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Lin-Manuel Miranda Promises a Chicago Hamilton Show for Obama Pardonee Oscar López Rivera

Lin-Manuel Miranda. Photo: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images

Lin-Manuel Miranda took to Twitter Tuesday to celebrate the presidential commutation of Oscar López Rivera, a 74-year-old Puerto Rican nationalist, activist, and member of the Marxist-Leninist group FALN, or Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional. FALN operated through the 1970s and ‘80s, working toward the goal of an independent Puerto Rico; the organization took responsibility for dozens of bombings of government and other buildings during that time. In 1981, López Rivera, considered a political prisoner and supported by many in the Puerto Rican community, received 55 years for seditious conspiracy, among other charges. Fifteen years were added to his sentence in 1988 for his involvement in a failed escape attempt. Following President Obama’s pardon yesterday, López Rivera will be released on May 17, 2017. When he is free, he will apparently find a very excited Lin-Manuel Miranda waiting, stockings and cravat at hand, ready to star in a production of Hamilton in Chicago just for him.

Lin-Manuel Has a Surprise for Obama Pardonee