LULAC Meets with Department of Justice and Renews Call for Stronger Hate Crime Legislation
August 26, 2015
Washington, D.C. – LULAC National President Roger C. Rocha Jr., released the following statement following a meeting with officials from the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division. The meeting related to last week’s beating of a Latino homeless man in Massachusetts. The victim, who suffered a broken nose and bruises to his head and torso, was also urinated on.
“Last week’s senseless beating of a homeless man solely because he is Latino was an appalling act of hate. The perpetrators not only admitted to the crime, but were eager to state that they were motivated by Trump’s recent anti-immigrant stance. Such conduct must be investigated and prosecuted by law enforcement at both the federal and state level. We were gratified to learn in our meeting with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) that the DOJ is actively accessing the facts and working with state and local law enforcement to ensure the individuals are prosecuted appropriately. LULAC will continue to work to ensure that such crimes are promptly investigated and prosecuted. We will remain vigilant and use the channels of communications available at the Department of Justice to express our concern when matters need immediate attention. The Latino community cannot and will not allow itself to be victimized by such bigots."
LULAC joined #50StatesAgainstHate, a civil rights campaign that supports stronger hate crime laws. The initiative advocates for stronger and more inclusive hate crime laws and works to ensure that local law enforcement receive adequate hate crime training. In addition, the campaign will focus on improving both data collection, reporting mechanisms and services for hate crime victims in order to adequately ensure that policy changes are effectively implemented at the grassroots level.
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1,000 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit www.LULAC.org, www.LULAC.org/facebook, and www.LULAC.org/twitter.