As if Suffolk County couldn’t look any worse.
Hispanics are routinely harassed by bigots, treated unfairly by police and the climate is a direct result of inflammatory rhetoric coming from politicians, according to a report compiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an Alabama-based nonprofit that monitors hate groups. Although the four-month-long study did not find evidence of organized white supremacists in the county, the summary of the past decade of bias incidents painted an equally disturbing picture.
“They are regularly taunted, spit upon and pelted with apples, full soda cans, beer bottles and other projectiles,” reads the 28-page report, Climate of Fear: Latino Immigrants in Suffolk County, N.Y. “Their houses and apartments are egged, spray painted with racial epithets and riddled with bullets in drive-by shootings.
The area surrounding the Patchogue train station has seen three high-profile bias crime investigations in the past year.
“Numerous immigrants reported being shot with BB or pellet guns, or hit in the eyes with pepper spray. Others said they’d been run off the road by cars while riding bicycles, or chased into the woods by drivers while traveling on foot. The SPLC recorded abundant first-hand accounts of immigrants being punched and kicked by random attackers, beaten with baseball bats or robbed at knifepoint.”
Not surprising, when seven high school students are awaiting trial for the allegedly hate-motivated murder of Ecuadorean immigrant Marcelo Lucero, who was fatally stabbed near the Patchogue train station in November 2008. Not to mention another three teenagers who were charged with attacking a day laborer two weeks ago and anti-Hispanic notes that were found in a Spanish-speaking church the night before SPLC’s Sept. 2 announcement. Both incidents happened blocks from where Lucero was killed.
“There is a large number of hate crimes out there and only a tiny percentage of them are making it to the point of criminal investigation,” said Mark Potok, a director with SPLC, describing how those polled, including both documented and undocumented immigrants, said police have dissuaded their reporting hate crimes. An unknown number of hate crimes also go unreported because immigrants don’t trust police, he added.
“These things do not occur in a vacuum, they do not come out of nowhere,” said Potok, who credited Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy, who he called the “enabler in chief,” with fomenting the anti-immigrant environment. Levy made his reputation as being against illegal immigration and has argued that being for better immigration law enforcement doesn’t equal racism.
Levy did not directly speak to the report in a statement: “While we can continue to disagree about policies related to the economic and social impacts of illegal immigration, we can all agree that any violence against a fellow human being cannot and will not be tolerated.”
Potok cautioned that the report does not mean that all Suffolk residents, politicians and police officers are anti-immigrant—green card or not.
“Some of the report had concrete ideas, most of which we are already implementing, but other parts were rife with inaccuracies due to the law center’s failure to interview the police department, the district attorney or elected officials,” Suffolk Police Commissioner Richard Dormer said in a statement.
Joselo Lucero, Marcello’s brother, urged victims to speak up. “The victims never do nothing,” he said. “They have to stand up, defend themselves.”
Suffolk recently held the first of a series of Hate Crimes Task Force hearings, the next three are as follows: Sept. 10, Briarcliffe College, 225 W. Main St., Patchogue; Sept. 22, Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) Culinary Arts & Hospitality Center, 20 E. Main St., Riverhead; Oct. 6, SCCC Convention Center, Crooked Hill Road, Brentwood. All start at 5:30 p.m.
With Associated Press.
I love how it’s conviently forgotten how much crime is brought here and inflicted on us BY illegal aliens. Just go and read the robbery reports here, a large amount are commited by illegals. If we deported illegals the crime rate would go down tenfold.
I can deal with it fine. It doesn’t bother me. I already told you – I am not a racist.
I also said I do not condone violence against hispanics – even if they are illegals. These thugs were wrong.
The only thing I am saying is that it is downright stupid to blame Steve Levy and this this group, Southern Poverty Law Center, is nothing but a bunch of morons trying to redirect everyone’s attention from the actual problem – which is illegal aliens invading our towns and the politicians who do nothing about it.
