Condemn anti-Asian hate crimes and hold MTA accountable!

[Sizwe_X]

FYI

Please sign and disseminate to your networks. Act against anti-Asian hate crime!

http://www.petitiononline.com/mtahate1/petition.html


Condemn anti-Asian hate crimes and hold MTA accountable!

On March 16, 2007 the New York Post reported that 17 year old Asian high school student, Marie Stefanie Martinez was assaulted in New York by a group of teenagers on a MTA B82 bus due to their perception that she looked “Chinese” even though she is of Filipino descent. Ms. Martinez was punched, kicked, and subjected to slurs in what can be categorized as a hate crime based on her attackers animus towards her perceived ethnicity.

Reportedly, the MTA bus operator who witnessed the assault did nothing to intervene during the course of the assault on Ms. Martinez and neglected his moral and ethical duty to ensure the safety of MTA riders and punctuated his negligent conduct by allegedly advising Ms. Martinez, who was still wearing her Catholic school uniform, to "go talk to a priest" after the assault.

This petition seeks the following:

1) The MTA and NYPD conduct a vigorous full and complete investigation into the incident ensuring that any violations found of any applicable hate crimes statutes are fully applied.

2) The bus operator be subjected to discipline commensurate to the action of permitting riders to commit a hate crime on a MTA rider. If the bus operator is found to have permitted the assault to have taken place and informed Ms. Martinez to “go talk to a priest”, MTA should subject the bus operator to termination from his position.

By signing this petition, you state that you agree with the aforementioned two points.

Let this serve as notice that the Asian American community remembers the hate crimes perpetrated on Fermin Tobera, Vincent Chin, Thong H. Huynh, An Pech, Ly Yung Cheung, Navroze Mody, Raphanor Or, Ram Chun, Sokhim An, Thuy Tran, Oeun Lim, Ming Hai "Jim" Loo, Heng Lim, Hung Truong, the Nakashima Family, Luyen Phan Nguyen, Sam Nhang Nhem, Thanh Mai, Eddy Wu, Thien Minh Ly, Kanu Patel, Mukesh Patek, Naoki Kamijima, Won-Joon Yoon, Joseph Ileto, Sandip Patel, Theo Pham, Ji-ye Sun, Anil Thakur, Thung Phetakoune, Kenny Chiu, Balbir Singh Sodhi, Waqar Hasan, Mijanaur Rahman, Mohammed Sakawat, Vasudev Patel, Lili Wang, Bang Mai, Charlotte Colton, Ze Fairchild, Maleka Higgins, Nicola Grant, Guadalupe Swartz, Dexter Shannon, Beverly Graham, Song Sun Lee, Stephen Kam Yan Li, and the countless other Asians and Asian Americans who have suffered the ultimate price due to racial hatred aimed at the Asian/Asian American community. We will not tolerate hate crimes and will vigorously act to ensure justice in our communities.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03182007/news/regionalnews/girls_bloody_beating_regionalnews_dan_mangan______ __and_leela_de_kretser.htm

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03212007/news/regionalnews/girl__14__nabbed_in_student_bus_beating_regionalne ws_erika_martinez_and_leela_de_kretser.htm

[LaiSteve66]

If this were a Jewish girl, the media would be all over that shit.

[SunWuKong]

i hope they put those kids away and fire and fine the driver. fuckers.

[SunWuKong]

If this were a Jewish girl, the media would be all over that shit.

or if the attackers were white.

[yoMAMA]

those fuckers should be charged with hate crime, and get sent to OZ and butt fucked by some aryan dude.

[Golden Monkey]

or if the attackers were white.

Yes, that would help.

This story below is getting little attention. Pretty much only New york Post/Fox News.

Apparently some Japanese guy got treated like an Honorary White Man that night. :biggrin:

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03222007/news/regionalnews/240_years_regionalnews_laura_italiano.htm

240 YEARS

FOR SAVAGE EAST VILLAGE RACE ATTACK
By LAURA ITALIANO

March 22, 2007 -- An angry Manhattan judge slammed a violent, racist wacko with an amazing 240-year prison sentence yesterday - punishment for a 2002 rampage in which he held an East Village bar hostage at gunpoint, doused cowering patrons with kerosene and threatened to set them afire.

