Steve Levy: Sonrisa del Demonio?

In the lead up to the election of Steve Levy as Suffolk County Executive, a family was firebombed in Farmingville, a major front in the nativist war against Latino immigrants. A Democrat, Levy sealed the election by stealing away the Republican's wingnut base with his trademark anti-immigrant taunts.

Suffolk has since seen an unending pogrom against Latinos, including assaults, beatings, destruction of property, stabbings, and the murder of Marcelo Lucero. Stroking the wave of hate has been Levy with a series of legislative proposals and directives intended to make life miserable for Latinos.

Keep in mind that Suffolk has a Latino pop of 200,000. And Levy himself has a half dozen Latino lieutenants and another dozen who serve as advisors.

In other words, who needs enemies?

The film Farmingville captured the ugly '03 marker in the pogrom. PBS is making the full documentary film available online for free through 11/18/09. Watch the film and read the SPLCenter report Climate of Fear detailing anti-Latino violence of the Levy era.

Think about what has been allowed to happen in Suffolk, NY, in America in the 21st Century and share your thoughts and ideas here or privately (us_taino@yahoo.com).

Climate of Fear (SPLCenter) http://bit.ly/Pogrom
Firebomb Destroys L.I. Couple's Dreams (NYTimes) http://bit.ly/firebomb

Another murder of a Latino - this time, a 9-year-old girl

A nine-year-old girl and her father were murdered while they slept.

Police now suspect that last month's killer was a leader of the Minutemen American Defense and representative of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), joined by two other Minutemen. The three anti-immigrant activists are accused of breaking down the door of the Flores family's home, ransacking their house, and gunning down 9-year-old Brisenia and her father in order to fund their "border watch" activities.

Up until now, the mainstream media has mostly ignored the story.

We cannot let Brisenia's story go untold - to remain silent in the face of this kind of extremism.

Click here to learn more about what happened and to share this horrific story with those close to you.

You've seen the Minutemen and FAIR on television - they're quoted as mainstream "immigration control advocates." Congressmen call on leaders from FAIR to testify before their committees as immigration experts. CNN even broadcasts FAIR's hate-speech on the Lou Dobbs show, blaming immigrants for everything from global warming to traffic congestion. All you have to do is watch these folks scream "illegal alien" to get their agenda: making immigrants seem less than human.

I've asked you to speak out against hate crimes before and will keep asking you to let Congress know what kind of America you want to live in. Today, however, I'm asking you to fight intolerance and extremism by shedding light on it. By telling the story of it. By not remaining silent.

Together, we can turn the tide on this culture of hatred and intolerance and stand up for the values that we all share.

Adam Luna
America's Voice

The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right

The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right by David Neiwert, an award-winning journalist and blogger at Orcinus and of late, at Crooks and Liars, ties today's hate radio directly to the eliminationist impulse of American facists. The terrorism of the KKK, Japanese internment during WWII, the establishment of Sundown towns, the lynching of African Americans, etc., as well as today's anti-Latino violence and Islamophobia, writes Neiwert, are the vile products of this phenomenon. Here's an excerpt from Publishers Weekly:

"Eliminationism--including the rhetoric that precedes it and fuels it--expresses a kind of self-hatred," Neiwert claims. "In an American culture that advertises itself as predicated on inclusiveness, eliminationism runs precisely counter to those ideals. Eliminationists, at heart, hate the very idea of America."

The sub-textual paradox that the second half of the book balances against such anti-American ideation is ... that such tendencies have been part of America from the start. This latter portion of the book is at times nearly too much to bear as the history of white European domination and eradication of Native Americans is detailed, as well as the lynchings of African Americans, the backlash against Chinese immigrants and the round-up of Japanese Americans for internment bears witness. Indeed, as Neiwert points out, nearly identical language is unleashed today against Latino immigrants as there have been against different waves of "others" in our collectively shameful past; even such modern "heroes" as the Minutemen can trace their lineage back to the lynching mobs and vigilantism of the early 20th century.

