03.20.07
Girl beaten on NYC bus for ‘looking Chinese’
The New York Post reports that a 17-year-old girl riding a city bus in Brooklyn was harassed and beaten by a group of 10 black teenagers for looking “Chinese.”
Marie Stefanie Martinez of the Philippines says her attackers mocked her accent, teased her, pulled her hair and opened her bookbag before punching her twice in the face.
“She was bleeding like crazy from her noise and mouth. She had a headache and was dizzy,” said Lourdes Maduindam, Martinez’s aunt and legal guardian.
“I’m just so glad the kids didn’t have a weapon. If they did, I could have died if they stabbed me with a pen or something,” Marie said.
Here’s the kicker: Apparently what makes the story worthy of anything more than a crime-blotter entry was the bus driver’s reaction. After a 30-year-old bystander rescued Marie, the driver told the girl, who came to him for help, to “go to a priest.” The girl was wearing her Catholic-school uniform at the time.
That’s what makes this incident newsworthy? How about the fact that it was a hate crime? Or do Asian people not warrant that kind of news coverage?
Reading this story, you can sense that crimes like this probably happen every day and go unnoticed. But imagine that a member of a protected racial class is the victim — the media circles the wagons, and the double standard goes into effect. Now, instead of the incident being a “victimless crime,” there’s a sense that “everyone loses.”
The girl has filed a police report, and her lawyer says the family will sue the New York City transit authority. We’ll keep you posted.
Jun Zuniga said,
April 3, 2007 at 2:30 pm
Please sign and disseminate to your networks. Act against anti-Asian hate crime!
http://www.petitiononline.com/mtahate1/petition.html
Condemn anti-Asian hate crimes and hold MTA accountable!
On March 16, 2007 the New York Post reported that 17 year old Asian high school student, Marie Stefanie Martinez was assaulted in New York by a group of teenagers on a MTA B82 bus due to their perception that she looked “Chinese” even though she is of Filipino descent. Ms. Martinez was punched, kicked, and subjected to slurs in what can be categorized as a hate crime based on her attackers animus towards her perceived ethnicity.
Reportedly, the MTA bus operator who witnessed the assault did nothing to intervene during the course of the assault on Ms. Martinez and neglected his moral and ethical duty to ensure the safety of MTA riders and punctuated his negligent conduct by allegedly advising Ms. Martinez, who was still wearing her Catholic school uniform, to “go talk to a priest” after the assault.
This petition seeks the following:
1) The MTA and NYPD conduct a vigorous full and complete investigation into the incident ensuring that any violations found of any applicable hate crimes statutes are fully applied.
2) The bus operator be subjected to discipline commensurate to the action of permitting riders to commit a hate crime on a MTA rider. If the bus operator is found to have permitted the assault to have taken place and informed Ms. Martinez to “go talk to a priest”, MTA should subject the bus operator to termination from his position.
By signing this petition, you state that you agree with the aforementioned two points.
Let this serve as notice that the Asian American community remembers the hate crimes perpetrated on Fermin Tobera, Vincent Chin, Thong H. Huynh, An Pech, Ly Yung Cheung, Navroze Mody, Raphanor Or, Ram Chun, Sokhim An, Thuy Tran, Oeun Lim, Ming Hai “Jim” Loo, Heng Lim, Hung Truong, the Nakashima Family, Luyen Phan Nguyen, Sam Nhang Nhem, Thanh Mai, Eddy Wu, Thien Minh Ly, Kanu Patel, Mukesh Patek, Naoki Kamijima, Won-Joon Yoon, Joseph Ileto, Sandip Patel, Theo Pham, Ji-ye Sun, Anil Thakur, Thung Phetakoune, Kenny Chiu, Balbir Singh Sodhi, Waqar Hasan, Mijanaur Rahman, Mohammed Sakawat, Vasudev Patel, Lili Wang, Bang Mai, Charlotte Colton, Ze Fairchild, Maleka Higgins, Nicola Grant, Guadalupe Swartz, Dexter Shannon, Beverly Graham, Song Sun Lee, Stephen Kam Yan Li, and the countless other Asians and Asian Americans who have suffered the ultimate price due to racial hatred aimed at the Asian/Asian American community. We will not tolerate hate crimes and will vigorously act to ensure justice in our communities.
