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Queens Hate Crime Victims Discuss Attack

2006_08_queenshatecrime.jpg

The Asian men who were beaten in Queens spoke to reporters yesterday about the weekend attack. The Queens DA's office charged Kevin Brown and Paul Heavey with assault, reckless endangerment and criminal mischief after they allegedly taunted four Chinese Americans with racial slurs and beating two of them. Reynold Liang, a 19 year old sophomore at SUNY Albany, who was beaten the most severely and now has fractured skull along with the various cuts and bruises, vaguely described the incident: "They called me a stupid gook. They said it over and over again... Definitely - no doubt about it - to me, they were racists. They did it because I was Asian." (The NY Times, though, noted that none of the victims would go into great detail, based on advice from their lawyers.)

The Post had the most comprehensive explanation from authorities of what prompted the attack:

The three men and another Chinese-American friend, all age 19, were riding in Liang's car in Douglaston when Kevin Brown and Paul Heavey pulled up in a Toyota and screamed, "Get out of our neighborhood" followed by racial slurs, according to authorities.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly yesterday said cops believe someone in Liang's Lexus then threw a water bottle at the Toyota, which rear-ended the Liang's car when he tried to drive away.

The Toyota followed the Lexus to 44th Avenue and Douglaston Parkway, where Brown, 19, and Heavey, 20, got out and attacked Lu, who had exited the car to check on damage, authorities said.

Liang was beaten about the head and chest with his own steering wheel lock when he tried to come to Lu's defense.

Brown's attorney still claims it was a traffic accident that escalated into a racial-slur-free fight, but that doesn't work with witness statements. The Daily News' Juan Gonzalez laments the low bails set for Brown and Heavey; the DA asked for $150,000 bail for Brown, but it was set at $30,000. And more details emerge about Brown's brush with the law in May: He almost hit two pedestrians with his car, punching one and then attacking the other with a ball hammer - what a class act!

The NY Times talks to Queens residents who have differing perspectives on the likelihood of racial attacks - some are shocked while others aren't given the explosion of new residents and . And Liang gave them a good quote to end their article on: “I definitely don’t want this to happen to anybody else. Queens is a nice area. It’s my home.”

Photograph from Adam Rountree/AP

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Comments [rss]

  • guest

    Whites DID create and build most of the USA,just like the Chinese created and built most of China, the Nigerians created and built most of Nigeria, etc. This is not to say that non-whites didn't contribute anything to the USA but it was mostly whites. As far as whites "stealing the land from the Indians", that is false. Indians were made up of nomadic tribes and only inhabited one percent of the land and they orginally came from different parts of Asia. Whites settled on the other 99 percent of uninhabited land. Every country was settled by immigration at various times.

    Let's face it, diversity and multiculturalism are failures. What you have is a fractured society with various ethnic groups looking out for their own interests and resenting the majority and each other. Non-whites realize this, that is why Asian countries, black countries, latin countries allow little or no immigration of people of different races. Non-whites value their race and their culture. However, whites have been brainwashed into thinking they're racist if they do the same. That is why whites have allowed massive numbers of non-whites to immigrate into their countries. As far as non-whites doing low level jobs in the USA, they take 3 times from the welfare system(paid for mostly by whites) then they contribute. Asians are the exception. It really is time whites started looking out for their own racial interests just like every other groups. It is not in the interest of whites to be made a minority in their own country any more than it would be in the interest of the Chinese to be made a minority in China. It's time to halt all non-white immigration, illegally or legally. It's time to send most non-white non-citizens back to their countries of origin. I have nothing against non-whites but they have their countries, cultures and societies which they have a right to but we whites have a right to our societies, countries and cultures too. So should the rest of the white western world.

  • Paul186

    Yeah, the younger generation is a disappointment.

    I was hoping things would get better, but apparently

    the population grew and a few dumbos can affect

    the greater masses.

    I'll be dead and racism will live on.

    The less I adhere towards not examining myself

    and adjust wisely towards knee jerk bias towards

    others...the greater my loss will be.

    Case in point: An Asian American and a White

    American are laughing all the way to the bank with

    a Billion plus while racists spout their ugly

    self imposed limitations on their own possibilities (on Youtube to boot!). hahahahahahahahaha.

