Magnuson was shot through the sleeve when Puerto Rican nationalists shot up the floor of the 83rd Congress in 1954. The nationalists, identified as Lolita Lebrón, Rafael Cancel Miranda, Andres Figueroa Cordero, and Irving Flores Rodríguez, unfurled a Puerto Rican flag and began shooting at the 240 Representatives, who were debating an immigration bill. He was on the phone quickly after with the Seattle Times during the ruckus to give them the scoop, which later Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill recorded in a book of memoirs.