Last Saturday, a young Latino father received a ride home from friends. His fiance and three children anxiously awaited his return. Being considerate of his friends, he asked them to drop him off at the park close to his house saying he could walk the rest of the way. He wanted them to save gas. A few minutes after he was dropped off, his friends received an urgent cell phone call from their friend. He was being chased and harassed by teenage athletes who were drinking and horseplaying at the park. They were members of the local football squad. His friends heard the cat calls by the muscle bound jocks, "Go Back to Mexico!" "Tell all your Mexican friends to get out of town." By the time his friends arrived back at the park, the muscle bound jocks were stomping on his chest. Just before they got to him, the biggest football player wanted to make sure the lesson was drilled in to him. He kicked him his in head, like his head was a football. Eileen Burke, a retired Philadelphia police officer who lives near the scene, said about the time of the beating she heard someone shouting “You tell all your Mexican friends to get out of town.” “With the park across the street, I hear screaming all the time, but I turned down the air conditioning so I could hear what was going on and I could see kids going back and forth and a girl was screaming ‘Please stop hitting him,’ ” Burke said. “I called 911 to get an ambulance. There seemed to be too many kids around and I thought I’d better be safe than sorry. When I got out the front door, there was one kid running down the pavement. I heard a thud and the kid ran past again.” 
The young man, Luis Ramirez, died two days later. The imprint of his crucifix stomped into his chest by the jocks still embedded deeply into his skin. His fiance and three children were left crying, their father gone!
Today, seven days later, the police have identified the young football players but have not made an arrest. Instead, they are angry at the local newspaper for breaking the news.
It is time the FBI was called in to investigate this Racist HATE CRIME!!
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24 comments:
Thank you for drawing more attention to this Dee.
Knowing that the sweet little baby in the picture on this blog post will not grow up having a dad is more than heartbreaking.
You are welcome Adriana. I will ask other PRO bloggers to pick up on this story. Justice needs to be done here. The FBI should be brought in to investigate.
I see this statement by Mrs. Garcia as conflicting to her own argument:
"Garcia said when she arrived at the scene, a boy and Ramirez were fighting.
“They were close together like they were wrestling,” Garcia said. “They started pounding him by my truck. The next thing I knew, Caballo (Ramirez’s nickname) was on the ground. Someone stepped on his chest, we went down on the ground to him and just I saw a foot kick him in the head.”"
Which is it? Garcia said when she arrived at the scene, a 'boy' and Ramirez were fighting.
And then in the very next sentence:
“They started pounding him by my truck. The next thing I knew, Caballo (Ramirez’s nickname) was on the ground. Someone stepped on his chest, we went down on the ground to him and just I saw a foot kick him in the head.”
Who is 'they'? Ramirez and one bay was fighting, when Ramirez went to the ground, Mrs. Ramirez went down also. Someone stepped on his chest (could have been the boy Ramirez was fighting) and then Mrs. Ramirez saw a 'foot' kick Ramirez in the head (also could have been the foot of the boy involved in the fight).
To condemn and say all the jocks by your exaggerated statement of: "the muscle bound jocks were stomping on his chest. Just before they got to him, the biggest football player wanted to make sure the lesson was drilled in to him. He kicked him his in head, like his head was a football." Is both libelis and very inaccurate on your behalf. By stating what you have, you have done nothing but further any animosity and instigate more unnecessary ignorance.
You have, as well as many others, tried and convicted the 'jocks' without fully knowing what instigated the initial fight. You only have 'assumed accusations'.
Granted, this is a tragic event that should never have happened, however what happened to "innocent until proven guilty" that you tout for the "Illegal Immigrants"?
Liquid,
Gee Liquid. I guess you missed the part where he called them on his cell phone saying the mob was chasing him. They obviously caught up to him. When they attacked him he apparently did try to defend himself. Then they stomped on his chest, leaving the deep imprints of his crucifix still emblazened on his chest even several days later at his funeral. I wonder if it was the football players punting his head causing white foam to come out of his mouth or the jumping on his chest that killed him.
Read the articles Liquid. They kicked him in his head and white foam came from his mouth. All in the article.
Why are you so quick to defend their racist actions.
I was sure to put in the anglo, former policewomans statements. I know your side never believes Latino witnesses.
The cops are trying to hide this under the table. I want to the FBI to investigate this as a race crime.
I am going to ask every PRO blogger to get involved. I want the FBI to investigate this murder.
This is the part that really bothers me. The cops cover up.
