"‘Look how they left him’; Brutal beating of immigrant, charges against six boys bring alarms in Lynn" by Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff | September 11, 2009
LYNN - The vicious attack is provoking questions and inciting fear throughout this city and beyond, because police say he was targeted because of his ethnicity. His alleged attackers are six boys age 11 to 14; most were on championship sports teams, and one is an immigrant himself, from West Africa, the Globe has confirmed....
Just out wilding, huh, kids?
The boys are facing multiple assault charges, including armed assault with intent to murder, and a civil rights violation because they allegedly targeted him as an immigrant. Authorities would not confirm the boys’ names because they are minors, and juvenile court proceedings are private. Damian Merida family members and the Daily Item of Lynn said the boys pleaded not guilty and all but one is free pending trial. Lynn public schools suspended four of the boys indefinitely, which they will appeal today, said Rick Iarrobino, a school official. The oldest boy, age 14, is still in state custody.
The sixth boy’s status is unclear. He attended St. Mary’s Junior-Senior High School last year but he did not re-enroll in the fall, the principal said. Despite their anonymity, the boys are under heavy scrutiny as the city searches for answers. The Anti-Defamation League and the Latino Professional Network condemned the attack this week.
Now I understand the Zionist agenda-pushing just a bit better on this issue.
Doubts about the attackers’ motive have also surfaced: Frances Martinez, executive director of the nonprofit La Vida Inc., said she did not believe Merida was targeted because of his ethnicity, as crime is widespread in Lynn.
Oh, so NOW it was just a BEATING?
Some nice city you have there; remind me never to visit.
But acting Police Chief Kevin Coppinger said witnesses said the boys targeted Merida because he is Latino. He urged immigrants to report crimes to the police even if they, like Merida, are here illegally and said the police do not generally ask about the immigration status of victims....
At least five of the six boys had won recognition in their community. Four were on Pop Warner football teams that were among the best in the state last year. In online photographs, one team is pictured being praised in a ceremony at City Hall. After the attack, the boys were allowed to play until the Merida family and others expressed outrage. One of the boys is a soccer star from West Africa. He is pictured on the Internet with a medal around his neck. He is still playing in a private league, according to his coach, who said he believes the boy is innocent. The coach spoke on condition of anonymity.
Sounds like a great bunch of kids.
Five boys are under age 14 and cannot be tried as adults, but they could be committed to the Department of Youth Services until they turn 18. The 14-year-old could be in DYS until he turns 21, said Stephen O’Connell, spokesman for the Essex district attorney’s office. The district attorney’s office is reviewing whether to try him as an adult....
Relatives said Merida also developed a vice: drinking alcohol.... On July 22, he could not find work and decided to have a couple of beers and take a walk to Robert McManus Field, a wide, grassy park about a mile from his house, relatives said. Police said he settled down for a nap near a graffiti-strewn embankment just below the train tracks. At 2:49 p.m., police said, someone called 911....
Yeah, GETTING DRUNK is NEVER a GOOD IDEA!!!!
Merida’s sister-in law -- his brother Fredy Pojoy’s wife, Maria Gonzalez -- said the family has been shaken by the violence, and were troubled that the boys were allowed to return to Pop Warner football until there was public outcry over it. “My question is, when will we have justice?’’
In AmeriKa?
--more--"
Mass. boys in immigrant beating case due in court ...youth were charged with the beating of 30-year-old Damian Merida with bricks, bottles and rocks as he slept near commuter railroad tracks in Lynn. Police say the boys targeted Merida because of his ethnicity. The boys, who have not been...Date: Sep 27, 2009www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/09/27/mass_boys_in_immigr...
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-- Your friends at Boston.comLYNN - Sitting in a taqueria one day last week, some said they avoided police because they are here illegally. But others said they found police unhelpful. Shaking his head, the cook said some people just want to lie low....
Gaining the trust of immigrants, who often come from countries where people view police with fear or suspicion, is a challenge for police departments across the United States.
We REALLY ARE ALL THE SAME, aren't we?
Americans do the same thing! The first reaction is, "Oh, cop."
Not out of gladness to see him, but fear that he might impose his tyranny upon you -- and then you see those flashing lights. People are not running to embrace the police because despite the decades of propaganda and cop shows, Americans still distrust oppressive authority.
But in Lynn, budget cuts and language barriers make the job harder when the city is reeling from the July 22 attack on Damian Merida, a 30-year-old landscaper who police say was targeted because of his ethnicity.
Maybe you should talk to Lawrence.
See where the $$$ is?
Attacks like the one Merida suffered are rare, but his case has illuminated the hidden struggles of immigrants who fail to report crimes to a police force that largely cannot communicate with large swaths of the city.
One way or another, the Glob always turns their reports into agenda-pushing.
Only 7.5 percent of the Lynn force is bilingual, while more than 38 percent of the residents speak a language other than English at home. For weeks, police have called for the victim of an earlier attack in the area where Merida was beaten to come forward, but no one has responded....
Rubén G. Rumbaut, a sociology professor at the University of California at Irvine who spoke about immigrants and local police at a national Police Foundation conference last year, said in an interview:
“I’ve known of people that have broken into instant cold sweats when they see a uniformed person. The idea of the friendly policeman or community-oriented policing, as it has come to be known in the United States, is not the typical association that an immigrant brings with him or her.’’
Then we are not much different after all, illegals.
--more--"
At least Merida is still alive:
"Police seek help unraveling mystery; Guatemalan in US 6 days found dead in N. Attleborough" by John R. Ellement, Globe Staff | December 16, 2009
Six days after he walked into the United States at a California border crossing, the body of a Guatemalan man was found wrapped in a rug on a dirt road in North Attleborough, authorities said yesterday.
The man’s body was discovered Nov. 29 in a housing development under construction.
It was only on Monday that North Attleborough police and Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter’s office publicly identified him. They also asked for the public’s help in reconstructing the man’s 3,000-mile journey that ended with his death.
Not what he envisioned when he set out for the land of opportunity, huh?
In a statement, police identified the man as Henry Octavio Campos Gutierrez, 32, and said he was a Guatemalan citizen who crossed into the United States through the San Ysidro border crossing Nov. 23. Gutierrez had a valid work visa to enter the country, officials said. The state medical examiner’s office has not yet determined how Gutierrez died, except to note that he was not shot or stabbed, police said in their statement. Police said that when they opened the rug, they discovered that Gutierrez’s head was wrapped in a plastic trash bag. Both the plastic bag around his head and the rug were tightly secured with clear plastic tape, police said.....
So someone suffocated him?
Case still unsolved, readers -- and I doubt it ever will be solved.
