Rep. Maxine Waters Issues Lakeesha Alert for Mitrice Richardson

Mitrice Richardson has been missing for over a year. The mainstream media doesn't appear to care. The Amber Alert system isn't working for this nubian sister ... so it is good to see that a Lakeesha Alert is being sent by U.S. Rep Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles). Rep. Waters asked the Department of Justice to investigate the disappearance of Mitrice, who was released in September from the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff's Station. [SOURCE]

Mitrice Richardson was arrested at Geoffrey's, a Malibu restaurant, for not paying an $89 dinner bill. Deputies who took the Cal State Fullerton graduate into custody described her as "coherent and rational," Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca told the Board of Supervisors in a letter.

Waters asked the Justice Department in a May 5 letter to investigate alleged civil rights violations by the deputies.

"I believe that Mitrice's civil rights were violated when she was arrested and then let go in the middle of the night without money, a phone or transportation," Waters said.

Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for the department, said that the deputies followed policy.

"We believe that everything was done right," he said, adding that Baca "obviously believes that nobody's civil rights have been violated."

Waters previously had asked the FBI to investigate the disappearance, but she said she was told by the agency that it does not probe adult missing persons.

Mitrice's 25th birthday was April 30th. Let's hope that she is found sooner rather than later. I encourage other bloggers to share the Lakeesha Alert for Mitrice Richardson with their blog readers!

Justice for Luis Ramirez

Many villagers joined this blog in calling on Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell to speak out against the brutal, racially motivated attack on Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez. You helped raise the call for justice, and now justice is being served: after a yearlong investigation, the federal government announced hate-crime and corruption charges in the case.

The U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division filed charges against Ramirez's assailants and the local police officers who allegedly covered up the attack. Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky were charged with a hate crime for fatally beating Ramirez while shouting racial epithets, and Shenandoah police officers Matthew Nestor (the town's Chief), Lt. William Moyer and Jason Hayes were charged with conspiring to obstruct justice during the investigation.

While the indictments can only soften the pain of Luis Ramirez's family, federal charges send a strong message that racially motivated violence against Latinos will not be tolerated in this country.

As Justice Department Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez said: "Violence motivated by bigotry and hate has no place in America, and yet it remains all too prevalent in many of our communities." The truth of Perez's words is known all too well among Latinos, who have seen a rise in hate crimes over the past five years -- a trend exacerbated by economic tensions and a growing anti-immigrant sentiment.

This blog appreciates the work of Presente.org who first made public the injustice of Luis Ramirez's killers being acquitted by an all-white jury in the small town of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. Presente.org took on this issue because it graphically shows the racism and xenophobia that still smolder in some parts of this country, and the clear need to speak out against bigotry of all kinds. The federal hate crime charges are a vindication of their efforts, and of the power that we have when we speak with a unified voice against injustice.

Mukasey Releases Hate Crimes Report

Attorney General Michael Mukasey didn't take much time to get active once appointed to his new gig. His Justice Department indicted Barry Bonds within about a week, while the past Justice Department leadership had the case without any action for over four years. Muskasey experiences a Washington DC march calling for his department to do more in addressing hate crimes and racial injustice ... and three days later his FBI releases a report showing that hate crimes rose nearly 8 percent last year.

The problematic thing is that the noose incidents reported in the last half of 2006 at Jena High School are not included in the report. It makes you wonder if the statistics are understated.

An analysis of the data shows that hate crimes increased by 8% in 2006 with anti-gay hate crimes up by 15.5%. The information was collected from police departments across the country (which might explain why the Jena statistics aren't in the report ... Jena legal system isn't known for doing the right thing). Police departments reported 7,722 incidents targeting people or property because of race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity, national origin and mental or physical disability.

More than half of those crimes were motivated by racial prejudice, the report stated.

"The FBI report confirms what we have been saying for many months about the severe increase in hate crimes," said the Rev. Al Sharpton, who organized the Washington DC march. "What is not reported, however, is the lack of prosecution and serious investigation by the Justice Department to counter this increase in hate crimes." Sharpton called for Attorney General Michael Mukasey to meet with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and civil rights leaders to discuss this enforcement.