Archive for the ‘crime’ Category
Bay Area Community Members to Hold Vigil and Release Statement about Murders in Maryland and Puerto Rico
6:03 pm By la Macha · GLBT| Health| Puerto Rico| San Francisco| Violence| crime| sex| youth · No Comments
20 Nov 2009PRESS RELEASE
TIME: Sunday, November 22, 3:30pm
LOCATION: Mac Arthur and Grand Ave. at Lake MerrittCONTACT: Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, Liz Latty
PHONE: (510) 282-5223
EMAIL: morethanavigil@gmail.comBAY AREA COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO HOLD VIGIL FOR QUEER/TRANS TEENS MURDERED IN MARYLAND AND PUERTO RICO
OAKLAND, CA – Outraged at the murders of two queer and trans teenagers last week, Bay Area queers and allies will gather at Lake Merritt this Sunday for a candlelight vigil and open mic to mourn and brainstorm ways to keep their community safer from violence.
Last Friday, 19-year-old Jorge Steven López-Mercado got into a car with Juan Martinez-Matos, 26, who later said he had been “searching for a prostitute.” Martinez-Matos murdered, beheaded and dismembered López-Mercado after, he said, he discovered that López-Mercado had male genitalia and was wearing feminine clothing. Martinez-Matos then set fire to Lopez-Mercado’s remains and left them on the side of a road. Martinez -Matos is now in custody and has confessed to the murder. His bail is set at $4 million.
The same week, in Baltimore, Maryland, queer fifteen-year-old Jason Mattison, Jr., was raped and stabbed to death in his aunt’s home by an adult male, a family friend with whom, according to a Baltimore police spokesperson, Mattison allegedly had a “forced sexual relationship.”
Queer activists say they worry that López-Mercado’s murderer will successfully invoke the defense of “gay or trans-panic” to justify the brutal killing. “The fact that Martinez -Matos is saying that López-Mercado was ‘wearing women’s clothing’ indicates that he might try to say he was ‘fooled’ and therefore ‘forced’ to kill López-Mercado for their gender identity,” Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, one of the organizers of the Oakland vigil said.
“This is completely inexcusable,” Liz Latty, another organizer of the rally this Sunday, said. “It’s blaming the victim. We unequivocally denounce the way that the lives of queer and transgendered people, sex workers, people of color, women and low-income people are devalued and seen as disposable. We especially denounce the ways in which femme-presenting sex workers of color are incredibly targetted for violence.”
Referring to López-Mercado’s murder, police investigator Ángel Rodríguez Colón told Univisión, “These types of people, when they enter this lifestyle and go out into the streets, know that this could happen.”
“We are outraged at the murders of López-Mercado and Mattison,” Oakland vigil organizer Latty said. “We, queer and transgendered people in Oakland, are mourning these senseless deaths. Yet we are also a resilient community. We wish to stand in solidarity with those in Puerto Rico and Baltimore who are surviving despite this invisibility and injustice.”
Bay Area organizers of the vigil have been in contact with friends of López-Mercado and are hoping to coordinate memorial events and future actions with the Puerto Rican and Baltimore queer communities.
Harry Rodriguez, a spokesperson for the FBI in Puetro Rico, said that the agency will monitor the investigation since federal statutes regarding hate crimes are implicated. Puerto Rican lawmaker, Charlie Hernandez, who authored the Hate Crimes Act of 2002, has been asking officials to consider charging Matos under that law. It would be the first time in Puerto Rico that a murder would be classified as a hate crime. According to the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force, López-Mercado is the tenth murder victim of a hate crime in Puerto Rico in the last seven years.
But Oakland vigil organizers say they want a different kind of justice that doesn’t rely on increased policing or punishment. They say that the prison system has not made life safer for victims of violence, especially those who are queer and transgendered people of color. Organizers say that violence against queer youth of color is only exacerbated by increased police enforcement, which disproportionally targets and locks up low-income people, people of color, sex workers, and gender non-conforming people.
“Hate crimes legislation and more police patrols would not make our communities safer. It would not have prevented the murders, and no punishment will bring these two men back,” organizer Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha said. “Systemic homophobia and transphobia killed López-Mercado and Mattison, who like other queer or gender non-comforming youth of color, faced barriers like street harassment and discrimination in every facet of life. What could’ve actually saved the two young men are things like free or affordable public transportation, an end to housing and employment discrimination against people of color, queer and trans folks, and the decriminalization of sex work.”
