Yesterday la Macha wrote about the horrific murder of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado in Puerto Rico.

Some organizations are calling for the intervention of the United States Department of Justice, especially in light of comments that the local police investigator on the case made in the media:

The local police investigator assigned to the case said to Univisión about the victim: “Someone like that, who does those kind of things, and goes out in public, knows full well that this might happen to him.”…Puerto Rico’s Civil Rights Commission and Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, a local activist organization, have asked the Puerto Rico Police Department to take disciplinary action against Rodriguez. The PRPD has removed the investigator from the case, but local activists plan to protest outside the territorial capital in San Juan on Thursday. They also plan to hold a vigil later this week.

The Puerto Rican government added sexual orientation to its hate crimes laws in 2002, but Serrano complained local police have not used it to prosecute those accused of anti-gay violence. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has announced it will take jurisdiction over the case if local investigators conclude López’s killer or killers murdered him because of his sexual orientation.

From what I have been reading on different progressive websites, the thought is that the Feds getting involved will equal impartiality. Considering the abuse that the FBI and U.S. Federal Government is guilty of inside Puerto Rico, I am wary of expecting fairness or impartiality from the colonial “mother country”. I would like to hear from LBGT citizens and orgs in Puerto Rico. What do they need locally and not so locally in order to feels safe and seek justice.

Via / Pam’s House Blend