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Early yesterday morning, three black men who were walking in the predominantly white neighborhood of Howard Beach, Queens, were attacked by white men. Two of the men managed to flee, but one, Glenn Moore, had tripped on a curb was beaten badly by the attacked; he now has a fractured skull. The police are calling this a hate crime, as the attackers allegedly used racial epithets. The three black men, Moore, Richard Pope and Richard Walker, told the authorities they were in the area looking for a Chrysler 300 to steal and wandered into Howard Beach; Nicholas Minucci passed by them in his car, and then returned with his friends. Minucci was arrested and confessed to the crime; the police are still looking for his friends.
Notably, the Mayor and Police Commissioner held a press conference late last night in Ozone Park to discuss the crime after visiting the crime scene and make it clear there was no tolerance for acts like this. In a notorious 1986 incident in Howard Beach, three black men had been threatened by whites in the neighbors; one of the three ran onto the highway to get away and was killed by a car. The NY Times has a story on the neighborhood today, which its residents think is more tolerant; however, one woman, who was sympathetic to Moore, wondered, "But what was he doing here at three in the morning, robbing?"
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That ain't no hate crime, that's called an effective neighborhood watch in action.
Well, the three men weren't in the middle of a crime, as the police have emphasized. And what if their car had broken down, as in the 1986 incident?
Lesson learned: next time you beat someone up for planning on stealing a car in Howard Beach- keep your mouth shut and let your fists do the talking for you.
This story makes my day.
"what was he doing here at three o'clock in the morning, robbing?"
Check
What an Odd situation.
They admitted that they were cruising to steal a Car (Why'd they tell the police that?), but that doesn't justify attempted Murder (I know the charge is Assault but IMO, your trying to kill someone if you use a Baseball bat to the head). I think this is considered a "Hate" Crime only because it was Howard beach and "Bad" language was used.
If the the guy using the Bat had used "Good" Language, would it have been a "Hate" crime or just Assault?
How stupid do you have to be to admit to the police that you were casing the neighborhood for cars to steal if you didn't get caught doing anything and actually got your ass kicked by rival thugs?
Of course this makes me suspect the cops must have ridden the "What were guys like *you* doing in *this* neighborhood?" until they confessed.
That Minucci guy they arrested sounds like a real piece of work as well (prior for stabbing some kid).
Pretty much everyone involved seems like they're an asshole.
It never fails to surprise me that these remote areas of Queens (or S.I., etc.)--technically in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world--can be just as redneck as any hick town.
Howard Beach is like the south. Like the way New Hamshire is the 'south' of New England.
I think i'll move to Howard Beach, just to cause some Racial Tension. White Flight anyone?
Redneck in the Remote areas of Queens?? Hey I'm from a Remote Area of Queens.
Wait, come to think about it, there IS a Farm Nearby!
Back on Topic:
Yep, Definately No winners here. Bet the Defense says "He was just trying to stop a crime!".
the case and the reaction here kind of reminds me of bernie goetz.
sounds like they beat them for being criminal thugs intent on victimizing their neighborhood. regardless of what they said, that's not a hate crime, it's a dose of vigilante justice.
hate crime?!?, wtf, the assailants came out of an ESCALADE and were wearing some heavy jewelry themselves, you don't think words like 'nigger' were part of their daily vocabulary?
Those rednecks in Howard Beach make me sick. It's so much more palatable when blacks are killed by other blacks, or when whites are attacked by blacks. These people have no sense of propriety. And two incidents in 19 years? What a cesspool of hate.
Vigilante justice huh? So if they weren't actually in the process of stealing the car, how did these dudes know what they were doing there? Whatever. Who gives a fuck, maybe we should start beating up white people in my neighborhood just for walking through too. It's gonna be a hot summer.
Oooh, scary. Maybe those knuckleheads just made a lucky guess? And whites do get beaten up in black neighborhoods - it just doesn't get this kind of media play.
ยง 485.05 Hate crimes.
1. A person commits a hate crime when he or she commits a specified
offense and either:
(a) intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is
committed or intended to be committed in whole or in substantial part
because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national
origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability
or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or
perception is correct, or
(b) intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense in
whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding
the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious
practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless
of whether the belief or perception is correct.
2. Proof of race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion,
religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of the
defendant, the victim or of both the defendant and the victim does not,
by itself, constitute legally sufficient evidence satisfying the
people's burden under paragraph (a) or (b) of subdivision one of this
section.
3. A "specified offense" is an offense defined by any of the following
provisions of this chapter: section 120.00 (assault in the third
degree); section 120.05 (assault in the second degree); section 120.10
(assault in the first degree);
you mean you can't tell when a group of kids is hanging out on your block obviously acting bored and alone whenever someone walks by... and then with a lookout making owl noises and darting around hiding between cars? i've seen it before and it's not difficult to see what's up.
and yeah, white people get attacked often enough in 'the wrong neighborhood', there's no need to 'start' that behavior. i've been mugged twice and assaulted once and i'm pretty sure it would not have happened had i been black. i was doing nothing wrong yet i'm not crying about hate crimes.
anyway, my post was not an endorsment for vigilante justice. i was pointing out they were not necessarily motivated by hate. do you think, 'they confessed to trying to steal a car but how did you know' is a compelling argument? how pathetic is it for you to defend admitted criminals as being descriminated against and then to advocate violent hate crimes against innocent people as a recourse?
