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?"
