After Brutal Stabbing, Another Long Island Resident Reports Gang Attack

On November 8, 2008, Marcello Lucero was brutally stabbed to death by a group of teenagers because they thought he was Mexican. In response to the murder of Lucero, local authorities have encouraged others who have been victims of similar crimes in Long Island to come forward. Last night, WCBS-TV reported that a second Long Island resident, Carlos Orellana, alleged a similar gang attack. Orellana asserts that his assailants' attacks were coupled with racial slurs.

These race-related crimes are not anomalies in Long Island. The AP reports that "tensions" over immigration have been acute in Suffolk County for years now. A brief review of recent history reveals that:

Eight short years ago, two Mexican men were beaten in Farmingville by people who had offered them work. Farmingville is ten miles from where the stabbing of Lucero occurred.
On the Fourth of July in 2003, teens set fire to the Farmingville house of a Mexican family who barely escaped with their lives.
In 2005, four teens attacked two Mexican immigrants fishing in Long Island. Shouting racial slurs, the teens beat and stole both of the victims' money.

Local leaders believe that comments made by elected officials and the legislative efforts of local governments have fostered this culture. While some government officials disagree, New York Governor David Paterson has commented that Lucero's death "is a jarring reminder that we must remain vigilant and continue to eradicate prejudice in our words and in our actions."

Janet Murguía, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, condemned the fatal beating of a Long Island man on Saturday night, calling it "an outrageous and horrifying crime"

Murguía was particularly upset over the age of the alleged attackers. "That hate has trickled down to a new generation is very disturbing," she said. Murguía blamed the growing climate of hate surrounding the immigration debate as part of the cause. "Words have consequences," she said, "and hateful words have hateful consequences. For too long hate groups and hate speech have dominated the national debate on immigrants, mischaracterizing all Latinos and the institutions that serve them in the process. Lives are literally in the balance."

On Monday, Long Island authorities confirmed that a teenager killed Lucero for being Hispanic. This teen and six others confronted the victim, a U.S. immigrant of 15 years, while he was waiting for the train at the Long Island Rail Road Station with a friend. "The teenagers were playing in a park and came up with the idea of looking for 'Mexicans' to beat up," said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Richard Dormer. Not finding any close by, the teens piled into their car and drove around to find some.

The teens, all under 18 years of age, face charges of assault and the commission of a hate crime in the first degree. The teen accused of stabbing Lucero faces a manslaughter and a hate crime in the first degree charge..

This Friday, November 14 at 7:00 p.m., members of the community will be holding a candlelight vigil for Marcello Lucero at the Patchogue Train Station.

Read the complete WCBS-TV article: www.wcbstv.com/topstories/hate.crime.bias.2.861881.html

Read more about the murder of Marcelo Lucero: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-lihate1111,0,6546497.story