The sentence means death behind bars for Steven Johnson, a 39-year-old African-American, AIDS-infected, unemployed Brooklyn barber with a still-festering hatred against whites.

"White people are going to burn tonight!" the berserk bigot shouted to his captives in the Bar Veloce on Second Avenue.

http://www.hifiny.com/020701_evillage_hostages.html

"HOSTAGE HORROR IN E. VILLAGE BAR"

June 17, 2002 -- Terrified partygoers in an East Village bar watched in horror yesterday as a crazed gunman went on a racially motivated rampage, shooting three people and spraying hostages with gasoline while threatening to burn them alive, cops and witnesses said.

[moser]

i hope they put those kids away and fire and fine the driver. fuckers.

She can at least sue the driver and MTA, no?

[mr. x]

dang, I thought it was a school bus at first, but honestly I'm not surprised too much, I think a lot of city bus drivers are indifferent to violence that goes on the bus, not to say there aren't those who would stand up

[Space_Cabbage]

Yep, if it were a black person it would be all over the news.

Sadly the asian community doesnt have very vocal leaders.

[Sizwe_X]

Mayor Bloomberg

http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.bd08ee7c7c1ffec87c4b36d501c789a0/index.jsp?doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml %2Fmail%2Fhtml%2Fmayor.html

MTA Bus President Thomas Savage

http://mta-nyc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/mta_nyc.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php


HATE CRIMES TASK FORCE -Commanding Officer Inspector Michael J. Osgood

http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mailnypd.html

[Yeahman]

US Congressman Anthony Weiner:
http://www.house.gov/weiner/offices.htm

State Senator Carl Kruger:
http://www.nyssenate27.com/

State Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=041

State Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz:
http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=045

City Council Member Michael Nelson:
http://www.nyccouncil.info/constituent/member_details.cfm?con_id=75

[didu]

or if the attackers were white.

how do you know they are not white? i cannot find anything in the article about the race of these attackers.

[LaiSteve66]

how do you know they are not white? i cannot find anything in the article about the race of these attackers.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03182007/news/regionalnews/girls_bloody_beating_regionalnews_dan_mangan______ __and_leela_de_kretser.htm

Marie Stefanie Martinez, 17 - still bruised and battered after her ordeal - says she was wear ing her uniform when she was attacked by a group of 10 black teenagers shortly after step ping on to the B82 bus at 3:30 p.m. Friday.

[didu]

Ah, I just read the article in the first post. Why do these black teenagers hate Chinese people?

[Sizwe_X]

Don't take your eyes off the ball. The point is regardless of the race/ethnicity of the attackers, the motivation seems to be animus on the basis of her perceived race/ethnicity...that and the fact that the driver illustrated animus on the basis of her religion and possibly her race/ethnicity when he told her to "go talk to a priest" and didn't call in transit police during the course of the attack...

[deez nuts]

we need kenneth eng to speak on this and spearhead a campaign. lead us asian farrakhan!

[Yeahman]

GIRL, 14, NABBED IN STUDENT BUS BEATING (http://www.nypost.com/seven/03212007/news/regionalnews/girl__14__nabbed_in_student_bus_beating_regionalne ws_erika_martinez_and_leela_de_kretser.htm)
A 14-year-old girl was busted yesterday in the beating of a high-school student by a pack of kids who taunted her for being "Chinese" as she rode a city bus to her Brooklyn home, police sources said.

The victim's lawyer said a 17-year-old boy was also arrested.

[Sizwe_X]

GIRL, 14, NABBED IN STUDENT BUS BEATING (http://www.nypost.com/seven/03212007/news/regionalnews/girl__14__nabbed_in_student_bus_beating_regionalne ws_erika_martinez_and_leela_de_kretser.htm)

That's two of 10...plus there's no news as to whether or not hate crimes statutes will be applied, that and no news as to if anything will be done to the bus driver in this case...a long way to go, IMHO.

[Sizwe_X]

If anyone is interested in writing or faxing, here is additional info. I have also taken the liberty of including the web form if anyone is interested in submitting a Freedom of Information Law request regarding the MTA's investigation into the incident.

