Send a Message of Support to Joselo Lucero

NEW VIDEO: "JOSELO'S JOURNEY, PART 1"

What if you had to listen to the details of your brother's murder, over and over again? That's what Joselo Lucero is going through, as he sits in the Long Island courtrooms where 19-year-old Jeffrey Conroy is now standing trial for the murder of Joselo's brother, Marcelo.

Marcelo Lucero, an immigrant from Ecuador, was attacked and stabbed to death in the small town of Patchogue, N.Y. in a hate crime assault in November 2008. Seven local teenagers were charged in the attack. Today one of the assailants, testifying against Conroy [1], the only teen charged with murder, said the seven teens often went "beaner hopping," which he described to the court as “it’s when you go out and look for Hispanics to beat up.” The community of Patchogue and Latino leaders are working to address the safety concerns of immigrants [2] in the aftermath of the crime.

Joselo has been heartened by the many people who have showed up in the courtroom to support him and his family. Others who cannot attend have been sending messages of support. Few of these people know the Luceros, but they understand the family's pain. Please join them in sending your messages of support below.

One group of supporters are the students in Julie Mann's human rights class at Newcomers High School [3]. Most of them immigrants themselves, they have been following the story of Marcelo's hate killing, and decided to send messages [4] to Joselo to let him know he is not alone.

Here's part of the message sent by Chengkai, a student from China:

“Please open your mind, don’t let the hate and anger take your heart and blind your eyes. Good luck boy, maybe you can do something that can help all immigrant students that improve their social place. I hope you can see the light, and don’t forget, we, the whole immigrant student group will support you and can go with you."

Conroy is the only assailant to be charged with murder in what has been a racially-charged case [5] from the start. Four other defendants pleaded guilty [6] to lesser charges and await sentencing; two other trials are pending.

Long Island Wins, is providing day-to-day coverage of the trial, [7] which is expected to last from four to six weeks.

That means that for the next month, Joselo will have to listen to the details of his brother's last night on earth, again and again.

Please let him know you're thinking of him by writing in the comments section below.

In:

youth [8]

hate crime [9]

Patchogue [10]

Marcelo Lucero [11]

Joselo Lucero [12]

immigration [13]

Latino [14]

Suffolk County [15]

anti-immigrant violence [16]

trial [17]

Hispanic [18]