Tendencies toward fascism, both in our historical past and in our current political climate, can be triggered by what the author calls "the mobilizing passions." As a checklist, it's probably one of the most useful I've run across:

1. A sense of overwhelming crisis beyond the reach of any traditional solutions.

2. The primacy of the group, toward which one has duties superior to every right, both universal and personal, and the subordination of the individual to it.

3. The belief that the group one belongs to is victimized, which justifies any action without legal or moral limits against the group's enemies, both internal and external.

4. Dread of the group's decline under the corrosive effect of individualistic liberalism, class conflict, and alien influences.

5. The need for closer integration of a purer community, by consent if possible, or by exclusionary violence if necessary.

6. The need for authority by natural leaders (always male), culminating in a national chief who alone is capable of incarnating the group's destiny.

7. The superiority of the leader's instincts over abstract and universal reason.

8. The beauty of violence and the efficacy of will, when they are devoted to the group's success.

9. The right of the "chosen people" to dominate others without restraint from any human or divine law, "right" being decided solely by the group's prowess in a Darwinian struggle.

Link: Full Review

Injustice in Shenandoah

It's a gross miscarriage of justice!

An all-white jury in Pennsylvania has acquitted two of the killers of Luis Ramirez, a Mexican immigrant murdered by a wolf pack of White thugs in the town of Shenandoah. MALDEF is asking for a federal inquiry.

Here's CNN's report on the verdict:



Here are link to news reports on the verdict:

Justice Not Served: Pennsylvania Hate Crime Assailants Found Not Guilty
Justice reviewing immigrant's beating death in Pa.
Teenagers Not Guilty in Fatal Beating

Latino Bashing, What would you do?

If you're like most people, ABC's John Quiñones learned, you'll do nothing.

Yep, Nada! Zippo!

Our reasons for inaction are, of course, pathetic. For example, one man's excuse was that the victim wasn't bleeding enough. Really! Another--a Latino--feared that the gang would target him. But even a group of young men chose to do shuffle away -- shoulders slumped in apparent shame.

Redeeming humanity were a few valiant individuals. Some called 911 as they watched from a distance. But a few took direct action. One was a solidly built African American man took immediate action to stop the violence by taking on the thugs. He told Quiñones he simply couldn't let happen to others what had once happened to him.
Another hero was a Latina who jumped out of her SUV, putting her small frame between the thugs and victim. A third was again a woman who sought to comfort the victim with a hug and a prayer.

Watching the bravery and compassion of the heroes was very touching -- they are very special people. But knowing most would do nothing to stop a racist gang attack on a Latino immigrant is very disturbing.

Hate Rising: 926 Groups

Hate group activity in the U.S. was disturbing and widespread throughout 2008, as the number of hate groups operating in America continued to rise. Last year, 926 hate groups were active in the U.S., up more than 4% from 888 in 2007.

That's more than a 50% increase since 2000, when there were 602 groups.

As in recent years, hate groups were animated by the national immigration debate. But two new forces also drove them in 2008: the worsening recession, and Barack Obama's successful campaign to become the nation's first black president.

Links:
The Year in Hate: Number of Hate Groups Tops 900
The Impending Perfect Wingnut Hate Storm

Anti-Immigrant Hate Crimes: Nativist Murders Suggest Effect of Rhetoric

[Marcelo] Lucero's murder caused many people to suggest that the Long Island county's recent acrimonious debates over local immigration laws and Latino day laborers had created a climate that fostered the violence. The killing followed FBI reports of a nationwide 40% rise in anti-Latino hate crime violence between 2003 and 2007, a period marked by ugly rhetoric from hundreds of nativist groups and politicians. Jack Levin, a hate crime expert at Northeastern University, said such demonizing speech often leads to hate crimes.

"Racist rhetoric and dehumanizing images inspire violence," Levin told the Intelligence Report.

