Falcon Press Conference, Photo Credit Jesús Treviño
MOMENT IN TIME
RICARDO FALCON PRESS CONFERENCE
In September of 1972, the La Raza Unida political party, made up primarily of Mexican Americans and other Latinos, convened its national convention in El Paso, Texas. Delegates from throughout the United States to attend the convention. One group of delegates from Denver, Colorado drive to El Paso and stopped in the small town of Oro Grande, New Mexico because their car was over-heating. When they stopped at a gas station for water to cool off the engine, the owner denied them access. Ricardo Falcon one of the delegates, began to cool the car engine down with a water hose anyway. The owner of the gas station, Perry Brunson, went into his office, returned with a pistol and shot Ricardo Falcon dead.
The death of Ricardo Falcon was a somber opening for the La Raza Unida National Convention. On the first day of the convention, a press conference was held to denounce the killing of Falcon. This photo was taken on the morning of Friday, September 1, 1972. Present in the photo are Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales (left, seated) , attorney Enrique Martínez (center, seated) and Priscilla Falcon, widow (right, seated). Perry Brunson was never charged for any crime arising from the shooting of Ricardo Falcon.