Teens Acquitted of “Hate Crime” in Beating Death of Mexican Immigrant

Two teens were acquitted of the beating death of Luis Ramirez, a Mexican immigrant, on Friday. The teens were accused of beating Ramirez after directing racial epithets at him last summer. Prosecutors accused the boys of engaging in a ‘hate crime’ because of the slurs, however, an all white jury of 6 men and 6 women deliberated and ultimately found the teens not guilty of murder and ethnic intimidation. They were convicted of simple assault instead, and another plead guilty to violating Ramirez’s civil rights.

The verdict enraged civil rights, and Latino rights groups, who felt the teens deliberately targeted Ramirez because of his ethnicity. Residents of the small town of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, where the crime took place, say that racial tensions do exist between Caucasian and Latino immigrants. However, the jury felt that the prosecutor did not prove that the crimes were motivated by hate.

Hate crimes are notoriously difficult to prove due to the heightened burden of proof. Not only must a prosecutor prove the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, they must also prove that the intent of the crime was to cause harm to a specific group based on race, gender, religion etc… Recently, there have been several cases of Latino immigrants being targeted, beaten, and killed because of their race, many of them occurring in the northeast, and often resulting in acquittals or without the extra weight of being considered a hate crime.

These recent cases speak volumes of the current climate of civil rights protections in America. Many people have come to believe that the struggle for civil rights ended in the 60s and 70s, however, as we can see the fight is not over. Not only are Latinos being targeted more than ever, propelled by the belief that Latino immigrants are coming to this country illegally and taking American jobs, but they are among the least likely to understand their rights and the protections available if they have not yet mastered the language, thereby making them especially vulnerable. It remains to be seen what legislatures and government officials will do to help protect immigrants from all nations from further experiencing such hate, but one thing is for sure, while the U.S. has made tremendous progress toward equality for all, it still has a long way to go.