"O’Neill unlocked the police department to provide access to the incident log at the Shenandoah police station. The log DID NOT CONTAIN REFERENCE to the beating, which Moyer said is the police department’s practice, and that a report will be written when charges have been filed.
Moyer said the case is complicated because a large number of people are involved. Further interviews were conducted Thursday, Moyer said, and the process is time-consuming because investigators are conducting follow-up interviews as they try to piece together conflicting accounts of the incident.
“It’s hard to get the truth on the first time,” Moyer said.
When a reporter initially asked to gain access to the incident log in the locked police station Thursday, borough Manager Joseph Palubinsky questioned why The REPUBLICAN & Herald wanted to see it.
“I think The REPUBLICAN has done enough damage already,” Palubinsky said. Palubinsky did not clarify his concern regarding reporter access to the log or how specifically the newspaper’s coverage of the high-profile homicide on a public street had been damaging."
Here is what one commenter wrote:
" For those of you who said "one less wet back in our country." This man was someone's brother, father, son, and friend. How would you feel if someone you cared about was brutally murdered?Regardless of the fact that this man was an illegal immigrant, he is still entitled to basic human rights. Five teenagers physically BEAT HIM TO DEATH, they should be in jail. "
Want us to post the details of crimes committed by white on black or black on white or hispanic on black or black on hispanic, dee? Race crimes happen all the time and it isn't just to Hispanics!
What part of the District Attorney's statement of "the investigation is still not complete but when it is, charges will be filed" didn't you understand? Calling out the FBI when the local police are still investigating is ridiculous.
If the dead man would have been a white guy and the victim of a race crime, you wouldn't even bother to post it in here. When it comes to Hispanics you want instant justice! What is wrong with you pro-illegals that ethniciticy is everything to you? Do you know how bad that kind of racism is for our country? We whites are trying to get past racism and you just want to keep it alive in this country. Are browns going to be the new "white" racists of the future?
Here is the problem Pat.
Read what city officials are saying about his friends, the football players. The FBI should be called in for an unbiased investigation, especially considering the witness statement. Read what CBS reports says:
"Despite the witness statements, Borough Manager Joseph Palubinsky said he doesn't believe Ramirez's ethnicity was what prompted the fight: "I have reason to know the kids who were involved, the families who were involved, and I've never known them to harbor this type of feeling."
As I have always said and will continue to say, "investigations have to be completed before charges and arrests can occur." Anytime it has anything to do with a Hispanic you go beserk and want immediate resolvement. Can't you see what that says about you?
I enjoy it when you accuse me of not reading the links of your articles. I read all of them and then more, even the one on Adriana'a sight. They all conflict, it's like starting a rumor and then it develops a life of its own. Your recounts that you post are over reaching and extend beyond what is being stated.
Sure there was a group of boys at the park, one of them and Ramirez got into a fight, nobody knows so far as to what instigated the fight. You are making assumptions as to why the fight took place. Garcia even states that it was one boy and Ramirez fighting. When Ramirez went to the ground, she went down with him and pleaded for the fight to end, then she only saw feet, who's feet we don't know. The boy should be punished for the fight, the boy or the person responsible for the kick to the head should be held accountable for manslaughter, all the others watching and doing nothing should also be held accountable for their roles. But to go and assign guilt to all the same is beyond fair treatment.
I don't, when I read your links, need to add the melodramatics into the debate, try deducing the facts instead. Hate crime? We don't know yet. Murder? Probably not. Fight gone awry? most definitely! What started the fight? we don't know. How the fight ended? Ramirez died from his injuries.
As tragic as it is, you don't have enough evidence to proclaim anything as of yet.
My defending these boys?, sorry you take it that way, but I follow the rules of the law, the law that is equal to all, and I don't presume guilt without enough evidence to convict.
Dee says:
Gee Liquid. I guess you missed the part where he called them on his cell phone saying the mob was chasing him.
Great trigger word "chasing", however it wasn't used in any of the articles. Sorry, please play again!
"Garcia said the two were on their way home when Ramirez called her on his cell phone.
“He told us to come back that a group of kids were yelling things at him and following him,” Garcia said."
Or from the other article:
"Arielle Garcia and her husband, who were with Ramirez when he was beaten late Saturday, said they had dropped their friend off at a park but returned when he called to say he had gotten into a fight."
Still no 'chasing'?? Now I'm sure you know where i have gone with this, so I'll stop discrediting your over zealous approach and trigger words to construe what you wish others to believe.
