Last year, a group of teenagers brutally murdered Luis Ramirez. As Ramirez lay unconscious at their feet, the teens yelled to a young woman by his side: “Tell your effin Mexican friends to get the eff out of Shenandoah or you’re going to be laying next to him!”

Pretty horrific stuff. Well, just last week an all-white jury found three of the teens “not guilty” of the serious charges of third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation. The ruling was greeted with cheers in the courtroom, and gasps of disbelief from Luis’ grieving fiancée and children.

The Mexican American Legal Defense & Educational Fund (MALDEF) has been working tirelessly with the family of Luis Ramirez since he was brutally attacked and murdered last year in Shenandoah, PA. MALDEF has been on the front lines in PA and is leading the fight for justice in Washington, DC.

Today we’re asking you to join with us and our friends at MALDEF in demanding justice for Luis and his family and that Washington take action on the disturbing rise in hate crimes committed against Latinos in the U.S.

Demand Justice for Luis Ramirez

Sign the petition, in collaboration with MALDEF, to the Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Demand that they prosecute Luis’s murder as a federal Hate Crime.

Honorable Eric Holder
Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530

CC:

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20530

Chairs and Ranking Members, Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairs and Ranking Members, House Judiciary Committee

We, the undersigned, respectfully request that the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice bring federal hate crimes charges against and prosecute those individuals responsible for the brutal murder of Luis Ramirez in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania.

On July 14, 2008, Ramirez was beaten to death by a group of teenagers who yelled racial epithets throughout the killing. Witnesses told how Ramirez was punched and kicked in the body and head causing him to foam at the mouth, to sustain two skull fractures, and ultimately, to die. A retired Philadelphia police officer said she heard one of the defendants yell to Luis’ friends, “Tell your [expletive] Mexican friends to get the [expletive] out of Shenandoah or you’ll be [expletive] laying next to him.”

On Friday, May 1, 2009, a jury found two of the defendants accused of beating the 25-year-old, father of two, guilty of simple assault. Despite the evidence of a hate-driven attack, the jury found the defendants “not guilty” of third-degree murder and ethnic intimidation. We, the undersigned, are outraged by the circumstances and outcome of this trial, at a time when hate crimes against Latinos have increased 40% over the past few years and are on the rise.

We respectfully request that you complete a full investigation, bring federal hate crimes charges against and prosecute those individuals responsible for Ramirez’s murder, and send a strong signal that hate crimes will not be tolerated in our great nation.

Signed,

For more info on the case, click to visit the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund's web site.