County Executive Steve Levy came under particularly concentrated fire after he said that if Lucero had been killed in adjacent Nassau County, "it would be a one-day story." Since taking office in 2004, Levy had, among other measures aimed at immigrants, signed a measure to bar undocumented workers from being hired by county contractors and county licensees, and he clashed often with Long Island pro-immigrant activists.

SPLCenter's Full Article

Holiday Attacks on Mt. Kisco Latinos

The Journal News reports that four masked thugs assaulted two Latinos and attempted to rob a Latino business in Mt. Kisco over the Christmas holiday.

Mt. Kisco is an affluent town one hour north of mid-town Manhattan in upper Westchester County, New York. While an estimated 25% of the population is Latino, none of the town's elected or appointed officials is Latino.

While we don't yet have any information on the thugs, what we do know is that Mt. Kisco area Latinos are in the crosshairs of racists. Read some of the comments at the end of the article to glimpse what Latino immigrants in Lower Hudson area are up against.

Mt. Kisco police are 'investigating'. Of course, they have thus far failed to find any of the criminals responsible for the brutal slayings of 6 Latino immigrants over the past few years. Protecting immigrants and bringing anti-Latino criminals to justice just does not seem to be a priority for Mt. Kisco Police.

Photo: Fernando Mateo of Hispanics Across America and Westchester DA Janet DiFiore at a vigil for slain Latino immigrant Rene Perez.

The War on Latino Immigrants Escalates: Jose Osvaldo Sucuzhañay Slain in Bushwick

Another Latino has been murdered in the glacial moraine known as Long Island.

Jose Osvaldo Sucuzhañay and his brother Romel were savagely attacked early Monday morning by a gang wielding beer bottles and bats. Jose was pronounced brain dead yesterday. The attack occurred in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn (Southwestern Long Island).

As in the killing of Marcelo Lucero a month earlier in Patchogue, Long Island, and the earlier slaying of Luis Ramirez in Shenandoah, PA, the attackers were a hate-filled pack of thugs prowling the night in search of victims. In all three cases, the gangs zeroed in on Latino immigrants walking home.

Unlike the other murders, the attackers in Bushwick were Black and they escaped in an SUV. In addition to using anti-Latino slurs, the attackers used anti-gay slurs in the mistaken belief that the brothers were a gay couple.

The domestic war against Latinos escalates with Jose and the Sucuzhañay family as its latest victims. But while nativists focus like a laser beam in waging their ugly war, the larger community of decent Americans are asleep at the switch. The result is that it's lietrally open season on Latinos--especially on the most vulnerable working late hours and travelling on foot or bicycle.

Photo: Diego Sucuzhañay, brother of Jose, addressing the media

Related:
Attack on Ecuadorean Brothers Investigated as Hate Crime
Brooklyn victim of bias attack Jose Sucuzhanay taken off life support
Task force hunting Brooklyn thugs in hate attack on immigrant

Nation's Civil Rights Groups Condemn Hate Killing of Marcelo Lucero

The Hate Killing of Marcelo Lucero Should be a "Wake Up Call for America"

“Words have consequences, and hateful words have hateful consequences." Janet Murguía

Washington, DC—The brutal murder of Marcelo Lucero, a Suffolk County, Long Island man of Ecuadoran descent, brought seven national civil rights organizations together today to denounce the recent wave of brutal hate crimes against communities of color.

Representatives from the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the Asian American Justice Center (AAJC), the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the National Urban League,the NAACP and the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) decried the recent spike in hate crimes both during and after the election.

“In the wake of an election that sends a message to the world about freedom, it seems incongruous to raise the specter of hate in America,” said Janet Murguía, President and CEO of NCLR. “Hate did not win the election, but it has certainly reared its head in local communities across the country.”

The group cited FBI statistics that show hate crimes against Latinos and Asian Americans rising steadily over the past four years and a Southern Poverty Law Center report that details hundreds of incidents of hate crimes, vandalism, and threats committed since Election Day. This includes the election-night assault of Alie Kamara on Staten Island by two teenagers who shouted racial epithets and “Obama!” as they beat him.

