Long Island Wins has launched a blogging campaign in memory of Marcelo Lucero, a 37 year old Ecuadorian immigrant who had been living in the United States for the past 16 years, murdered by a group of teenagers approximately one year ago. The campaign, which includes a petition for comprehensive immigration reform in Lucero’s honor, will culminate on Saturday with a candlelight vigil in his memory.
On the night of November 8, 2008, seven boys decided to go “beaner hopping” – the determined act of looking for and attacking Latinos – in Patchogue, NY. They chanced upon two victims – stealing one man’s hat earlier in the evening, and then later, stabbed Marcelo Lucero. According to the Associated Press:
Lucero, 37, was walking with a friend near the Patchogue train station at about midnight when they were confronted by the teenagers tooling around town allegedly looking for targets, a somewhat routine avocation for them, according to prosecutors.
His friend ran away, but prosecutors say the teens surrounded Lucero, who tried desperately to fight back, smacking one of his assailants with his belt.