Mayor Bloomberg contact info
Mail: City Hall, New York, NY 10007
Fax: (212) 788-8123

MTA Bus President Tom Savage contact info
130 Livingston Plaza, 12th Floor
Brooklyn, New York 11201

NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force Commanding Officer Inspector Michael Osgood contact info
HateTF@nypd.org

http://mta-nyc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/mta_nyc.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?p_prod_lvl1=70&p_prod_lvl2=72&p_cat_lvl1=35

[Yeahman]

http://voxexmachina.wordpress.com/2007/03/24/the-beating-of-marie-stefanie-martinez/

there has been a lot of work in the blogosphere and the offline world to promote solidarity between African Americans and Asian Americans, as there should be. But for every blogger or protester or community leader who speaks out against the divide between black America and Asian America, for every friendship that forms among people of color across race lines, it seems that there is a handful of teenagers or a Kenneth Eng waiting to jump in and destroy the tenuous bonds.
Friendships form at the personal level not at some grand racial class level.
On the grand racial class level, why are the bonds so tenuous and what's wrong with tenuous bonds?

[Sizwe_X]

MTA asserts in response to a FOIL request that they don't have any documentation regarding this incident, though NYPD Transit police may. Sounds like they probably didn't discipline the driver.

[eos]

wtf is this shit? "dont have documentation"? "transit police MAY have a report"? man....fuck that noise.

that driver better watch his back. bitch.

[ru a banana?]

I hope she has fam. friends who aren't catholic. I'd probably be doing some unholy stuff if it were my fam. Please keep me/us? updated on evt. status and outcome of this?

[Sizwe_X]

http://pacificcitizen.org/content/2007/national/apr6-stom-mta.htm

AA Community Rallies Around 17-Year-Old Teen Beaten on New York MTA Bus


By Caroline Aoyagi-Stom, Executive Editor
Published April 6, 2007

Members of the New York Asian American community are rallying behind a Filipino American teen who was attacked by a group of youths for looking "Chinese" while riding an MTA bus on her way home from school, all while the bus driver allegedly stood by doing nothing.

Local AA groups are demanding that the New York Police Department look into the beating of Marie Stefanie Martinez, 17, on March 16 as a possible hate crime and are seeking accountability from the MTA, especially since the victim claims the driver did not come to her aid.

"Ms. Martinez could be your mother, your daughter, your sister, your cousin. If Asians or Asian Americans are being assaulted on the basis of someone's perception that we 'look Chinese' then racism and hatred isn't making the distinction between whether or not someone is Filipino American, Hmong American, Chinese American, Vietnamese American," said Jun Zuniga, a Filipino American, who has started an online petition condemning the recent assault on Martinez.

"Our political leaders need to be held accountable when hate crimes against our community occur. We have to help steer public policy."

On March 20 two teens - a 14-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy - were arrested for the beating of Martinez by the NYPD's hate crime task force and taken into custody. The girl is currently being detained in juvenile detention while the investigation continues. The 17-year-old boy allegedly hit Martinez in the face.

Martinez was riding the MTA B82 bus after finishing school and was heading to her Brooklyn home on March 16 when the beating occurred. According to local media reports, Martinez was confronted by a group of about nine to ten hostile teens who taunted her for looking "Chinese" even though she is of Filipino descent.

Suffering cuts and bruises from the assault, Martinez was finally rescued by a good Samaritan. As she got off the bus, Martinez says the driver told her to "go talk to a priest" likely because she was wearing her Catholic school uniform at the time.

Martinez has now filed a civil lawsuit against the MTA seeking monetary damages and changes to the current MTA policies.

Charles Seaton, a spokesperson for the MTA, said he could not comment on any pending lawsuits but said the incident is "under investigation."

"Marie is devastated. She is afraid to ride the bus and she wants to go back to the Philippines," said Martinez' attorney Rosemarie Arnold, who noted that volunteers are driving the teen to and from school since she no longer feels safe riding the MTA bus.

Arnold says she has received a letter from the MTA admitting fault in the incident and promising to "investigate the incident." She also noted the police have been "helpful" in investigating the attack on her client.

The beating of Martinez has rallied members of the New York AA community and they are demanding accountability from the MTA and that the NYPD look into the incident as a hate crime.

"We want to let [Marie Martinez] know she's not alone," said Jian Feng Xu, board member of the United Chinese Association of Brooklyn, who noted the group is currently working on a press conference with the student and her attorney. "We want to publicize this to motivate the MTA and the police to do the right thing. We want to let other people out there know that we won't tolerate this."

