very sensitive to concerns that the universities in Puerto Rico have about skimming students who were important to their own academic mission,” said John Beckman, a spokesman for the university.

Grand Canyon University, which received about $239,000, would not say how many affected students were enrolled. A Liberty University official said the school did not count out the number of students who benefited from its $200,000 award, but officials said the university financially supported students, mainly from Florida, in a number of ways after the hurricane.

Southern New Hampshire said it had more than 11,000 students from the affected states, about 50 of whom were from Puerto Rico, and planned to return any unused funds to the Education Department.

The University of Florida disbursed its first federal aid allocation of $77,453 to 38 students, said Rick Wilder, the director of student financial affairs. The remainder will be reserved for returning students who demonstrate need next year.

“We’re always excited to get additional funding for any needy students,” Mr. Wilder said.

In the coming months, the Education Department will award $100 million in additional emergency funding to colleges and universities and their students in areas directly affected by hurricanes and wildfires, and $75 million to help defray costs for those that took in students from the affected areas.

But congressional leaders wrote last month that the voluminous application, which requires two applications and a detailed accounting of expenses and funding received thus far, would place on Puerto Rico a “significant and unnecessary burden that was never intended by Congress.”

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