I suspect they were not motivated by hate so much as general thuggery. Two groups of assholes--each looking for a different kind of trouble--encounter each other in the middle of the night and an assaut ensues. Big surprise.
I said "redneck" before because this is the kind of behavior that flyover states--and I'm from one--are tarred with. Obvs, nola, people beating each other down is reprehensible, whatever the ethnicity.
This wasn't "vigilantism," since they hadn't committed a crime (whether or not they intended to). All that intending does is make these guys "bad victims." And I admit, the fact that these guys admitted they were casing for cars makes me kind of hardhearted to their pain, even though my rational side still sees the attack as wrong. And by "bad victims" (I'm looking at a cynical law-enforcement "what's the easiest to prosecute" angle. When I was mugged, I quickly picked up on the fact that I made a "good victim" by the DA's standards: a nice, young, white, professional woman getting mugged in broad daylight in a nice neighborhood by a big, black, parole-violating, warrant-out-on-his-ass crackhead--could I make his job any easier? Unfortunately for justice, prosecuting people who violate citizens who could be deemed "bad victims" can be an uphill battle--finding and convincing a jury that whatever the victim's background s/he is a citizen deserving of justice can be tough.)
It's probably a safe guess that all Ninucci et. al. saw was skin, not a crime being committed, and it was just a bonus for their goal of finding someone to beat up.
I live in HB my whole life ( 29 yrs ) . You don't see many black people walking around . Maybe on crossbay Blvd during the day , but not in the back residential areas . We are bordered by east new york , the thugs there think of HB as a department store . We have had numerous car thefts and property theft . If you see 3 young black men in the neighborhood @ 3am , chances are they are not going home or to a friends house . They are robbing or up to something else . They got what they deserved . Too bad all 3 of them weren't beaten . It's sad that the HB kid got caught and will now have to deal w/ this . Bloomie will try to make an example out of him , w/ this being an election year . I and many others I know would have done the same thing . We protect our neighborhood and will continue to do so . Can't wait for Rev. Al to come marching down Crossbay again , 20 yrs later . They still haven't learned thier lesson , Don't fuck w/ HB .
I can't wait either,
I don't know who looks sillier, rev al or the inhabitants of howard beach.
I suggest we fuck up all the pizzarias in nyc.
5.00 for a slice? it better be real cheese.
Can we please stop using the word 'redneck'? It's just as offensive as the word 'nigger'. There's a lot of hate speech on this board.
Dave from HB, I agree wholeheartedly...
If a bunch of white kids were strolling around Brownsville or New Lots looking for an escalade with 24" rims and the works, chances are, they would be beaten to a bloody pulp. Or the blacks who would do this would just pull a gun on them and blast them. they would probably say "fuckin white boys" or something to that extent.
shit happens. the kid got what he deserved, the others. you have to be smart. i sure as hell know not to walk around ENY, new lots, brownsville, s. jamaica at 3AM, and even moreso, not to STEAL CARS IN THOSE NEIGHBORHOODS! even better, i know not to steal cars at all!
what's revvy al going to say? he better not say anything. idiot.
you know what i said is so true, racism aside. facts are facts.
You sure attract a sophisticated crowd here, Gothamist. You should be proud of your audience.
I'm surprised none of your commenters have called for those "boys" to be lynched. Meanwhile, this morning's papers are reporting that the suspects have a record of hate crimes.
But, hey, I guess those Sikhs that Minucci attacked on 9/11 deserved it, too. Obviously, Sikhs wouldn't be a Christian nation (just as blacks wouldn't be in a white neighborhood after dark) unless they planned to hurt someone. Happy birthday, Amerikka.
Even IF these dudes were looking to steal a car, you call the police, for Christ's sake. You don't attack the dude with a bat and beat him within an inch of his life.
If you ever read Jane Jacob's book "Life and Death" etc...you will find out that what makes a neighborhood a neighborhood is that the people police themselves. if somebody doesn't pay a bill at a resturant up at arthur avenue in the bx, i don't think the cops would be called. a back room would magically appear, and the non-paying customer would be dealt with appropriately. same with let's say..casa blanca, the ex-mob resturant out in glendale.
if some kid gets his bike stolen, the "kibbitzers" watching the street yell out and somebody will show the theif who's boss. in a real neighborhood, you don't call the cops.
Blacks seek out whites to commit robberies/rapes on ALL the time, either because they \"hate the whitey\" or perceive most whites as easy targets. They get off with a slap on the wrist b/c the penal system can\'t accomodate them.
This poor Fatty is getting screwed by liberals who are full of guilt and refuse to acknowledge that young black males, ultimately, have no one to blame for their shitty lives other than themselves. Pull up your pants, learn english, stop acting out, turn off the rap music and move out of the ghetto. In essence, start acting white.