Filed under: News, Race and Civil Rights
In an allegedly "post-racial" time, racist attacks are on the rise, according to Hate Watch, a group that tracks hate crimes from the Southern Poverty Law Center, particularly threats against President Barack Obama.But unlike the '60s, many of the hate groups come in different colors. In Los Angeles, Hispanic hate groups have targeted blacks.
On Thursday, a jury began deliberating in the case against a reputed member of a racist street gang charged with murdering a 14-year-old black girl and a potential witness.
The defendants are Jonathan Fajardo and Daniel Aguilar - both Hispanic. According to the AP, Fajardo, 22, is charged with killing Cheryl Green (pictured) in 2006, an eighth grader, and could possibly face the death penalty.
In addition, Fajardo and Aguilar, 23, are accused in the stabbing death of 21-year-old Christopher Ash, a potential witness in the killing of Green, and face special circumstance allegations that include committing murder to further the activities of the 204th Street Gang.
Green was shot to death in a driveway on Dec. 15, 2006, in the Harbor Gateway area south of downtown Los Angeles. She was hanging out with friends after school about a block from her house. Three other teens were wounded.
Fajardo and Aguilar are accused in the stabbing death of Ash, a man who gang members suspected had talked to police about the Green killing. According to the AP, Aguilar lured Ash, his friend, to a garage where he was stabbed about 80 times. He then allegedly kicked him as he was dying.
Fajardo threatened police that the missing gun could be used against other blacks, police, rival gang members or snitches.
The two-week trial detailed alleged violence used by the gang to maintain its power in the neighborhood. While deliberations began yesterday, they are scheduled to finish Sept. 8th.
These attacks are brutal, and to know that it is coming from an ethnic group that has been discriminated against makes it even more baffling. Of course, this crime happened pre-Obama, but in a time where we have a black president, are things getting worse for blacks?