St Louis Black male teen kills elderly Vietnamese man only because he was Asian Police responding to the recent murder of an elderly Vietnamese man in St. Louis, Missouri, the national JACL pointed out the possibility that the victim may have been targeted because of his race. On April 18, Hoang Nguyen and his wife were approached by four individuals, when, according to court documents, it is alleged that Elex Levell Murphy punched Mr. Nguyen in the head, causing him to fall and strike his head on the pavement, when a second male suspect began kicking Mr. Nguyen in the body, fracturing his ribs. Court documents further state that Murphy then hit Mrs. Nguyen in the eye, fracturing her socket. Murphy was charged with murder and the remaining suspects remain at large. Murphy characterized the incident as a “Knock Out” game, which involves unprovoked attacks on innocent bystanders. In a letter to Daniel Isom, the St. Louis police chief, JACL Midwest Director Bill Yoshino raised the concern that the Nguyens may have been singled out because of their race or national origin where hate crime charges would also apply. Yoshino said, “Oftentimes, Asian Americans are seen as vulnerable because they are perceived in a stereotypic manner to be unaggressive and non-threatening.” A request was made to broaden the investigation to include the racial motive.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 22:29:48 +0000