“We don’t know how Lopez-Mercado identified, gender-wise, right now,” added Piepzna-Samarasinha. ” What we do know is that transphobia is a huge part of why they were murdered. As we continue to receive information from Lopez-Mercado’s friends and family members about how Lopez-Mercado saw their gender, we will change their pronouns to the ones they preferred. We want to work to create a world where all people are free to live in safety with any gender expression they desire.”
Vigils mourning López-Mercado and Mattison will also take place this Sunday in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Amherst, MA, Tara Haute, Abilene, TX, Atlanta, and Durham.
Update : Arrest Made in Murder of 19 Year Old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado
9:54 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · GLBT| Puerto Rico| Violence| crime| youth · 5 Comments
17 Nov 2009
Just read this off of Pam’s House Blend and then read the original article off of Primera Hora.
A man was arrested in the early morning hours in Cayay, suspected in the death of 19 year old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado…an apparent homophobic hate crime…Sources say that the 28 year old man may have offered Lopez Mercado money for sex.
This case needs to be closely monitored for what may be the double victimization of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado. There may be an attempt to paint this as a crime of passion, “gay panic”, and/or “prostitution gone bad” instead of the horrific act of hateful violence it was.
Gay Rican Teen found brutally murdered
2:45 pm By la Macha · Puerto Rico| Violence| crime| youth · 6 Comments
16 Nov 2009This news is just so sad and horrific and enraging.
“On November 14 the body of a gay 19 year old was found a few miles away from the town in which he was residing in called Caguas. He was a very well known person in the gay community of Puerto Rico, and very loved. He was found on the site of an isolated road in the city of Cayey, he was partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered, both arms, both legs, and the torso. This has caused a huge reaction from the gay community here, but its a difficult situation. Never in the history of Puerto Rico has a murder been classified as a hate crime. Even though we have to follow federal mandates and laws, many of the laws in which are passed in the USA such as Obama’s new bill, do not always directly get practiced in Puerto Rico. The police agent that is handling this case said on a public televised statement that ‘people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen’. As If the boy murdered Jorge Steven Lopez was asking to get killed…”
May peace be with Jorge Steven Lopez and VL sends so much love and support to his family and loved ones during this horrible time. VL will keep you updated on any actions that happen.
Story found via facebook
Supreme Court Hearing Two Cases on Juvenile (In)justice
12:36 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Justice| Linking Latinos| Politics| crime| youth · No Comments
9 Nov 2009Today the Supreme Court is hearing two cases that could hopefully change how the (in)justice system sentences juveniles. The cases specifically deal with sentencing youth to life without parole and if that is unconstitutional. The cases being used are that of Terrance Jamar Graham and Joe Sullivan, who were 16 and 13, respectively, when they committed their crimes. Not surprisingly, considering how in all phases of the criminal (in)justice system people of color are profiled and targeted, the Supreme Court’s ruling could impact the case of Latino Efrén Paredes, Jr., who at age 15 and wrongly convicted in 1989 for a murder and armed robbery he did not commit; a crime to which others have admitted guilt.
This week’s News With Nezua discusses what the Supreme Court is up to and what’s at stake.
One of Marcelo Lucero’s Attackers Pleads Guilty
4:11 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Justice| New York| Violence| crime · 1 Comment
5 Nov 2009
While I was writing my reflections on the anniversary of the hate motivated killing of Marcelo Lucero, , one of his attackers plead guilty to a variety of charges. Nicholas Hausch, 18, pleaded guilty to first-degree gang assault, fourth-degree conspiracy, second-degree assault as a hate crime and second-degree attempted assault as a hate crime.
Hausch’s plea is apparently part of a deal in exchange for information on what happened the night Lucero was brutally attacked. Hausch had no problem yelling slurs at Lucero almost a year ago, but had problems speaking up before a judge.
In a barely audible voice, Hausch answered a prosecutor’s questions about the events that led to the slaying, admitting that he and his six co-defendants set out to search for Latinos to attack.
“Keep your voice up, young man,” the judge said to Hausch twice during the teen’s admissions.
