Hate crimes?

How should they be treated? I think they should always be punishable by death, no plea-bargains acceptable. This story I was reading got me thinking about it, very sad stuff.


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Ecuadorean Man Dies From Beating Before His Mother Arrives to See Him

By JACK HEALY
Published: December 13, 2008

An Ecuadorean immigrant who was brutally beaten with a bottle and baseball bat last week by men said to be shouting anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs has died, a family spokesman said on Saturday night.


The victim, Jose O. Sucuzhanay, died on Friday night at Elmhurst Hospital Center as his mother was traveling from Ecuador to see him one last time, said the family spokesman, Francisco Moya. Mr. Sucuzhanay's family had kept him on life support in anticipation of his mother's arrival, but on Friday, his heart stopped.

In a statement on Saturday night, Mr. Sucuzhanay's brother Diego said he was "at a loss beyond words"? at his brother's death, which the police are investigating as a hate crime.

The police were still looking for Mr. Sucuzhanay's assailants, but said that detectives had been investigating the attack as homicide, a law enforcement official said.

Mr. Sucuzhanay, who suffered skull fractures and massive brain damage, was declared brain-dead on Tuesday, and a death certificate was filed last week.

The attack occurred about 3:30 a.m. last Sunday as Mr. Sucuzhanay, 31, and his brother Romel were walking home from a bar, arms around each other, in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. Three men jumped out of a maroon or red sport utility vehicle and attacked the brothers at the corner of Bushwick Avenue and Kossuth Place, the police said.

Yelling anti-gay and anti-Hispanic slurs, one of the men broke a bottle over Mr. Sucuzhanay's head and, when he fell to the ground, another began beating him with a baseball bat, the police said. The men kicked and punched Mr. Sucuzhanay until his brother told them that he was calling the police on his cellphone, the authorities said, and the attackers piled into the S.U.V. and drove away. Romel Sucuzhanay was not seriously injured in the attack.

On Tuesday, the police released a description of one of the men, saying that he is 6 feet tall and thin and that he wore a black leather jacket, boots, dark jeans and a dark baseball cap during the attack. The reward for information was set at $22,000.

Mr. Sucuzhanay, the father of two children who live with their grandparents in Ecuador, came to the United States a decade ago in search of work, family members said. He was a waiter for seven years before he got a real estate license three years ago and started his own agency, Open Realty International, in Bushwick.

Mr. Sucuzhanay was co-owner of the family-run company, and people in the neighborhood praised him for doing whatever he could to help clients find affordable housing.

On Saturday night, a dozen family members gathered outside the Sucuzhanay's home in Brooklyn, a block away from where the brothers were attacked. They hugged one another and said Mr. Sucuzhanay's mother, identified in Ecuadorean newspapers as Julia Quintuña, had landed in the United States but was still at the airport.

"It's a very difficult moment for my mother,"? Diego Sucuzhanay said outside their home.

The family was planning to hold a news conference at 1 p.m. Sunday at Elmhurst Hospital Center, Mr. Moya said.

"We're going on now a week with no news about his attackers or his killers,"? Mr. Moya said. "It's deeply disturbing."?

The brutal attack on Mr. Sucuzhanay outraged Ecuadoreans in New York and Ecuador, and came four weeks after an Ecuadorean immigrant on Long Island was fatally stabbed by a group of teenagers who, the police have said, had set out to attack a Hispanic.

City Council members, civil rights groups and state officials condemned the assault on Mr. Sucuzhanay, calling it an attack on all New Yorkers.

On Saturday night, Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, released a statement expressing "deep regret"? about Mr. Sucuzhanay's death.

"These cowardly acts are outrageous and will not be tolerated,"? she said. "We will not let the behavior of these individuals who committed this horrible, senseless crime go unchecked."?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/14/ny...dorean.html?em

A crime is a crime. Same punishment all around no matter race or gender and the punishment should be the worst they can give

What about a guy who killed the guy who raped/murdered his 10 year old daughter? Should he get the same punishment as those guys who did that? So no, IMO some should be treated more harshly than others.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: R13</div><div class="ubbcode-body">What about a guy who killed the guy who raped/murdered his 10 year old daughter? Should he get the same punishment as those guys who did that? So no, IMO some should be treated more harshly than others. </div></div>
You took what i said wrong.If someone rapes someone they should get the maximum punishment for that crime. If a group of colored people jump a group of mexicans they should get the same punishment that a group of white people would if they beat 2 other white guys up. Race of the parties involved of the crime should have no bearing on the case

Do you understand the concept of a "motive"? If a person attacks and kills someone because of their race, ethnicity, or orientation is sickening. If a person/group targets another person/group only because of their race or whatever is a crime of pure hate. If you would have read carefully, the guys were shouting anti-hispanic and anti-gay(wasn't even gay) remarks as they beat the guy...so I really don't know how you can say that means nothing, it was the most important part of the incident - motive.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: R13</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Do you understand the concept of a "motive"? If a person attacks and kills someone because of their race, ethnicity, or orientation is sickening. If a person/group targets another person/group only because of their race or whatever is a crime of pure hate. If you would have read carefully, the guys were shouting anti-hispanic and anti-gay(wasn't even gay) remarks as they beat the guy...so I really don't know how you can say that means nothing, it was the most important part of the incident - motive. </div></div>
If someone attacks or kills anybody for any reason they are sick why the hell would you make a difference in how they are punished just because race and such. I believe everybody is supposed to be treated equal if not is that not racism ?I believe it is .

Again, see the dad that killed the guy that raped/murdered his daughter - he killed, but should he get the same punishment? IMO hate crimes should carry a larger punishment then some random whacko.