THESE IDIOTS KILLED A MAN BECAUSE HE THOUGHT HE WAS GAY 'IN SELF DEFENSE'

A few weeks ago, arrests were made in the murder of Jose Sucuzhanay, pictured center, in New York City. For those who don’t remember, Jose and his brother Romel were walking late night in Washington Heights when Jose put his arm around his brother to keep him warm. An SUV drove up, three black men came out and thinking they were gay began to attack them. Well, it looks like one of the three was not even involved in the beating, and he turned in the other two, Keith Phoenix, pictured left, and Hakim Scott, pictured right. Here’s a little word of advice to Keith Phoenix though: It’s foul enough as it is when police use the self-defense line where there was no evidence of a need for self-defense when they kill someone. He shouldn’t even think he is going to get away with that one, especially not after a toll booth camera caught him laughing 19 minutes after the attack. “This is why we call them boneheads” just broke the color line.

Maegan la Mamita Mala, Vivir Latino, 3/2/09

Last week I wrote how one of the men who killed Jose Sucuzhanay in a racist and homophobic hate crime in Brooklyn was arrested. A second arrest has been made. Keith Phoenix was arrested on last Friday and is claiming that the fatal beating was provoked when Jose and his brother kicked the car door Phoenix was driving and that Jose looked like he was reaching for a weapon.

During Phoenix’s arraignment, his lawyer Jay Schwitzman told the court, “Mr. Phoenix went to break up the fight, and during the fight, there was a weapon brandished by the deceased…It is not gay bashing or a hate crime.” The lawyer also countered Friday’s accounts from Police Commissioner Ray Kelly that painted Phoenix as a cold-blooded killer who questioned, “What’s the big deal?” Schwitzman said that Phoenix is “remorseful and he recognizes the seriousness” of the accusations against him.

No weapon was recovered at the scene to my knowledge.

What disturbs me most about this defense is how it sounds like the defenses we have heard so many times coming from police officers who brutalize people, especially in people of color communities. Often the defense of “I thought he had a gun” has been enough to excuse brutal police behavior. I’m thinking cases like Amadou Diallo and Anibal Carrasquillo where no gun was ever found. To have people of color use this defense for the murder of another person of color really bothers me. To have this defense used for a homophobic murder really bothers me.

It makes me wonder how do we within people of color communities talk about and deal with how divide and conquer politics are contributing to anti-immigrant hate? How are we dealing with the homophobia we see in our communities. How do we build coalitions that create space to talk about these things and recognize and act together against hate crimes based on race and identity?