Responding to questions from Assistant District Attorney Meghan O’Donnell, Hausch detailed three attacks he was involved in on Nov. 8, including the Lucero killing.
Before coming across Lucero, Hausch said the group pursued another man. “I got out of the car and I chased him. We were yelling at him,” calling him a derogatory name, he said….
Hausch faces 5 to 25 years in prison on the gang assault charge and will not be sentenced until the prosecution of the other six defendants is completed.
Via / Newsday
Remembering Marcelo Lucero : One Year Later, The List of Hate Crimes Grows Longer
12:18 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Immigration| Justice| New York| Violence| crime · 3 Comments
5 Nov 2009
There is much remembering that one year ago the United States elected it’s first person of color president. The U.S. was overwhelmed with bold, bright promises of hope and change. People wept, and I was among them. The start of the Obama era marked the end of the Bush era and hopefully would mean policy changes that would directly impact the everyday lives of all people pero yes, for people of color and immigrants there was a special hope. Hope that immigration reform that would keep all families together and value the lives of people who live and work in the shadows and out in the open.
But then something happened that many thought wasn’t supposed to happen anymore. Weren’t we post-racial? Days after Barack Obama became the president-elect a group of teenagers in Patchogue, Long Island, NY hung out doing what they did about once a week. “Beaner jumping”. That’s what they called it when they went out looking for anyone who looked Latino (they don’t care what kind of “beaner” you are) so they could assault them. That night the young men were out for blood though and they killed Marcelo Lucero.
Read more…
Monday Movie Clip, Voces : Special Circumstances
7:58 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Chile| Media| Raices| Violence| crime| history| military · Comments Off
19 Oct 2009While a restless toddler jumped on the bed, I watched pedazos of this documentary last night on Voces on my local PBS station.
Special Circumstances follows Chilean exile Héctor Salgado as he returns to Chile from the USA to seek and confront the men who imprisoned him and tortured and killed his friends after the coup of 1973. Through his journey, audiences will come to understand the legal, political and social obstacles standing in the way of a nation’s attempt, thirty years later, to overcome its brutal history. Throughout five years of determined digging, Héctor finds old friends and family members, victims’ families, survivors and others who express divided and passionate opinions about Chile’s past.The resulting film not only tells a dramatic story of Héctor’s encounters with former military personnel, but also gives audiences a rare look at contemporary Chile and the nation’s efforts to reconcile its troubling history.
Julio Maldonado : Hate Crime Survivor Scheduled for Deportation
1:14 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Family| Immigration| Justice| Philly| crime · Comments Off
7 Oct 2009I wrote about the case of Julio Maldonado and his cousin, Denis Calderon, who survived a horrible hate crime in Philly and now are being victimized again via the Department of Homeland Security.
…They are lawful permanent residents with American citizens as partners and American citizen children. Pero as two Latino immigrants in a changing neighborhood in Philly, they became targets for assault which made it easier for them to be doubly victimized, first by a racist gang and now by the Department of Homeland Security.
In 1996, Julio was visiting Denis at his home in Philadelphia when the two were victims of a racially-motivated attack by a group of white youths who insulted them with a racial slur. When the cousins responded to the slur, the youths began throwing beer bottles at them. The two cousins tried to escape, and then attempted to defend themselves… When the police arrived, they arrested Denis and Julio. They recovered two knives at the scene but did not test them for blood or fingerprints since no witness testified that Denis or Julio had used a knife. Denis and Julio were charged with aggravated assault. None of the white youths were ever charged with any crime.
Tragically, Christian Saladino died in 1998. Williams brought murder charges against Denis and Julio. The case went before a jury and the defendants hired a forensic pathologist who testified that the victim had a pre-existing blood condition and had not died from injuries sustained in an attack. Inconsistencies arose in the accounts of the witnesses and the jury acquitted both defendants.
Judge Smith, the original convicting judge, in his remanded evidentiary hearing decided the new evidence was material and ruled in favor of the defendants, vacating the guilty verdicts and calling for a new trial on the aggravated assault charges. In a reasonable system, that would have been the end of the story and you would not be reading about it today. But Seth Williams appealed the decision and the appellate court reversed Judge Smith because the cousins had failed to present the exculpatory evidence within the time prescribed by the statute of limitations. The cousins’ criminal attorneys appealed the criminal case up to the U.S. Supreme Court and lost on technical grounds.
