International human rights group urged to investigate case of immigrant killed by teens in 2008 hate crime
Oswaldo Marcelo Lucero was assaulted, stabbed and killed by seven teenagers in Patchogue, in what authorities described as a racially motivated attack.
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Two nonprofit organizations are urging the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to investigate the case of Oswaldo Marcelo Lucero, an Ecuadorian immigrant who was murdered in a targeted hate crime in 2008.
Attorneys with the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Center and LatinoJustice PRLDEF made the request.
Lucero was assaulted, stabbed and killed by seven teenagers in Patchogue, in what authorities described as a racially motivated attack.
The teens had spent hours driving through Suffolk County, searching for Latino men to assault. Before killing Lucero, they attacked two other Latino men.
The groups that are calling for the renewed investigation say the murder happened amid "vitriolic, anti-immigrant policies espoused by the then-Suffolk County executive and immigration enforcement activities by the Suffolk County Police Department."
The Suffolk County Police Department was federally monitored for over 10 years by the Department of Justice as part of settlement following Lucero's killing and allegations that officers discriminated against Latinos.
His death led to an overhaul in Suffolk County's approach to policing immigrant communities.
Attorneys say little has changed since then to prevent similar acts of violence. Instead, they argue that federal policies have created what Delia Addo-Yobo, U.S. senior staff attorney at the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Center, calls a “perfect storm for terrorizing immigrants.”
"ICE agents have been emboldened to conduct masked raids and arrest people off the street solely for how they look or the language they speak," said Addo-Yobo, "Mr. Lucero’s case shows that these actions have consequences. When you dehumanize an entire group of people, you open the door to violence.”
If the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights accepts the request, attorneys say a hearing would be held in August.
Should that hearing move forward, Lucero’s brother, Joselo Lucero, is expected to testify about the U.S. government’s continuing failure to protect Latino communities - and the need for racial justice education to prevent hate-fueled violence.