So far the "Condemn anti-Asian hate crimes and hold MTA accountable!" petition started by Zuniga has already garnered more than 2,400 signatures of support.

"I want to encourage Asian Americans to report when these bias crimes occur so that American society at large starts to realize that Asians or Asian Americans will not sit idly by and tolerate hate crimes committed against us on the basis of our race and or ethnicity," said Zuniga.

[raacluse]

Interesting that there's been no mention of NYC council member John Liu in the article. Usually, he jumps right on top of this stuff.

Maybe he or his staff figure that others are activated and Liu's office need not take the lead.

I heard him speak Fri. night (Apr. 6) and he mentioned some other incidents but not this one.

[Sizwe_X]

His office has indicated that they are aware of the incident and have spoken to both Ms. Martinez & her guardians about this.

[Sizwe_X]

Interesting that there's been no mention of NYC council member John Liu in the article. Usually, he jumps right on top of this stuff.

Maybe he or his staff figure that others are activated and Liu's office need not take the lead.

I heard him speak Fri. night (Apr. 6) and he mentioned some other incidents but not this one.


Did you contact his office and request that he take a public stand?

http://www.liunewyork.com/contact.html

People for John C. Liu
P.O. Box 520631
Flushing, NY 11352-0631

Fax: 718-353-7225

E-Mail: liunewyork@gmail.com


Community Office:

135-27, 38th Avenue, Suite 388
Flushing, NY, 11354
718-888-8747
Fax: 718-888-0331

City Hall Office:
250 Broadway
New York, NY, 10007
212-788-7022
Fax: 212-788-8964

E-Mail: liu@council.nyc.ny.us

[Sizwe_X]

http://www.philippinenews.com/news/view_article.html?article_id=760f4b57120f76d796d6a 0763788cf94

Our own Rosa Parks
Cristina DC Pastor, Apr 11, 2007

A couple of weeks ago in New York, a Filipina student was beaten up by a pack of teenagers for no reason other than she “looked Chinese.”

Turns out, 17-year-old Marie Stefanie Martinez is one of us, a Filipino with squinting eyes and a surname that sounds more Hispanic than Bahasa. To the racially imperceptible, she could be Chinese, Vietnamese, or Hmong, etc. as we share the same smiling eyes and coy predisposition often misconstrued in this so-called “land of diversity” for obsequiousness or timidity.

And this is part of the story that gets my blood pressure shooting up. As Stefanie was being attacked, the bus went its merry way; the driver did not stop to intervene even when he could see that Stefanie – an honors student at St. Edmund Catholic School – was bruised from the nose, blood trickling all the way down to her white uniform. When the thugs got off and Stefanie confronted the indifferent and idiotic driver, he simply told her to “go see your parish priest.” WTF, MTA?

Now, Stefanie’s family is suing the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for having in its ranks a zombie of a driver who did not react responsibly when a passenger was clearly in danger. The NYPD is investigating the racially motivated attack, which is a separate case altogether. The full weight of the Asian American community, including many other incensed Americans, is behind the Martinez family.

While this incident clearly depicts a bias crime, certain segments of society are resorting to narrow-minded obfuscation and making it look like a simple Asian American-versus-African American rivalry, resurrecting the ghosts of gang riots past as well as the infamous Korean groceries boycott in Brooklyn and Kenneth Ang’s hateful tirades in a San Francisco magazine. Stefanie’s alleged attackers, according to the newspaper reports, were a dozen black teens, including two girls.

It’s more than that, although it may look that way. (The assault itself is being investigated by the NYPD, although there seems to be a case of passing the buck, with three precincts trying to determine where exactly the attack occurred. Because it happened while the bus was moving, the 61st, 63rd, and 70th precincts are trying to ascertain jurisdiction. Unbelievable!)

This is about Asians expecting equal treatment from institutions, such as our local governments, the police, transport workers, etc. Stefanie was attacked not because she is Filipino but because she “looked Chinese.” It was an attack that may as well have been directed against our fellow brethren in the Sino American community, but it became ours because one of us ended up with the hapless story and the bruises to show for it.

The MTA has remained tight-lipped, amidst hysterics from some, likening Stefanie to Rosa Parks and instigating a boycott of the MTA. Both incidents happened on a bus and both women are defiant and fighting back!