That is also why I read all of the articles and links that dee provides before passing judgement, liquid. She has this tendency to use trigger words and phrases that weren't in the article (like walking while brown) and assuming what she wants to believe rather than waiting for the final outcome of an investigation. It is always when a Hispanic is involved that she gets knickers in a twist.
Liquid,
Following him, calling him names and I said chasing. More semantics by you Liquid?
The young father is dead due to stomps on the chest and a kick to the head. The medical examiner said it was a homicide.
I will wait for charges to be filed. Hopefully they will be if enough bloggers continue to talk about it. I know I have visited several forums this evening to provide my comments. Mine have been simple and consistent. Bring in the FBI. Let them investigate.
As I have said before, semantics can play a major role in the meaning and the outcome of a structured sentence. One word can change the entire meaning. Chasing is much different then following.
I also question the fact that he called Garcia after getting into a fight vs being followed and harassed. Even more conflicting stories, as I have stated, so far there is not enough evidence to prove anything other than it was a fight and Ramirez is dead. If by bringing in the FBI helps to solve this case, than I am all for it.
Then we are in agreement Liquid.
Bring in the FBI and let them investigate. We will both (all) abide by their rulings after their investigation.
Of course Dee is not going to write about the thousands of crimes committed by illegal immigrants on her blog..not the murders, not the gangs, not the hit and runs, the rapes. It is her blog and she will pick and choose what she wants. If we anti's don't like it, we don't have to read it. I, for one, certainly don't feel like I have to keep defending anyone.
Dianne,
We are in agreement that ALL such criminals, citizens or non, should be prosecuted and if guilty, imprisoned for their crimes. Also if they are also illegal immigrants, then they should be deported after they have served their time.
Their rate of crime is a smaller ratio than citizens, and I know you will say if they were not here to begin with, the crimes would never happen, but that is not what we are discussing in this post.
The stats say that "immigrants" have a lower crime rate than citizens do. Illegal aliens aren't immigrants. It would only stand to reason though that since we have around 280 million legal residents and citizens and roughly 20 million illegal aliens in our country that their crime stats would be lower. If you just go by those numbers. Ratio is another thing altogether though.
The point is that we have enough of our own home grown criminals. We don't need more in this country who are here illegally.
Here's another statement by Mrs. Garcia:
Friend of Mexican Immigrant Beaten to Death in Pennsylvania Gives Eyewitness Account of Attack
"ARIELLE GARCIA: He was at our house all day that afternoon. And it was around maybe 11:00, he asked us to take him uptown to drop him off, whatever, he was going to go home. So, we leave him at the Vine Street Park, and we drive away, Victor and I, and about two minutes later he called us and told us to come back, that people were beating him up. So we get back as fast as we could. And when we get there, he was—like the fight was over, like the boys were walking away, but they were still screaming like racial slurs, like “Go back to Mexico!”
And so, Victor and I ran up to Luis, and we said, “What happened?” But he was so mad, he wasn’t really talking to us. And those kids kept yelling stuff, and he went back, and the kids turned around, and the fight started again. So Victor, my husband, tried to like stop the fight. He tried to get the kids off of Luis, but kids were trying to fight my husband. So my husband got the kids off of him, and we couldn’t stop the fight between Luis and the—but next thing we know, Luis was on the floor. And so, me and Victor, we ran up to his side, and we were at his side. We were trying to wake him up, and the kids are still like kicking him and kicking him. And somebody—I don’t know who, but they kicked him like in the left side of his head so hard that that’s what killed him."
Whats even worse is that she is 17, a senior in high school, has a child already, and has known her husband, who is 21, for 4 years.
I think this puts things into perspective:
"And so, Victor and I ran up to Luis, and we said, “What happened?” But he was so mad, he wasn’t really talking to us. And those kids kept yelling stuff, and he went back, and the kids turned around, and the fight started again."
Ramirez turned first and went back to the boys. He should have continued to walk away, he might still be alive today had he done that, since the fight was over.
Liquid, The link is good. Your saying her age and children being worse than the murder is strange. Back in your grandmothers day, women were married at 11 or 12. Plus her husband and Luis were both working to provide for their families.
But thank you for the link. It provides added detail leading up to the kick in the head that murdered him.