  • abw

    Also, to some of the white posters talking about this being your country, you are illegally occupying Native American land; and if you wanted this country all to yourself, you should not have abducted people from or coerced/forced people of color-Asian, African, Latino from their land to do cheap labor you were probably too uppity to do. The time of focusing/catering to solely white peoples sense of entitlement and priviledge is vanishing. It is what it is.Also, whites are in Asian countries.They are their as the colonialists that never left, the new school colonialists(MNC sweatshop owners, diplomats,military personnel and new style Christian missionaries,the tourists that never left and stay too take of advantage of the prostitutes,young and old,and the plain expatriates tired of being in Europe. They have to incure this onslaught of foreigners that they may not have in their countries as well. Like someone else posted, some of those Asian countries have other Asians in their country to compete in the global market. The west does not have a monopoly on citizens from other places in their countries. Also, about Kennewick man. Him being here does not make this country not belong to Native Americans. Whites may have had a few shipwrecked sailors wash up in the America's but it was still inhabited by Native Americans by the time of Kennewick man. That aside, Columbus and the conquistadors encountered Native Americans not Vikings so the whites have no ownership on the country; and the vast majority of whites that conquered this country and settled it as later were Spanish, French,Portuguese, and whatever-not Vikings.

  • abw

    Also, though I am not Asian, the post talking about if Asians don't like the U.S., or other Western countries please cut the condescending crap. The bulk of the wealth of the U.S. and the West came off the backs of the rest of the world and people of color through theft and use of free/cheap labor, resources,etc. Whatever lingering problems some Asian nations have can be attributed largely to race,colonialism and theft of resources and some internal mistakes as a result of having to deal with all this.The Asians may be in Western countries and cities around white neighborhoods because they like the wealth and standard of living, but Asians have contributed past and present to this country's wealth whether through cheap labor or business like other groups so they got a right to have a shot at it. Considering the fact that we have had a hand in the problems they face acquiring national wealth, them coming here should be the least we tolerate.Alice, I see where you come from about Asians needing their spokesmen because every group should speak for themselves. I have just made these comment because whenever somebody says anything negative about some white people or some Americans(specifically) white people it is always if you don't like it you can leave. Well, darnit, we always talk about free speech in this country, if people don't like free speech it is their problem. Also, their are no perfect countries that are all bad or all good, but some people think people should always glorify America without talking about its faults. For those sensitive people that swoon with this sort of foolish patriotism,newsflash-America has made mistakes,does make mistakes, and will continue to make mistakes-specially since alot of these mistakes support their priviledge. Those are the facts whether you like them or not.

  • abw

    I agree with Moobie and Tonto. Also to the comments alluding to the persecution of white men, it is bad if it happens, but for every one incident a white man face, people of color face countless(between 10 to 100 times the same incident)so do something about it,suck it up or deal with it. Some of the nonwhites attacking whites have had bad encounters with whites so now what. In those cases those people will and should be prosecuted,but I am tired of whites acting like they should be above getting retaliated against when they mess with other people. Also, people of all races have been punished for hate crimes when they have done them-as they should- so whatever. Also, someone was saying blacks have a monopoly on voicing hate crimes. Bull. We have rightfully used our press,our leaders and the lessons we learned from the civil rights movement to speak out against what happens to us. Keep speaking out on your cases or start if you have not. Be persistent if you want change.If these kids are white or black they should be prosecuted.

  • o0aliceo0

    I totally agree with you moobie, whites brought this problem on themselves. And they are not the maker of this land...our African, Asian, Native American and etc built up this land. I just had a presentation today and there was this one white girl ( actuallys he is polish) could not understand why the mother, Foua, in the book I was presenting, "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down" by Ann Fadiman, didn't learn english after 20 years of living in California. So many whites are so Centered on themselves and their needs for non-whites to assimilate to their wants.

    Also, if Joh Liu wasn't there to advocate for us...who would be? We need a Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson of our own. Not for one of another race to speak for our Asians. That would just encourage the stereotype of Asians being powerless against the other racial groups

  • moobie

    and don't tell me how whites created this nation and built it.

    the only reason why whites are being faced with multiculturalism is because they actively went around the world bringing non-whites into america, voluntarily or not, to exploit them for nearly no pay to do just that; build the country.

    buildings and crops don't erect and grow themselves; blacks and other slaves were forced to do much of that.

  • moobie

    and don't tell me how whites created this nation and built it.

    the only reason why whites are being faced with multiculturalism is because they actively went around the world bringing non-whites into america, voluntarily or not, to exploit them for nearly no pay to do just that; build the country.

    buildings and crops don't erect and grow themselves; blacks and other slaves were forced to do much of that.

