Marcelo Lucero.
Do you know the name?
Not if you count on Democracy Now! for your news. Marcelo's never been mentioned. Strange when you think about it.
New York Governor David Paterson didn't stay silent the way Amy Goodman has. Monday he released the following statement on Marcelo's murder:
"Today, I ask New Yorkers to join me in mourning the death of Marcello Lucero, a Hispanic man of Ecuadorian descent who was the fatal victim of a vicious hate crime over the weekend in Suffolk County. This disgraceful act should serve as a source of outrage for all of us.
"Suffolk Police tell us that Mr. Lucero and a friend were attacked late Saturday night by seven teenagers who were driving around looking for a Hispanic to beat up. The companion walking with Mr. Lucero escaped, but Mr. Lucero was stabbed to death. This senseless and cowardly attack by these teenagers cannot stand. I am directing State law enforcement agencies to assist Suffolk County officials in any way possible to ensure swift and certain justice for this heinous crime. Our State has zero tolerance for such bigotry and I urge authorities to move quickly to prosecute the perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law.
"Today, I ask that you offer your prayers to Mr. Lucero's family. I would like to extend my deepest condolences as they come to the terms with the enormous pain of this loss. Mr. Lucero's death is a jarring reminder that we must remain vigilant and continue our fight to eradicate prejudice in our words and in our actions."
On Monday, the governor's office could make a statement and yet all last week, Amy Goodman couldn't offer one damn word. Not even a headline.
Kirk Semple (New York Times) describes Marcelo as "a serious-minded, 37-year-old immigrant from a poor village in Ecuador who had lived in the United States for 16 years, mostly in Patchogue, and worked in a dry cleaning store, sending savings home to support his mother, a cancer survivor." Zachary R. Dowdy and Patrick Whittle (Newsday) explain of the suspects, "The teenagers, all of whom are white and who live in either East Patchogue or Medford, have been charged with what police say is a hate crime."
Patrick Young (Long Island Wins) observes, "The horrible murder of Marcello Lucero is the latest and deadliest of a series of anti-immigrant attacks in Suffolk County. The seven young men charged in the attack come from an area a few miles south of the hamlet of Farmingville, the epicenter of anti-immigrant organizing on Long Island. Farmingville first gained national attention in 2000 when two young men abducted a pair of Mexican day laborers and tried to beat them to death. It was in the headlines again a few years later when five high school students burned down the house of a Latino family, whose sleeping occupants barely escaped with their lives."
A brutal hate crime takes place in New York. The victim is a Latino. And where is Amy Goodman?
That's the big question in the e-mails last week.
The most popular theories for her silence include:
1) The hate crime didn't take place in the south so she's not interested. Goodman's only outraged by racially motivated attacks in the south.
2) The victim of the hate crime was Latino and not Black. Amy Goodman really does see "person of color" as "Black." She's made it very clear that she has no interest in Latinos.
3) Latinos overwhelming supported Hillary Clinton in the primaries and Amy Goodman's still nursing her grudge.
4) The Red Diaper Baby's Communist Manifesto didn't include chapters on Latinos.
5) Pampered, spoiled and elite Amy wouldn't be able to mix with likemates (see Friday's Bernardine Dohrn and Bill Ayers hour) if she took the time to cover the news that actually mattered. Better to keep it incestuous and in the family for Goody.
Whatever the reason, Marcelo is dead. And his death is greeted with silence from Panhandle Media.
His funeral was yesterday (NY1 has a text and video report) and his death is felt far beyond New York's borders. Bart Jones (Newsday) reports:
Marcelo Lucero's death Nov. 8 has been front-page news not only in newspapers in the town of about 20,000, about 200 miles south of the capital, Quito, but throughout Ecuador. Police have said that Lucero, 38, was targeted by seven teenagers because he was Latino.
In Ecuador, cabinet-level ministers have issued pronouncements on the case, and thousands of Ecuadoreans fear their loved ones in the United States might be next.
"Everyone is scared," said taxi driver Santiago Cuji, 29, who is worried about his six siblings living in Queens, Brooklyn and Manhattan. "Why do they go out and kill someone if we are all equals, if we are all human beings?"
And still Goody is silent.