@ Billy Kess: You wrote: “Being against illegal immigration does not mean racist – and it does not mean being anti-immigration.”
I agree. The problem is that people are being harassed by others who have NO IDEA what their immigration status is — only that they are brown. Or am I wrong in thinking that none of the attackers in the cases documented by the police stopped to check?
I was born and raised here, to American citizen parents. I’m not white. Deal with it.
Yet another pathetic attempt to silence the politicians who want to do something about these illegal aliens who are destroying our communities. Don’t blame Steve Levy. It is not his fault. All he is doing is standing up against people who are breaking our laws. You want to blame someone, blame the politicians who are doing nothing to stop illegal immigration.
I am not condoning violence against them, but still, to blame Levy is a joke.
This is also another pathetic attempt to divert attention from the actual problem itself – the fact that illegal aliens are invading Long Island – and quite frankly – ruining the place!
This Southern Poverty Law Center is a joke. I notice they call themselves a non-profit organization, but they won’t dare call themselves a non-partisan organization. That’s because they are nothing but a left wing group trying to promote illegal entry into our nation by demonizing anyone who dares speak out against it.
This was nothing but a biased “study” in which the outcome was already determined before any research or investigations were made. And the left wing mainstream media took it and ran with it as if it was some kind of credible scientific result. Meanwhile it was nothing more than propaganda to promote lawlessness in our country. Pathetic.
How ridiculous it is to put Steve Levy in the same box as the KKK and the Black Panthers! Are you kidding me? Do you really think we’re that stupid and we’re going to take that as gospel?
The so-called “study” did not find evidence of organized white supremacists in Suffolk, but I can tell you this – you can bet your sweet little tushie that there is plenty of MS-13 gang activity! Matter of fact, I was driving around just the other day and I saw spray painted on the side of a factory wall “F— you gringos / MS-13″.
Yeah – you want to investigate hate groups? Start with MS-13. The most violent and most dangerous gang in this nation – made up of mostly El Salvadorians and other illegal aliens from south of the border. These guys make the bloods and the crypts look like choiboys.
Hell, they make the KKK and the Black Panthers look like choirboys! Let’s be honest here!
This whole thing is going to backfire anyway. This is only going to get Steve Levy even more support from us fed up citizens. And when his support and approval ratings go even higher, I’m going to be laughing even more at these pathetic people.
And one final note: Being against illegal immigration does not mean racist – and it does not mean being anti-immigration. By using these demonizing tactics, it only makes their side look even more stupid. Any informed American can understand the difference between people migrating here legally, and people sneaking into the country over the border. If you’re even going to relate the two, you’re dumber than I thought.
Billy Kess
patriotedition.com
Jen said:
“Fact is, illegal aliens began arriving on these shores in droves as of 1492.”
You couldn’t be more wrong. There were no immigration laws in place when the first European settlers starting arriving on this continent. And since you can’t violate a law that doesn’t exist, these European settlers were NOT illegal aliens. On the other hand, we DO have immigration laws on the books today. Any foreigner who is in the United States without our government’s permission is in violation of these immigration laws, and that makes them an illegal alien.
Suffolk County’s political culture has fostered a climate of hatred against immigrants.
Illegal immigration has been an issue in America for over 500 years! You sound as if this is a novel phenomeneon, it is NOT!
Just ask NATIVE Americans!
Fact is, illegal aliens began arriving on these shores in droves as of 1492.
It was “illegal” for Rosa Parks to refuse to give up her seat her seat and move to the back of the bus the day she launched a revolution!
It was “illegal” for Nelson Mandela to oppose apartheid in South Africa!
It was “illegal” to aid the underground railroad!
It was “illegal” for women to vote in America until Susan B. Anthony led the women’s suffrage movement!
Thanks for reader Pete L! Glad you could find your way to the site. You might be interested in reading this: http://www.longislandpress.com/2009/07/23/gangs-of-long-island-rape-drugs-murder/