“Hate crimes such as these must be investigated and prosecuted fully at the local and federal levels,” stated John Trasviña, MALDEF President and General Counsel.

The civil rights groups faulted a “climate of hate” surrounding the immigration debate of recent years and the national election which has been fostered over the airwaves and echoed in political discourse.

“For two years we have urged politicians and members of the media to show some restraint in perpetuating the damaging rhetoric that demonizes our communities,” said Murguía. “Suffolk County mirrors the experience of many communities where hate, fostered on a national scale, has found a new home.”

“Certainly, President-elect Obama’s election speaks volumes about how far we’ve come as a nation; but, make no mistake, it signifies hope, not a final victory over prejudice and racial hostility, ” said Wade Henderson, President of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

“Words have consequences, and hateful words have hateful consequences. Mr. Lucero's death is a direct consequence of the anger and hate spurred on by media outlets that mischaracterize all Latinos and the institutions that serve them as a threat to our country,” said Murguía.

"There is a direct connection between the tenor of the political debate and the daily lives of immigrants in our communities. It is no accident that, as the immigration debate has demonized immigrants as "invaders" who poison our communities with disease and criminality, haters have taken matters into their own hands and hate crimes against Latinos are on the rise for the fourth consecutive," said Michael Lieberman, Washington Counsel, Anti-Defamation League.

These seven organizations are committed to working together to monitor incidents of hate crimes and hate rhetoric, to urge Congress to pass the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act and the media to cease resorting to bias and bigotry, and to increase tolerance and understanding among all communities.

To learn more about the code words of hate and what your community can do to combat hate speech, visit www.WeCanStopTheHate.org.

Hate and Death: The Federation for American Immigration Reform Harvest in Suffolk

By Reverend David L. Ostendorf

When I first journeyed to Suffolk Country eight years ago to work with religious, civic, and immigrant rights groups facing growing anti-immigrant activity stoked by the Federation for American Immigration Reform, I was stunned to witness the depth of anger and hostility that the group’s organizer had helped unleash. It all started “respectably” enough. But the attempt in 2000 by neo-Nazis to kill two Mexican workers was a harbinger of where growing, unchecked anti-immigrant fever and fervor could go; other violence followed. Now, an Ecuadoran immigrant, is dead at the hands of area youth who reportedly set out to beat up “some Mexicans,” bringing the tragedy of Suffolk County to its inevitable end.

In those early days Newsday tagged Suffolk County “ground zero” of a growing anti-immigrant movement. It was indeed. And now the harvest is in.

More

SHOCK JOCKS -- HATE RADIO!!!:

The Burial of Martyred Immigrant Marcelo Lucero

Video-Journalist Ana P. Gutierrez captures the Lucero and Gualaceo's deep sorrow of the retrieval and funeral of the martyred Marcelo.

The arrival of the body of Marcelo Lucero in Ecuador.


Marcelo's funeral in his hometown of Gualaceo.

Aljazeera's Report on the Marcello Lucero Murder

Rosario Lucero Grieves for her son Marcelo

Speaking from her home in Gualaceo, Ecuador, Rosario Lucero -- the grieving mother of the Long Island hate murder victim Marcelo Lucero -- spoke to video-journalist Ana P. Gutierrez.
Ms. Gutierrez captures the dignity, faith and sorrow of the people of Gualaceo in mourning.

Vigil for Marcello Lucero - Latino Immigrant Awakening?

I joined 1,000 or so of mourners at last night's outdoor vigil for Marcello Lucero in Patchogue, Long Island.

It was a diverse crowd, young and old, Latino and nonLatino. They came from the Latino precincts of the Patchogue area, as well as from communities across the length of Long Island, including Astoria, Jackson Heights, Sunset Park, Corona, Elmont, Hempstead, Long Beach, Glen Cove, Freeport, Amityville, Huntington, Brentwood, Central Islip, Southampton, Montauk. Some travelled from New Jersey and points further west.

