A Muslim family walking in Boonton, NJ last night was shot at, killing the 27-year-old mother and wounding the 26-year-old father. The Brooklyn couple's three-year-old son was unharmed but was reportedly "splattered in blood." Now police are investigating whether it was a bias attack. more ›

Daniel Rodriguez, the 22-year-old man accused of viciously beating Jack Price in 2009 because he is gay, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for hate crime. He pleaded guilty last year to first-degree robbery as a hate crime, even though his father didn't believe him. Rodriguez said in court, "Through the grace of God I hope someday Jack Price will forgive me." more ›

The Brooklyn Rabbi who was brutally attacked by two teenagers on Thanksgiving testified in Brooklyn Family Court yesterday about the harrowing experience. Joel Weinberger, 26, gave an account of his beatdown, which left him hospitalized for four days with his jaw wired shut and a broken leg, forced to undergo surgery for a broken eye socket that included having three plates implanted in his face. The teens taunted him with shouts of "Jew! Jew!" as "they ripped off my clothes, my hat and my yarmulke. They were punching my face," he said. more ›

The two Brooklyn teens who were arrested earlier this week, accused of beating a 45-year old Hasidic man as he left a Hanukkah party, have been connected with at least two other beatings of Orthodox Jews in the last few weeks. Police revealed that one of the teens admitted to the brutal attack on Hasidic teacher Joel Weinberger on Thanksgiving, which has been classified as a hate crime. more ›

Earlier today 22-year-old Daniel Rodriguez Jr. pleaded guilty to beating and robbing Jack Price specifically because he is openly gay. He admitted to taunting Price with gay slurs before beating him up, leaving him in a medically-induced coma, and taking his cash. However, Rodriguez's father seems to have still not come to terms with his sons misdeeds. He told the Post, "This incident came about because of an argument over some kind of writing of graffiti on the wall of the deli. I’d like to apologize to Jack Price and his family, but this didn’t happen because he was gay...and [Price] knows that." more ›

Around 7:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving, three thugs jumped Hasidic teacher Joel Weinberger as he left a yeshiva on Harrison Avenue in Williamsburg. The beating left him hospitalized for four days with his jaw wired shut and a broken leg. His assailants, who stole his cell phone, tore his clothing, destroyed religious paraphernalia, and yelled, "We hate you" before leaving Weinberger lying on the sidewalk "basically undressed on the scene," according to local activist Isaac Abraham. But despite interviewing Weinberger at his home yesterday, detectives with the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force have not yet classified the mugging as a bias attack. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] A man with a history of luring gay men with the intent to rob and assault them is charged with a hate crime after attacking a customer at NYC's oldest gay bar, according to the Anti-Violence Project. Suspect Frederick Giunta, 45, allegedly entered Julius in the West Village around 5:40 p.m. on October 11th and became infuriated when a bartender refused to serve him because he was already too intoxicated. He then unloaded on a customer, allegedly punching him while yelling anti-gay slurs. more ›

Staten Island: #1 in hate! Three 14-year-old Hispanic students and one 15-year-old black student on Staten Island were arrested yesterday and charged with assault and aggravated harassment as a hate crime. This makes the 12th bias crime allegation (many have been assaults on Mexicans) on Staten Island since April, the Staten Island Advance reports, making 2010 a record-breaking year for hate crime. In this case, the boys are accused of repeatedly assaulting a Muslim classmate, in one instance beating him so severely that there was blood in his urine and the boy suffered headaches and memory loss. more ›

The suicide of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi has LGBT activists and other officials calling for bias crime charges. Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei have been charged with invasion of privacy after allegedly broadcasting a sexual encounter between Clementi and another man on iChat and then advertising plans to do it a second time, but some believe the internet voyeurism is an example of anti-gay bullying. Jean-Marie Navetta of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays told AP, "To this poor kid, it's better to be dead than to have people know he's gay. Therein lies the real tragedy here." Ellen DeGeneres also spoke out on her show: more ›

The NYPD Hate Crimes Unit is looking into yet another incident in the Port Richmond area of Staten Island. This time, Jonas Vidals, who is Hispanic, and his wife returned home late Saturday night to find three men standing outside and yelling racial slurs at them. When the tried to go inside, one of the men allegedly yelled, "If you don't leave, I'll shoot you." This is the 11th time the Unit has investigated a hate crime in the area since April, but authorities say only six of the incidents have been motivated by bias. more ›

A few days after yet another Mexican was beaten by a group of teenagers on Staten Island, Archbishop Timothy Dolan delivered a sermon in an attempt to calm and soothe the community. He said in a sermon delivered in Spanish, "We will reclaim our streets. God lives in these streets. Fear, violence and hate do not live here." more ›

Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy in connection with an attack against a 15-year-old Mexican boy. The attack reportedly happened on Wednesday night near North Burgher Avenue and Doe Place. Officials say the victim was approached by a group of black men, and 17-year-old Yashua Plair pulled out a knife as the victim attempted to walk away. The group stole his iPod while yelling anti-Mexican slurs. more ›

According to NY1, police are looking into another possible bias attack that took place last night in Staten Island. The beating took place near 190 Burgher Avenue, across town from Port Richmond, where most of the bias attacks have taken place. One resident said, "I think it's outrageous, because generally this is a quiet community and none of that usually happens here, it doesn't usually happen here." more ›