Interview wiht Arielle Garcia, witness:
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to Shenandoah Valley in Pennsylvania. Luis Ramirez was a twenty-five-year-old Mexican immigrant who was beaten to death last week by a group of teenagers in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. He was walking home last Saturday night when six white high school students brutally beat him while yelling racial slurs. When one of Ramirez’s friends tried to stop the beating, one of the teenagers said, “Tell your Mexican friends to get out of town, or you’ll be laying next to him.” Despite eyewitness testimony, no charges have been filed as yet.
Ramirez came to the United States six years ago. He was the father of two children. He was engaged to Crystal Dillman, who grew up in Shenandoah.
We called the district attorney investigating the case, but he declined to join us on the program and said he had no comment.
I’m joined right now by Arielle Garcia, a friend of the couple who was an eyewitness to the attack on Luis Ramirez. She’s a high school senior in Shenandoah. We welcome you, Arielle, to Democracy Now!
ARIELLE GARCIA: Hi. Thank you.
AMY GOODMAN: It’s good to have you with us. How old are you?
ARIELLE GARCIA: I’m seventeen.
AMY GOODMAN: And what year are you in high school?
ARIELLE GARCIA: I’m a senior.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you tell us what happened, not this past Monday night, but the Monday before that? What happened to Luis Ramirez? Where were you?
ARIELLE GARCIA: He was at our house all day that afternoon. And it was around maybe 11:00, he asked us to take him uptown to drop him off, whatever, he was going to go home. So, we leave him at the Vine Street Park, and we drive away, Victor and I, and about two minutes later he called us and told us to come back, that people were beating him up. So we get back as fast as we could. And when we get there, he was—like the fight was over, like the boys were walking away, but they were still screaming like racial slurs, like “Go back to Mexico!”
And so, Victor and I ran up to Luis, and we said, “What happened?” But he was so mad, he wasn’t really talking to us. And those kids kept yelling stuff, and he went back, and the kids turned around, and the fight started again. So Victor, my husband, tried to like stop the fight. He tried to get the kids off of Luis, but kids were trying to fight my husband. So my husband got the kids off of him, and we couldn’t stop the fight between Luis and the—but next thing we know, Luis was on the floor. And so, me and Victor, we ran up to his side, and we were at his side. We were trying to wake him up, and the kids are still like kicking him and kicking him. And somebody—I don’t know who, but they kicked him like in the left side of his head so hard that that’s what killed him.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, where were you and your husband exactly as this part of the fight took place?
ARIELLE GARCIA: We were right by him on the floor. We were like kneeling by his side, trying to wake him up when they kicked him.
AMY GOODMAN: Did you know his attackers?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Yes, they’re in my class.
AMY GOODMAN: How many were there?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Six or seven.
AMY GOODMAN: You knew all of them?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: Can you name them?
ARIELLE GARCIA: I don’t think I’m allowed to name them. I’m sorry.
AMY GOODMAN: Did you tell the police who they were?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: And what did the police say? Did the police show up that night?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Yeah, they showed up. First, the ambulance did, and they took our friend to the hospital. And about five minutes later, the police came, and I guess they were looking—I mean, we kept telling them where the kids ran, but they didn’t—they didn’t run towards there. I mean, they kind of stayed where it all happened. And I told them the names and everything.
AMY GOODMAN: And, well, this was more than a week ago. Have they been investigating since?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Yeah. And like, still nothing.
AMY GOODMAN: Why did they say—when you showed them the direction that the kids had run, why did they not go after them at the time?
ARIELLE GARCIA: I don’t know. They told me that it wasn’t their priority right now.
AMY GOODMAN: What do you mean, “their priority”?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: Where was your friend at this point? Where was Luis Ramirez?
ARIELLE GARCIA: He was gone. He was in the—on his way to be [inaudible].
AMY GOODMAN: What was their priority? Did they say that to you?
ARIELLE GARCIA: No. They were pretty rude, some of them. Not all of them, but most of them were pretty rude to me.
AMY GOODMAN: What do you mean they were rude?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Like, I told them where the kids ran, and they wouldn’t go after them, and they told me that “Somebody said there was someone with a gun here, and we have to search your car.” And they searched Victor, like they put his hand behind his back, and like they put him against—
AMY GOODMAN: Victor is your husband?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: The boys ran off. Was it all boys?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Yeah.
AMY GOODMAN: Were they white? Were they Mexican?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Yeah, they were all white.
AMY GOODMAN: All white, and you know them all?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Uh-huh.
AMY GOODMAN: Have you seen them in school? Or school is out, so you haven’t seen them since.