Several years ago, DHS got involved and put the cousins into removal proceedings on the basis of the conviction which was then being appealed. Julio and Denis appealed their immigration case up to the Third Circuit and lost.
In 2005, Julio and Denis were charged and convicted with failing to cooperate in their own removal because they would not sign the papers necessary to request travel documents from Peru so they could be deported. They have been in federal prison on those charges since 2005. Julio’s release date was moved up a year due to good behavior. DHS has expressed its intent to deport him once he is released on September 12, 2009.
Julio is at a critical point now. Despite being a legal resident of the U.S, and despite the fact that he has refused to sign papers required to process his Peruvian travel documents, Peru has gone ahead and processed temporary travel documents that do not require Julio’s consent, allowing DHS to deport Julio this week. One way to stop this is DHS exercises its discretion to wait until Julio’s pardon request can be heard. **Please call DHS and Governor Rendell at the numbers below!**
***Please call David Venturella, Acting Director of ICE’s Office of Detention and Removal Operation, at (202) 732-3100 to request that DHS allow Julio to stay in the U.S. until his request for a pardon is reviewed by Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell.***
***Please call Governor Rendell’s office at (717) 787-2500 and ask the governor (1) to expedite review of Julio’s pardon request and (2) to ask DHS to wait to deport him until the pardon request is reviewed.***
Don’t forget that there is a petition you can sign for Julio and Denis here.
Fake ICE Agent Kidnaps Infant, “Misrepresenting how the Government Works or Behaves in this Country”
6:54 am By Maegan La Mala · Family| Immigration| Nashville| Women| children| crime · 7 Comments
3 Oct 2009
Four day old Yair Anthony Carrillo and his mother, Maria Gurrolla of Nashville, Tennessee were doubly victimized by the fear that is the current immigration system in the United States on Tuesday, when the infant was kidnapped by a woman claiming to be an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
The fake official slashed Gurrolla after she initially refused to hand over the child though in the end Carillo was taken away from her.
As if having your newborn child violently taken from your arms weren’t traumatic enough, enter Yuri Cunza, president of Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and publisher of La Noticia, a Spanish language newspaper in Nashville who instead of connecting the long history of how immigration enforcement separates parents from their children, from Elvira Arellano to Cirila Baltazar Cruz, asks Latino immigrants communities to trust law enforcement and other state agencies who act as de facto ICE agents.
“I am really concerned about the possibility of newborn babies and Hispanic women can be targeted because of a level of vulnerability,” Cunza said…
Cunza said that the suspect posing as an immigration officer will create a chilling effect for Hispanics who regularly interact with immigration authorities. “It is misrepresenting how the government works or behaves in this country,” he said.
From Postville to Patchogue, the cries of immigrant mothers and children tell what is just another day on the job for those who continue to terrorize Latino immigrant communities and the carriers of hate who spread their racist gospel via the mainstream media. It is why children at a young age learn to stay close to their mothers in immigrant communities and maintain a low gaze in the presence of law enforcement. It doesn’t even matter if the ICE badge is real or not, just ask el espiritu de Brisenia Flores and her father. Yair Anthony Carrillo, with four days on this earth, is learning how to live in fear when he should be in his mother’s loving care and Latina motherhood is criminalized and victimized.
Updated: Late last night, after I wrote this post, Yair was found safe.
Via/ The Latin Americanist, Standing Firm, The Unapologetic Mexican
Hola!
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- Dear Troll(s):
- Puerto Rican, Latino Clergy, Theology Professors, Community Members To Condemn Brutal Hate Killing of Gay Puerto Rican Man
- Vigils for Justice y en Memoria de Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado
- Russell Athletic rehires fired union organizers
- When Things Go Wrong…Terribly Wrong.
- Official VivirLatino Statement on Lou Dobbs Leaving CNN
- Sexual Violence Against Women in Immigrant Detention
- Nadya Suleman Speaks Again
- Update : Arrest Made in Murder of 19 Year Old Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado
- Organizations Asking Department of Justice to Intervene in Murder Case of Jorge Steven López Mercado