With heightened police presence and weekly community rallies, Staten Island residents seem to be trying everything to ease the tensions that have arisen from a streak of hate crimes in the borough. Unfortunately, the tensions are still there. The Staten Island Advance chronicles some of the locals' feelings about the incidents: more ›

Led by one of the victims of an alleged gay bashing at a White Castle, Staten Island residents held a one mile march for an end to the string of bias attacks that have taken place in the borough this year. It was one of three held yesterday. Beating victim Richard Viera said, "You never really imagine it happening to yourself...It’s not a gay issue, a Latino issue—it’s a human issue." more ›

A teenager boy originally arrested as a juvenile for the beating of a Mexican immigrant in the Port Richmond area of Staten Island was charged as an adult yesterday. Derrian Williams, a Liberian native, was originally thought to be 15, was to be prosecuted in Family Court. But the Staten Island District Attorney said investigators discovered Williams was actually 17, and he was indicted as an adult yesterday on charges of robbery, assault and harassment as a hate crime. more ›

The latest victim of a hate crime in Staten Island is speaking out about the attack. Christian Vasquez, 18, is entering his senior year of high school, and was jumped by a group of men on his way home from work early Saturday morning. Velazquez told 1010WINS, "They were really kicking me hard and going at me when I was on the floor." He also believes his attackers were "drunk" or "very high." Vasquez says the attacks are particularly hurtful because, "All this happened because I'm Mexican. My parents brought me here from Mexico to get a better life." Now, police have arrested a 15-year-old boy for the attack. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Locals and community leaders are trying to come up with every possible explanation for why bias attacks have been on the rise in Staten Island. And gay bashing aside, some think they've found an answer: the economy! Most of the immigrants attacked have been jumped on their way home from work at restaurants, where it's likely they would be paid in cash. Residents say the "knockouts" are just to nab the cash on pay day. And all those racial slurs? Well, there's more to life than money. more ›

Last night, another Mexican immigrant was attacked on the streets of Port Richmond in Staten Island. A 17-year-old Mexican boy was allegedly attacked and robbed by three men yelling racial slurs on his way home from work near Castleton and Simonson Avenues. This is the 11th time the NYPD's Hates Crimes Task Force has investigated an incident in the area this year. However, the community is not sure whether to label the attack a hate crime. more ›

In response to a recent series of hate crimes on Staten Island, the NYPD is trying to reverse the alarming trend. WCBS reports that officers are on every corner of the Port Richmond section of the borough, which has been the location of most of the attacks. The Guardian Angels supplemented the police force, and Curtis Sliwa spoke of how the violence starts. "It's simply young people packing up, posseing up, mostly on their bicycles, and then all of a sudden saying let's go hunt Mexicans. And others who may have seen it, who may be Mexicans, who won't report it to the police because they fear being deported." more ›

After at least the sixth bias attack in Staten Island since April, the Mexican Consulate has begun distributing its phone number to immigrants in the area, hoping they will call if they are concerned about speaking to American authorities. The Consul General of Mexico in New York, Rubén Beltrán, said in a statement that they are also "posting personnel that will remain in the borough until further notice." And starting tonight, the Guardian Angels will be patrolling the area. more ›

In a wave of crime that has Port Richmond residents concerned, a Hispanic man was pummeled on Richmond Terrace on Wednesday evening. The assailants yelled anti-Mexican slurs at him, and left him with a bruised and swollen face. This has been the fifth bias attack in the borough since April, three of which have occurred in the Port Richmond area. more ›

A brutal beating on Staten Island last month is being called a bias attack. Police are searching for three suspects who pummeled a 38-year-old Hispanic man with baseball bats. The confrontation began when the victim and a white man (pictured from surveillance video) had a confrontation at a BP Amoco station in Bulls Head around 4:30 a.m. on June 17th, the victim being harassed with what cops call "anti-ethnic remarks." The man yelling the remarks then got into a car with two other white males, who followed the victim, got out of the car and according to a neighbor "were cracking the hell out of him with bats." The neighbor also said he was surprised the victim lived, that there was so much blood he later thought the sidewalk was covered in red paint. Another neighbor told WCBS 2, "It's worse than a regular crime because anyone can be a victim. I can see myself in that situation, just walking down the street to go across to get a doughnut." The victim is recovering after suffering serious head wounds. more ›

On the same day a former cop was charged with killing his girlfriend, another NYPD officer is one of four men who have been arrested for beating up a man on Long Island yesterday—charges that may be upped to a hate crime attack. 32-year-old Juan Nunez has been suspended by the NYPD after he and three other Hispanic men allegedly attacked 52-year-old Daryl Jackson outside of a deli at 8:15 a.m. Sunday morning. Jackson was initially called a racial epithet by one of Nunez's group while he was waiting to use a pay phone. When Jackson said that he didn't appreciate the slur, he claims one of the men said, "Go back to Africa." Jackson ended up in the hospital with head and neck wounds after the attack which allegedly involved a baseball bat. Nunez is a 7-year vet at the 101st precinct in Far Rockaway. more ›