  • moobie

    "Its easy to advocate policies like that when they are only happening to Whites, to your advantage. When I see Asians DEMANDING open borders for the countries which they came from, I will take you seriously, for now you're just a hypocrite, because scratch the surface of your comments and you're just as ethnocentric as I am. I am just being honest, unlike you.

    I don't bear any ill will against Asians, but I will be damned if I want to become a minority in my own country. Nobody sane would."

    It's not your country, you can go back to Europe and leave the Native Americans to run things if you want.

    Now Britain, France, Sweden, I can understand.

  • moobie

    "Its easy to advocate policies like that when they are only happening to Whites, to your advantage. When I see Asians DEMANDING open borders for the countries which they came from, I will take you seriously, for now you're just a hypocrite, because scratch the surface of your comments and you're just as ethnocentric as I am. I am just being honest, unlike you.

    I don't bear any ill will against Asians, but I will be damned if I want to become a minority in my own country. Nobody sane would."

    It's not your country, you can go back to Europe and leave the Native Americans to run things if you want.

    Now Britain, France, Sweden, I can understand.

  • Nancy Gross

    This is just terrible- I have lived in Queens for the last 25 years. I have seen racial slurs and fights. More now than 10 years ago. Something has to be done with these young people- $30,000 is not enough.

  • labi

    let me ask u guys if a hate crime victim gets profit economically from this situation, for his physical injuries and other consequences he suffers from being a victim?

  • paul

    You got it right Army Officer! And no need to apologize for bringing God into the picture.

    Thanks!!

  • Army officer

    Haha...this incident is really just something that got way out of proportion. Firstly, before i start let me introduce myself: I'm Korean-American; i serve this country to the best of my ability after graduating from westpoint and will be serving it for at least the next 4.5 years. Yes Yes it is undoubtedly sad that such things happen even to this day; however, let this be a note to all of you, both asian and non, that this is an isolated and very rare instance where asians are not only mauled by physical but also mentally.

    You see i'm in a sub-society called the U.S. Army where, because of its diversity, thrives off of its own acceptance of the fact we're all in this together; in other words, we're family. The guy standing next to me; in front of me; behind me? it doesn't matter b/c i know in the heat of battle, he's got my back. My unit and i are deploying to hostile areas overseas soon and it just breaks my heart to see Americans bashing other americans for silly reasons.

    Just a side note... people of America, listen. We are all anatomically the same under these superficial skins. We all have hearts; feelings; lungs; livers, and etc... We all have mothers and fathers who have emotions as well. You see, when you hurt someone, you're also hurting his/her mother, father, brother/sister, wife, children... So you feel so much better if you call someone "Whitey" or "Gook" or "Nigger"? Who exactly are you hating on? You realize that you are making the generalization of the century, right? you're ultimately calling out every "Nigger"/"Whitey"/"Gook" that has ever lived, lives now, and will live. Don't get me wrong, i've experienced my fair share of racist slurs but i just brushed them off bc, listen here, that guy who called me "chink" is jsut having a bad day and doesn't realize, yet, how much hurt he can potentially place on me. I hate to bring up religion but i'm going to say it anyway: People of America need to realize that God loves us all the same. He has affected people of all races.

    This incident between Americans should not instantaneously incite arguments concerning who belongs where and whose race is better... America is a country which ultimately acts as an asylum for people coming far and beyond from countries that place so many restrictions on their people that they are just fed up and listeless. For others, America is a place that holds true the very value that our founding fathers have established:

    "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all MEN are created EQUAL, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

    Ladies and Gentlemen, we're in this together. We are all Americans, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, or religion. Don't let something like this break us apart. Be that one who sticks up for one's brother even though he's a different race. Be the more mature one.

  • Ridiculous

    """""just passing through you are a moron. some non-whites didn't choose to move to america. it looks like these chinamen were born in america, does that mean they have less of a claim to living here than a mick or a wop? those guineas said 'get out of our neighborhood,' who gave you or them the right to tell people where they should live and where they should stick it. fucking idiots."""""

    Micks wops guineas???? Why are these terms acceptable

  • Jane

    I know John Lu in person. He is a nice guy and he looks handsome in person!xD

  • yao

    those 2 white-americans should enjoy their time in jail ...

  • Miche

    I have noticed a distinct lask of any mention of the car racing and games of CHICKEN the Asian boyracers like to indulge in. These gangs terrorize neighborhoods with their speed.Let's call it what it really is, not a racist attack, but their precious car getting damaged in a stupid game!

  • duh

    Every chinese a 303?

  • lightning bolter

    oops, I added 4 extra words

    anyway, double lightning bolts to ya.

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