ARIELLE GARCIA: Yeah, no, I haven’t seen them. I mean, we’ve seen one of the kids. He was like playing—
AMY GOODMAN: If you could talk as loud as you can, Arielle, it’s a little hard to hear you because of the crackling of the phone.
ARIELLE GARCIA: Oh, OK.
AMY GOODMAN: Speak right into the phone.
ARIELLE GARCIA: OK. Yeah, we have seen one of the—like one of the guys recently. We saw him in the backyard of his house playing, as if, you know, like nothing happened. It is frustrating. Our friend is dead and these kids are living life. That kind of frustrates us, because our friend’s dead, and these kids are like living life. It just frustrates me, like they can live without feeling guilty or anything. I just hope that the correct charges are pressed against them.
AMY GOODMAN: Did you speak to any of these kids, since you knew them, in the midst of the fight or afterwards? Did they say anything to you?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Yes. After the fight, I ran after one of them, and I said, “Hey!” I said, “Why did you do this to my friend? You killed him.” And they said—he says, “No, no, I didn’t kill him. He’s still breathing.” And I said, well—and I smelled like—I smelled alcohol, and I said, “Oh, you’re drinking?” And he said, “Yeah.” And he said, “Don’t say our names. I’m out of here.” And he ran.
AMY GOODMAN: He said, “Don’t say our names”?
ARIELLE GARCIA: He said—yeah, he said that.
AMY GOODMAN: Do you know why they attacked Luis?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Do I know? No. I mean, Victor and I weren’t there when it all started. But like I said, when we got there, it was all racial. Everything.
AMY GOODMAN: What do you mean, it was racial?
ARIELLE GARCIA: They were screaming racial, like “Get out of here, Mexican, whatever. Go back to where you came from.” I mean, they were saying bad stuff that I can’t say over the phone.
AMY GOODMAN: We’re showing pictures right now. For our radio listeners, you can go on our website at democracynow.org to see pictures of Crystal, Luis Ramirez’s fiancee, and pictures of Luis, as well, and their children.
So they were shouting racial epithets. They were—what is the atmosphere in Shenandoah? What is the attitude to Mexican immigrants?
ARIELLE GARCIA: I think it’s—most of the time, it’s OK. But there are times when there are racial slurs. I mean, with my husband, I’ve been with him four years, and like, I’m telling you, there are many times that I’ve heard people scream racial slurs to him. You know, like I was pregnant with my son, and they told me, “What’s that in your belly? Another person I’m going to have to pay for? Another Mexican on welfare?” Like stuff like that. It’s disgusting.
AMY GOODMAN: What do you want to see happen in this case? And how is Crystal? How is Crystal Dillman, Luis’s fiancee and mother of his kids?
ARIELLE GARCIA: She’s doing OK, but she’s pretty upset and she’s frustrated that nothing has been done yet. She wants justice for her family. And we do, too. We want justice for our friend. I feel like that wasn’t his time to die. I feel like those kids should be—they should be treated as adults in this case. They should be treated as adults that committed a homicide. I don’t understand why it’s being put off here.
AMY GOODMAN: Luis’s body has been sent back to Mexico?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: To his family?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: What has been his family’s reaction? And where does he come from in Mexico?
ARIELLE GARCIA: I don’t know the town. I don’t know. It begins with a “G”. But he—his body was sent back to his mother, and she was—when she found out, she was hysterical. I mean, Crystal told me that she was screaming on the phone, and she didn’t know—she didn’t understand, and she didn’t want to believe it. And he’s arriving there today, actually. He’ll be in Mexico City, and they will be sending him back to where his home city was.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to thank you, Arielle, for joining us. Are you at all afraid of speaking out?
ARIELLE GARCIA: Am I afraid of what?
AMY GOODMAN: Speaking out.
ARIELLE GARCIA: No.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, thank you for joining us. We’ll continue to investigate and follow this case. Arielle Garcia is a friend of Luis Ramirez. She witnessed the beating two Monday nights ago that led to his death. Arielle Garcia knows the people who killed Luis Ramirez. They’re her classmates in high school.
So tragic and to think he would be alive today if he had stayed in Mexico along with his 20 million Compadres, who can't seem to create a viable civil society when they are in the majority but instead he choose to break American Law and then went on to inflict two more bastards for the taxpayers to support. When someone has two children with a woman without marrying her it means he wants the stupid Anglos to pay to raise his bastards. How many Garden Care specialists and Pool Cleaners do we need?
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