Three men have been accused of murder based on biased crimes in New Jersey. Victoria Carmen White, 28, was shot dead on September 12 at an apartment while having party with the suspected murders. The gunshot followed a quarrel suddenly occurred in the party, according to Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino. Another man Arthur Downey, 27, was also beaten to death in bed in his apartment. Downey, who was openly gay, met his suspected murderer in a telephone chat room. Laurino believed that the murders were associated with hate crimes against homosexuals. Two suspects who murdered White were still at large and a gay rights organization has announced rewards for information leading to the arrest of them.
This is another incident of hate crime against homosexuals, but it is different than previous similar hate crimes in three aspects. First, the outcome of this hate crime is more serious---murder, as compared to brutal beatings and robbery in the previous case. Second, the suspected murderers seemed to be hired to carry out the hate crime, while in the previous one the gang did the beating by its own. Third, it is a crime committed against people who openly declare themselves gay, as opposed to the emerging sexual identity in the gang case. It seems that disclosing one’s sexual orientation is a very dangerous act in the US, whether openly or accidentally.
One interesting fact revealed by the two hate crime incidents is that they both happened in New Jersey. What is so special about New Jersey that it has become a breeding ground for hate crime involving homosexuality?
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/10/21/new.jersey.transgender.killing/
No comments:
Post a Comment