New York, NY—Yesterday, the Brooklyn District Attorney (DA) brought a hate crime charge against a former city parks worker for allegedly killing an asylum seeker originally from Venezuela near the Hall Street shelter in Clinton Hill in July. Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez stated, “This premeditated and coldblooded homicide is outrageous on many levels, not least because the alleged motive was hatred towards new arrivals to our city.”
Murad Awawdeh, President and CEO, New York Immigration Coalition:
“No New Yorker, no matter when they arrived here, should have to fear that violence will be committed against them because of their identity. Arturo Jose Rodriguez-Marcano’s death is a tragedy. To learn that his killing may have been motivated by bias against asylum seekers is shocking, but we will wait to learn more details of this case that come out throughout the trial. This horrible incident should be a clear reminder to all elected officials in New York that spewing anti-immigrant rhetoric can have life or death consequences for our neighbors when that rhetoric turns into violent actions. We look forward to a more compassionate conversation around how to integrate our newest neighbors into our city, and an end to the public scapegoating of our communities.”