The bulk of those assembled though were Latino immigrants -- most Ecuadorianos.

The vigil was held at the very site of Marcello's murder, on a street along side the Patchogue commuter rail station. It's the back and poorly lit side of the rail station, so one can easily see why the thugs would chose to do their evil work there.

Under a steady drizzle one mourner called 'tears from heaven', the vigil included prayers, chants, speeches and songs offered in Spanish, English and sometimes in both. Many in the audience held flickering candles. Many held home-made signs protesting Marcello's murder or demanding an end to hate. A lit shrine with a large photo of Marcello, religious artifacts, messages and flowers drew a wall of bereaved a hundred deep.

Especially touching was that a two other vigils were held simultaneously last night: One in Marcello's hometown in Ecuador and another in Nanuet, New York. The proceedings in Patchogue were heard by Marcello's mother via cellphone.

People speaking from the podium included a number of politicians:

- State Senator (and Majority Leader to be) Malcolm Smith of Queens who promised to use the full weight of the state to protect New York's immigrant communities.

- Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri who spoke about his family's own immigrant origins in a small town in Italy and how the death of Marcello has wounded the community he loves and has lived in all of his life.

- Assemblyman Phil Ramos condemned the murder of Marcello and the pattern of anti-Latino immigrant violence that has been a shameful part of Suffolk life. He spoke about his experience as a former Suffolk police officer in which he responded to several horrific acts of racist violence against Latino Immigrants.

There were labor leaders who rallied the crowd with chants of 'Justicia', 'Yes, We Can!' and 'Un Pueblo Unido No Puede Ser Vencido!'.

A number of Latin American nations sent their representatives, including Ecuador's Ambassador to the United Nations, embassy officials from Venezuela, El Salvador and others.

There were religious leaders including the Imam of Long Island's Muslim community who offered prayers and solidarity.

Marcello's younger brother spoke again about the need to stop the violence against immigrants who he described as good people, hardworking people.

Latino and immigrant leaders addressed the mourners, including Dr. Luis Valenzuela who called for Suffolk County politicians to stop bashing immigrants. Another noted that Lucero means 'bright star' in Spanish and that Marcello was shining a light towards a better place from his perch in heaven.

Finally, one very animated speaker--whose name and role I didn't get--opened his comments with 'good morning' even though it was night. It wasn't a mistake. His point was that Long Island's Latino community has been asleep for too long, reluctant to stand up for itself. But that last night's large turn out was a sign to him that the community has awakened.

Video: Newsday
Photos: Gerry Vazquez

75 Bits of Toxic Hate from Conservative Talk Radio

Last week, MediaMatters for America released a roundup of smears conservative radio hosts used to foment hate and distrust among their listeners for President-elect Obama. As a follow up, they put together a collection of items illustrating that these hosts did not save their ire for Obama. Immigrants, female politicians (and women in general,) the LGBT community, the poor and homeless, minorities, progressives, unions, college students, and even autistic children were targets for these radio personalities.

Do you know what's on your radio? Here's an example:

1) G. Gordon Liddy smeared undocumented Mexican immigrants, claiming they "want to reconquer America, they say"
2) Jim Quinn, Lee Rodgers: Conservative radio hosts claimed HUD said 5 million illegal immigrants were given subprime mortgages, despite HUD's reported denials
3) Savage: "Illegal aliens" have "raped and disheveled" the Statue of Liberty
4) Savage: "We're getting refugees now who have never used a telephone, a toothbrush, or toilet paper. ... [T]hey never assimilate. And then their children become gang-bangers"
5) Savage: "Bring in 10 million more from Africa. ... They can't reason, but bring them in with a machete in their head"
6) Savage on Muslim immigrants: 15th-century "throwbacks, some of whom are no doubt terrorists, and some of whom are gonna produce children who will become terrorists"
7) Chris Baker called Obama a "little bitch" who "won't even stand up to" "smoking-hot" Palin
8) Baker on Palin's appearance at VP debate: "Shoulda had a little cleavage going ... I noticed a panty line on her"
9) Baker: "I don't think homeless people should vote"; "I'm not that excited about women voting"
10) Minneapolis radio host said Code Pink protesters "ought to have all their tubes tied"
11) Mark Belling: "When you think of Hillary Clinton," the word "bitches" comes to mind
12) Belling called Gloria Steinem a "grizzled old bag," "old witch"
13) On Jon Caldara's KOA show, Coulter claimed women's suffrage "explains the destruction of America"
14) Jon Caldara asked Coulter if Clinton was "bitch-slapped" in debate
15) Bill Cunningham on Democratic women: "[A] lot of women who are single are vulnerable; they need like a daddy government to keep an eye on them"
16) Mark Levin on his "National Organization of Ugly Women" remark: "[F]or now on, it's the National Organization of Really Ugly Women"
17) Jim Quinn called NOW the "National Organization for Whores," said columnist Fatimah Ali should "get an American name"
18) Jim Quinn: "[T]he goal of the public school system -- the feminists in the public school system -- is to make male behavior illegal"
19) Jim Quinn: Steinem opposes Palin because Palin "declined to slaughter her own unborn child, Trig, to the goddess of feminism"
20) Quinn: To feminists, even "a childless feminist who looks like a Bulgarian weightlifter in drag" can be a "real woman"
21) Quinn introduced segment about Hillary Clinton by playing Elton John's "The Bitch Is Back"
22) KSFO's Lee Rodgers said many "professed leaders of the feminist movement" are "hags" who "couldn't get laid in a men's prison"
23) KSFO's Rodgers: "[P]uckered-butt Democrat women hate Sarah Palin ... because her idea of choice was choosing not to have an abortion"
24) KSFO's Rodgers: "[F]emale leadership of the Democratic Party" consists of "ugly skanks" who "hate" that "Sarah Palin's good-looking"
25) KSFO's Rodgers: "With that screechy, fingernails-on-the-blackboard voice of hers, it is impossible for Hillary Clinton to deliver a great speech"
26) KSFO's Rodgers on voting gender gap: For "a lot of women in this country who get knocked up ... the government becomes Daddy in terms of paying the bills"
27) On Jon Caldara program, Coulter called John Edwards "the very definition of faggy"
28) KHOW's Dan Caplis again asserted that gay "conduct is not natural" and is "immoral"
29) KOA's "Gunny" Bob Newman repeated concern that "crushing tyranny of the left" could "lead to legal human-animal marriage"
30) Michael Savage: "If you're insane, hate the family ... hate your mother and father, hate the Bible, hate the church, and hate the synagogue," you oppose CA gay marriage ban
31) After railing against gay marriage, Savage said "the spiritual side of the downturn on Wall Street was directly related to the moral downturn"
32) Savage linked San Francisco event to the "artistes" and "leather fetishists" of Weimar-era Germany, whom he blamed for Hitler's rise
33) Savage: "The children's minds are being raped by the homosexual mafia"
34) KSFO's Brian Sussman invited guest to talk about his claim that "gay and lesbian radicals actively recruit through our schools and the media"
