CHICAGO, Feb. 5 -- The FBI has been called in to investigate alleged death threats against a candidate for principal of Chicago's Roberto Clemente High School. Illinois lawmakers are calling for an investigation into allegations that the West Side school used taxpayer money to support a campaign promoting Puerto Rican independence and to free convicted terrorists.
Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, Wednesday announced creation of a task force with subpoena powers to investigate Clemente. State Rep. Edgar Lopez, who represents the neighborhood where the school is located, will chair the investigation into how Clemente used state money intended to help poor children to bankroll a national committee that supports the Puerto Rican independence movement. Congressmen Luis Gutierrez and John Porter are calling for an audit of how Clemente spent federal anti-poverty funds. Gutierrez, a graduate of Clemente with close ties to the Puerto Rican independence movement, is an advocate of the release of more than a dozen convicted terrorists who belong to the Armed Forces of National Liberation, whose Spanish acronym is FALN. However, he says federal poverty money should only be used for reading, writing and arithmetic. Gutierrez has also asked the Justice Department to look into threats against Jerry Anderson, who declined the Clemente principal's post after a telephone threat from someone who claimed to be an FALN member. School officials called the FBI after Anderson went to police. A Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday several school officers have close links to the FALN. The Sun-Times said financial documents show that more than a dozen pro-independence speakers, artists and entertainers from Puerto Rico were flown in to lead 'cultural workshops' and assemblies at Clemente. ---
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