Javier Alcala Jr., 21, of Shenandoah, PA, was assaulted September 12, 2008. He was jumped by three men, who hit him on the head, bound him with duct tape on his legs and arms, blindfolded him with duct tape and beaten to the point of unconsciousness.
It's the second beating of a Latino migrant in recent months. On July 12th, Luis Eduardo Ramirez Zavala, 25, a Mexican immigrant, was murdered by four Shenandoah racist thugs.
The League of United Latin American Citizens and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund have called for the U.S. Department of Justice to conduct a civil rights investigation.
Of course, the hapless Shenandoah police doesn't believe that this latest crime was racially motivated. But then again, they didn't believe that the murder of Luis Ramirez was due to his race.
Two questions:
1) How likely is it to get the Bush DOJ to act quickly and responsibly in this matter? I suspect that Shenandoah Latinos may have to wait until an Obama presidency in order to get the DOJ to act.
2) Could this type of assault be used as a political tactic to galvanize the White working class vote? Anti-immigrant Lou Barletta is running for Congress on the GOP line in a district that is heavily White working class and Democratic. Additionally, John McCain needs to carry NE Pennsylvania in order to neutralize Barack Obama's overwhelming support in the Philly area.
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