The indifference of the MTA, New York’s biggest transport system, is something we all should deplore, and not to fault the entire MTA for the sins of one driver. We are waiting for this corporate behemoth to emerge from its imperious perch and acknowledge that one of them had done an Asian student wrong – and to apologize to Stefanie – while meting disciplinary action on the driver.

A signature campaign directed toward Mayor Bloomberg, the NYPD Hate Crimes task force, as well as the MTA President Tom Savage is here for all to sign: http://www.petitiononline.com/mtahate1/petition-sign.html

I just did.

[Sizwe_X]

http://www.falloutcentral.com/blog/?p=42

http://www.falloutcentral.com/blog/?p=3

[raacluse]

Interesting that there's been no mention of NYC council member John Liu in the article....
I heard him speak Fri. night (Apr. 6) and he mentioned some other incidents but not this one.

correction: I heard him Thurs. night (Apr. 5)

Rather than request that he take a stand, I'll probably ask what their plans are. (Like are they figuring into their calculations the controversy surrounding the Halloween beating in Long Beach?)

Well, gotta finish doing my taxes, first. Almost, done.

[Sizwe_X]

I was contacted by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force who stated that

“The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force upon review and investigation of the facts has deemed this incident a confirmed bias incident. The two perpetrators were arrested within six days and are being charged with hate crime charges.”

No news on what the courts or MTA are doing at this point.

[sageb1]

how do you know they are not white? i cannot find anything in the article about the race of these attackers.


Marie Stefanie Martinez, 17 - still bruised and battered after her ordeal - says she was wear ing her uniform when she was attacked by a group of 10 black teenagers shortly after step ping on to the B82 bus at 3:30 p.m. Friday.


This is in the second paragraph of the article.

[sageb1]

Ah, I just read the article in the first post. Why do these black teenagers hate Chinese people?

Chinese are prosperous, and also watch black kids in their stores closely.

Also, it's easier to pick on Chinese -- look at the riot in Indonesia and the riot in Solomon Islands.

Also note that the Guardian Angels are nowhere to be found spouting off against hate crimes.

Nope, they're out scrutinizing non-violent anti-poverty activists and hassling native youth activists instead.

[Sizwe_X]

http://www.falloutcentral.com/news/2007/04/17/podcast-episode-interview-with-john-leo-directory-of-community-relations-for-the-chinatown-partnership-new-york-city/

[Sizwe_X]

I find it odd that Council member John Liu's office and the local chapters of the OCA haven't taken a position on this issue.

[Sizwe_X]

http://www.angryasianman.com/2007/05/dont-forget-marie-stefanie-martinez.html

[SunWuKong]

I find it odd that Council member John Liu's office and the local chapters of the OCA haven't taken a position on this issue.

John Liu still hasn't taken a position on this? i thought this kind of stuff is right up his alley.

[draconisz]

Whut up Sizwe? I have posted your link at a few of my forums. I haven't gotten much feedback yet. But we are still spreading the word.

[Sizwe_X]

Whut up Sizwe? I have posted your link at a few of my forums. I haven't gotten much feedback yet. But we are still spreading the word.

'Sup Drac...the assistance is appreciated. APA Heritage Month, and we're supposed to sit on our collective asses if something like this goes down? Hell no!

[Sizwe_X]

John Liu still hasn't taken a position on this? i thought this kind of stuff is right up his alley.

An email of inquiry to his office might be useful, in this case.

[Sizwe_X]

http://www.ocanational.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=232&Itemid=247

[SunWuKong]

wasn't she planning to sue?

[Sizwe_X]

Yeah, as far as I know that's still proceeding, but the ramifications for the greater Asian American community are still there and need to be addressed: namely whether or not anyone was disciplined, if a credible investigation occurred, if MTA's protocols/policies have been changed or if additional training has happened, and whether or not media will pick up and cover anti-Asian hate crimes.

[SunWuKong]

and whether or not media will pick up and cover anti-Asian hate crimes.

fat chance.

[Sizwe_X]

fat chance.


Maybe. The option is to accept the status quo where it definitely won't be covered, or to agitate and see if we can be catalysts for change.

I know what I'm going to do.

I know what would've happened if Yellowworld hadn't taken a shot at Kung Fool. Nothing.