7 White Teenagers Arrested in Gang Assault, Stabbing Death of Hispanic Man

[Uke]

7 White Teenagers Arrested in Gang Assault, Stabbing Death of Hispanic Man


PATCHOGUE, New York — New York police say seven white teenagers who set out to attack a Hispanic person are now under arrest in connection with a man's fatal stabbing.

One of the teens was awaiting arraignment Monday on a charge of manslaughter as a hate crime. All seven are charged with gang assault.

Marcello Lucero was killed in Patchogue, Long Island, east of New York City, while going to watch a movie with friends. A friend, who was unhurt, ran for help.

Elder Fernandez, who had known Lucero since they were children in Ecuador, went outside and found him covered with blood.

Fernandez told Newsday: "I saw my friend's last minute. ... It was miserable."

[Uke]

This is a classic example of how violence can come about anytime and anywhere.

These attackers weren't thugs. They weren't street toughs. They weren't even gang members.

I bet that man who got killed never thought that he had anything to worry about in the town that he was in.

This isn't like the other scenarios we've discussed in the past where a guy is in the wrong part of town. This isn't a case of a couple of guys looking to get some quick cash. They wanted to hurt this man. They wanted to kill this man, and they did.

For all the talk of avoidance, how do you avoid hate in your own town? How do you avoid people filled with hate looking for someone that looks or prays just like you?

Violence is real, and it doesn't have to come from the typical stereotype you see in the movies.

By the time this man was aware that these guys wanted to hurt him he was probably already surrounded. Its a damn shame.

Truth is this kind of thing happens all the time.

And again, there were seven of them, they were armed, and they had deadly intentions. Its not as "rare" as some might have you believe.

[Uke]

Here's more on the subject

DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

An Ecuadorian immigrant who was fatally stabbled by a gang of Long Island louts was the victim of "a lynch mob," a prosecutor said Monday.

The incendiary charge was lobbed by Suffolk County Assistant District Attorney Nancy Clifford as alleged ringleader Jeffrey Conroy and his brazen buddies were arraigned for the murder of 37-year-old Marcello Lucero.

"This defendant and six of his friends, in their own words, said, 'Let's go find some Mexicans to f--- up,'" Clifford said in Suffok County Criminal Court.

When they couldn't find any in Medford, they drove over to Patchogue, where they spotted Lucero and a friend at the train station Saturday night, cops said.

"Like a lynch mob, the defendant and his friends got out of their car and surrounded Mr. Lucero and his friend," Clifford said.

The first to pounce was 17-year-old Kevin Shea, of Medford, who slugged Lucero, the prosecutor said.

Stunned by the blow, Lucero stripped off his belt and tried to defend himself by swinging it. But Conroy was faster.

"This defendant walked towards him and stabbed him once in the chest," she said. "These teenagers left him there to die."

Clifford insisted "this was not some high school prank."

"This was a well-thought out crime, specifically targetting Hispanic males," she said.

Conroy, 17, was ordered held without bail after pleading not guilty to manslaughter as a hate crime. The others also pleaded not guilty to gang assault charges.

Fearful of what could await them in prison, the attorneys for Conroy and Shea asked that they be placed in protective custody. Judge Toni Bean denied that request.

"The mere age of the individual does not warrant they be put in protective custody," she said.

Conroy's mother fled the courtroom in tears after Bean's ruling and once outside fell to her knees sobbing.

The lawyer for defendant Jordan Dasch, 17, of Medford, said his client is scared, too.

"He's not a big kid," said attorney Jason Bassett. "I looked at him in the face. He looked drained and very upset."

Shea and Dasch were ordered held of $150,000 bond. So were Nicholas Hausch, 17, of Medford, Jose Pacheco, 17, of East Patchogue, and Anthony Hartford, 17, of Medford.

Christopher Overton, 16, of East Patchogue, was being held on $250,000 bond. It was not immediately clear why his bond was higher.

[Hardball]

My experience is that "Upstate" New York has had these kind of problems for years. I'm not sure why but I've run across many many Bigots from Upstate New York.

[Uke]

That's because "Upstate" is nothing more than another way of saying "rural" or " boonies". There is definitely Klan upstate. There have been many, many incidents involving hate crimes.

The reason you don't see that "downstate" is because downstate is considered the city, with Long Island being an extention of the city. When you think of city, you tend to think of minorities. Most of them don't have the heart to try that nonsense in a place where like minded people are abundant. Its not rare though.

I remember a specific incident that took place.

I believe wiki had a write up on it:

Yusuf Hawkins was a 16-year-old African American youth who was shot to death on August 23, 1989 in Bensonhurst, a heavily Italian American working-class neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Hawkins and three friends were attacked by a crowd of 10 to 30 white youths, with at least seven of them wielding baseball bats. One, armed with a handgun, shot Hawkins twice in the chest, killing him.

Hawkins had gone to Bensonhurst that night with his three friends to inquire about a used 1982 Pontiac automobile that was for sale. The group's attackers had been lying in wait for black or Hispanic youths they believed were dating a white neighborhood girl. Police later said Hawkins was not involved with the girl.

Hawkins' killing was the third killing of a black man by mobs in New York City during the 1980s; the other two victims being Willie Turks who was killed on June 22, 1982 in Brooklyn and Michael Griffith who was killed in Queens on December 20, 1986.

This was a really bad time to be in Brooklyn. I remember it well. A lot of innocent people got badly hurt behind this incident.