35) Jim Quinn: "Gay sex produces AIDS"; "They should charge homosexuals more for their ... health insurance"
36) Neil Boortz: "Muslims, making tortillas? ... [W]ith all of the illegal Mexicans in this country, we can't find some Mexicans to make those tortillas?"
37) Boortz's commentary on his inability to use a floor buffer: "I would make a lousy Mexican"
38) Bill Cunningham on Obama Sr.: "That's what black fathers do. They simply leave"
39) Bill Cnningham guest Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson: "[M]ost black people today are racist"
40) Cunningham: "I think there will be 100 cities burning if Barack loses. Yeah, that's what the black intelligentsia says"
41) In sketch on Corsi's detention in Kenya, Liddy played audio of "jungle telegraph drums"
42) Quinn and Tennent: Powell endorsed Obama because "he's tired of being called an Oreo," "an Uncle Tom"
43) Lee Rodgers suggested that just as the O.J. Simpson verdict "was a racial vote," African-Americans support Obama because of "racial brotherhood"
44) Michael Savage on Obama: "America's first affirmative action candidate about to become president"
45) Savage: "Kenya is going to move to America if Barack Hussein Obama wins"
46) Baker: "I don't think homeless people should vote"; "I'm not that excited about women voting"
47) Boortz: "Single mothers receiving public assistance" are "welfare broodmares"
48) Boortz again referred to victims of Hurricane Katrina as "parasite[s]"
49) Boortz: "[P]rimary blame" for Katrina goes to "worthless parasites who lived in New Orleans"
50) Cunningham: "[P]eople are poor in America ... because they lack values, morals, and ethics"
51) Cunningham: America's "so-called noble poor" don't use birth control so that "the mom can get more checks in the mail from the government"
52) Liddy: Obama is relying, in part, on "the welfare class" to win Pennsylvania
53) Quinn stated that unlike welfare recipients, slaves "had to work" for food, housing
54) Responding to Media Matters item, Quinn defended comparison of welfare recipients to slaves
55) Rose Tennent on Obama ad: "[D]on't put that jive out there in front of me, devil, and tell me that these people are hurting when they are not hurting"
56) Quinn: "Originally, if you didn't have land, you didn't vote, and there was a good reason for it"
57) Savage: "Why should a welfare recipient have the right to vote? They're only gonna vote themselves a raise"
58) Savage's answer to homelessness: "Why not put them in work camps?"
59) Minneapolis radio hosts Chris Baker and Perry are "convinced" that Magic Johnson "faked AIDS"
60) Baker: Media Matters "can kiss my supple buttocks"
61) Belling smeared "greedy, overpaid unionized schoolteacher[s]" who talk about global warming
62) Boortz: Teachers unions "do more damage to this country than all the drug pushers together"
63) Boortz again referred to victims of Hurricane Katrina as "parasite[s]"
64) Levin attacks "Jon Leibowitz, a.k.a Jon Stewart": "I'm really tired of these phony intellectuals ... arrogantly looking down their sizable noses at our armed forces"
65) "Gunny" Bob Newman's suggestions for replacing Air America's Rhodes included Obama, Stalin, bin Laden, Charles Manson
66) KSFO's "gentleman" Lee Rodgers lashes out at Media Matters
67) Discussing economic crisis and bailout plan, Michael Savage said Rep. Frank "should be in the gallows for this"
68) Savage: Democratic Party's "membership is made up largely of minority blocs ... that are all against the white person"
69) Savage reportedly likened Media Matters to HIV
70) Savage on Media Matters: "They have no place in America"
71) Savage on autism: "A fraud, a racket. ...In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out"
72) Savage referred to Pelosi as "Nancy Mussolini"
73) Savage plays Dead Kennedys song again after asserting he "is now being persecuted for refusing to take the party line" on Sen. Kennedy's illness
74) Savage: "I would round up every member of the ACLU and of the National Lawyers Guild and I'd put them in a prison in Guantánamo and I'd throw the key away"
75) Savage claimed Lantos used the Holocaust as "a weapon the rest of his life"

