NYC Racial Attack


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By MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN, Associated Press Writer

Thursday, June 30, 2005

(06-30) 14:22 PDT New York (AP) --

A white teenager was charged with a hate crime Thursday for allegedly beating a black man with a baseball bat in the Howard Beach section of Queens, the site of an infamous racial confrontation two decades ago.

Police said Nicholas Minucci, 19, confessed to the Wednesday attack, which left the victim in critical condition with a fractured skull.

Minucci was charged with assault as a hate crime ? punishable by a minimum of eight years in prison ? as well as robbery and criminal weapon possession. One of his companions, 22-year-old Anthony Ench, was arrested Thursday and a third was being sought.

Minucci's attorney, Lori Zeno, said the victim, Glen Moore, 20, had tried to rob Minucci and threatened him with a screwdriver. Police said they did not believe Minucci's account.

Investigators said Moore and two other black men were looking for a car to steal when they were spotted by a white man, who returned with two friends. Police said Minucci, shouting racial epithets, then attacked Moore with the bat, while one of his companions reportedly yelled, "This is what you get if you want to rob white boys."

The conflict happened just blocks from where three black men were beaten in 1986 after their car broke down. One of them, 23-year-old Michael Griffith, was killed by a car as he fled. The attack ignited racial tensions and was compared to a lynching by then-Mayor Edward Koch.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Thursday the city has "zero tolerance" for hate crimes. "I think if you look today, this city has learned a lesson, pulled together and is not going to let anybody tear us apart," he said.

Civil rights leader Al Sharpton, who visited Moore at the hospital Thursday, said he planned to march in Howard Beach in coming days.

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?.../a124719D40.DTL

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"I think if you look today, this city has learned a lesson, pulled together and is not going to let anybody tear us apart,"

And he's right, only the brain damaged will let this tear them apart, but sometimes when it comes to acts such as this and the mentality behind it/them i wish humanity the best of luck.

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ahhhh **** man, when i read stories liek this about people getting beat wit baseball bats n having to go to hospital n all that... it really reminds me how lucky i got once, ... got beat wit 2 baseball bats... u hav no idea what kinda **** goes through ur head when ur in a situation like that ... the one that went through me the most was, will i make it through this fukkk i dont even like thinking about it, but 18 years isnt long enough to accept that ur life might come to an end. but my **** wasnt no hate crime... or a random act of violence, i knew why it happened, err **** happens... all i know is i got lucky that one of my boys made ther on time and the 2 bitches fled.

sorry to go bit off-topic but that hits mereal hard.

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I fail to see how this is a hate crime.  He was not targeted purely on race, but for his questionable actions and motivation.

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Police said Minucci, shouting racial epithets, then attacked Moore with the bat, while one of his companions reportedly yelled, "This is what you get if you want to rob white boys."

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Yelling racial epithets is not enough to be classified as a 'hate' crime. The victim was not chosen soley on the basis of his race.(!)

For example, if someone caught their lawyer in bed with their wife and murdered him while yelling anti-semetic epithets it would not be a hate crime, even though his feelings towards jews may have led to such drastic consequences.

Edited by Dashel
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Yelling racial epithets is not enough to be classified as a 'hate' crime.  The victim was not chosen soley on the basis of his race.(!)

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And they weren't stealing his car because he's white.......

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Yelling racial epithets is not enough to be classified as a 'hate' crime.  The victim was not chosen soley on the basis of his race.(!)

For example, if someone caught their lawyer in bed with their wife and murdered him while yelling anti-semetic epithets it would not be a hate crime, even though his feelings towards jews may have led to such drastic consequences.

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unless, of course, they wanted to kill him because of his race and justified it with his actions. that would make for a tense trial with both sides offering valid arguments.

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I just don't understand why the penalty for murder is not enough that it must be buttressed by a race card. Is a black man raping a white woman while telling the 'honkey bitch' how much she will love it a hate crime?

Obviously it is, but it has nothing to do with skin color.

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This is no hate crime, It is simple assault or assault with a deadly weapon. the three kids where trying to steal a car and the kid just want to stop it. But for some reason what the kids decided to use the N word it is a hate crime??? I also want to know why a couple of blacks going to in a ALL white, ALL italian part of long island at night????? If this was the other way around where the italian kids went into Harlem at night trying to steal a car, they would have gotten the same thing happen to them, but no hate crime charges.

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This is no hate crime, It is simple assault or assault with a deadly weapon. the three kids where trying to steal a car and the kid just want to stop it. But for some reason what the kids decided to use the N word it is a hate crime??? I also want to know why a couple of blacks going to in a ALL white, ALL italian part of long island at night????? If this was the other way around where the italian kids went into Harlem at night trying to steal a car, they would have gotten the same thing happen to them, but no hate crime charges.

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I agree completely, three thugs were trying to jack a car in the wrong neighborhood. It was not racially motivated, but I do wish the severly hurt guy does recover.

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