Headlines: The Murder of Marcello Lucero in Suffolk County - 11/12-11/13/08

Spanish-Language Media Decries Long Island Hate Crime - New American Media 11/13/08

Steve Levy: Leaderless in Suffolk? - SpinCycle-Newsday 11/12/08

Levy must be bolder - HartfordCourant-Newsday 11/13/08

Mother mourns Patchogue stabbing victim - Newsday 11/13/08

Town Still Torn Over Immigrant Murder - CBS Evening News 11/13/08

Racial, sexual graffiti found on cars near Mastic homes - HartfordCourant 11/13/08

Hate Runs Wild: Race Woes Plague LI Nabe Where Teens Became 'Killers' - NYPost 11/13/08

Much Work Left To Do - Southampton Press 11/13/08

Residents Denounce Murder Of Immigrant, Protest "Anti-Latino" Bill - Guanabee 11/12/08

Levy walking fine line in reaction to immigrant death - Newsday 11/12/08

Speakers denounce attack on immigrant, urge tolerance - Newsday 11/12/08

Ku Klux Klan literature dropped at Islip Terrace homes - Newsday 11/12/08

Vigilia para Marcello Lucero: 14 de Noviembre - Intutive Intertexuality 11/12/08

Latinos Increasingly Targeted For Hate Crimes - NPR 11/12/08

Uncle Of Accused Patchogue Gang Member Fires Back - WCBSTV 11/13/08

Advocates say rhetoric fuels anti-Hispanic crime - Huffington Post 11/12/08

Editorial: Suffolk’s big mess - LI Business News 11/12/08

Hate Speech Has Consequences - It happened again, another Hispanic/Latino murdered, lynched? - El Rinconcito de Aurora 11/12/08

Patchogue stabbing victim's mother mourns - Newsday 11/12/08

An Island of racists? - LIBizBlog 11/12/08

Harvest of hatred - Impre.com 11/12/08

Levy remains under seige - LIBizBlog 11/12/08

Anti-Immigrant/Anti-Latino Hate Claims Another Vida: Marcello Lucero - VivirLatino 11/12/08

LI Lynch Mob Murders Ecudorian Immigrant Marcello Lucero - Gangbox: Construction Workers News Service 11/11/08

Hate Crime Against a Latino - iHispano 11/11/08

The Patchogue Murderers

This disgraceful act should serve as a source of outrage for all of us.
Gov. David Patterson

Jeffrey Conroy, front, is led out of Suffolk County's 5th Precinct in Patchogue with six others charged in the bias gang killing of Marcelo Lucero.

After the gang pummelled their victim in their nighttime hunt to "jump beaners", it's believed Conroy fatally stabbed Lucero in the chest.

Fresh from reaching out to Latinos attending the Somos el Futuro Conference in Puerto Rico, Governor David A. Paterson issued this statement denouncing the murder:

"This disgraceful act should serve as a source of outrage for all of us." He also pledged to assist Suffolk County "in any way possible to ensure swift and certain justice for this heinous crime."

Take a close look at these photographs. This is what anti-Latino immigrant hate looks in America of today. What's really unfortunate is that the adults that have encouraged these young men to ruin their lives through hate and violence will pay no price.

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE!!!

Top photo: Suffolk County, NY Killers of Marcelo Lucero
Bottom photo: Three of the Shenandoah, PA killers of Luis Eduardo Martinez

Latino Immigrant Marcello Lucero Murdered by Gang of Thugs in Suffolk County

Latino immigrant Marcello Lucero, 37, was murdered in what Suffolk Police are calling a hate crime. He was beaten and stabbed in Patchogue Saturday night by a gang of seven thugs from the East Patchogue/Medford section of South County. All seven were arrested and face a charge of first-degree gang assault.

The Lucero killing follows an eerily similar incident this past July in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. Another gang of young thugs murdered Luis Eduardo Martinez for the crime of being an Latino immigrant. Both incidents were preceded by a growing bias incidents spurred, in part, by the irresponsible rhetoric and actions of local politicians, hate radio and national nativist agitators.

To his credit Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy immediately issued this statement: "This heinous crime that led to the death of an individual because of his race will not be tolerated in Suffolk County,"

However, what's needed for Levy, Suffolk legislators, town leaders, clergy , educators, business leaders and parents to stand united in condemning the Lucero murder. Additionally, politicians must stop contributing to a hostile environment with irresponsible rhetoric and scapegoating measures.

Link: Cops: Fatal stabbing of Patchogue man a hate crime

Photo: Marcello Lucero