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03182007/news/regionalnews/girls_bloody_beating_regionalnews_dan_mangan________and_leela_de_kretser.htm
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03212007/news/regionalnews/girl__14__nabbed_in_student_bus_beating_regionalnews_erika_martinez_and_leela_de_kretser.htm
Jun Zuniga said,
April 9, 2007 at 4:13 pm
http://pacificcitizen.org/content/2007/national/apr6-stom-mta.htm
AA Community Rallies Around 17-Year-Old Teen Beaten on New York MTA Bus
By Caroline Aoyagi-Stom, Executive Editor
Published April 6, 2007
Members of the New York Asian American community are rallying behind a Filipino American teen who was attacked by a group of youths for looking “Chinese” while riding an MTA bus on her way home from school, all while the bus driver allegedly stood by doing nothing.
Local AA groups are demanding that the New York Police Department look into the beating of Marie Stefanie Martinez, 17, on March 16 as a possible hate crime and are seeking accountability from the MTA, especially since the victim claims the driver did not come to her aid.
“Ms. Martinez could be your mother, your daughter, your sister, your cousin. If Asians or Asian Americans are being assaulted on the basis of someone’s perception that we ‘look Chinese’ then racism and hatred isn’t making the distinction between whether or not someone is Filipino American, Hmong American, Chinese American, Vietnamese American,” said Jun Zuniga, a Filipino American, who has started an online petition condemning the recent assault on Martinez.
“Our political leaders need to be held accountable when hate crimes against our community occur. We have to help steer public policy.”
On March 20 two teens - a 14-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy - were arrested for the beating of Martinez by the NYPD’s hate crime task force and taken into custody. The girl is currently being detained in juvenile detention while the investigation continues. The 17-year-old boy allegedly hit Martinez in the face.
Martinez was riding the MTA B82 bus after finishing school and was heading to her Brooklyn home on March 16 when the beating occurred. According to local media reports, Martinez was confronted by a group of about nine to ten hostile teens who taunted her for looking “Chinese” even though she is of Filipino descent.
Suffering cuts and bruises from the assault, Martinez was finally rescued by a good Samaritan. As she got off the bus, Martinez says the driver told her to “go talk to a priest” likely because she was wearing her Catholic school uniform at the time.
Martinez has now filed a civil lawsuit against the MTA seeking monetary damages and changes to the current MTA policies.
Charles Seaton, a spokesperson for the MTA, said he could not comment on any pending lawsuits but said the incident is “under investigation.”
“Marie is devastated. She is afraid to ride the bus and she wants to go back to the Philippines,” said Martinez’ attorney Rosemarie Arnold, who noted that volunteers are driving the teen to and from school since she no longer feels safe riding the MTA bus.
Arnold says she has received a letter from the MTA admitting fault in the incident and promising to “investigate the incident.” She also noted the police have been “helpful” in investigating the attack on her client.
The beating of Martinez has rallied members of the New York AA community and they are demanding accountability from the MTA and that the NYPD look into the incident as a hate crime.
“We want to let [Marie Martinez] know she’s not alone,” said Jian Feng Xu, board member of the United Chinese Association of Brooklyn, who noted the group is currently working on a press conference with the student and her attorney. “We want to publicize this to motivate the MTA and the police to do the right thing. We want to let other people out there know that we won’t tolerate this.”
So far the “Condemn anti-Asian hate crimes and hold MTA accountable!” petition started by Zuniga has already garnered more than 2,400 signatures of support.
“I want to encourage Asian Americans to report when these bias crimes occur so that American society at large starts to realize that Asians or Asian Americans will not sit idly by and tolerate hate crimes committed against us on the basis of our race and or ethnicity,” said Zuniga.
Jun Zuniga said,
April 12, 2007 at 1:28 pm
I was contacted by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force who stated that
“The NYPD’s Hate Crime Task Force upon review and investigation of the facts has deemed this incident a confirmed bias incident. The two perpetrators were arrested within six days and are being charged with hate crime charges.”
No news on what the courts or MTA are doing at this point.
Jun Zuniga said,
May 1, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Document submitted to MTA.
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Please let this confirm my receipt of correspondence from the MTA, specifically Senior Vice President Millard L. Seay, dated April 23, 2007 indicating that the anti-Asian hate crime incident involving Marie Stefanie Martinez was “thoroughly investigated and appropriate action will be taken”. In email correspondence dated April 5, 2007 from Gail Rogers - Deputy Foil Officer in regards to Request Reference #070328-000089, MTA indicates that “A search for records relating to the incident described in your letter, based on the details, date, bus route and name, has been conducted. However, we have been unable to find any report, and/or records that respond to your request.” Senior Vice President Seay indicates that the incident was “thoroughly investigated”. I would find it surprising if MTA thoroughly investigated the incident and yet no source documentation, not so much as a memo, was generated relating to the aforementioned thorough investigation. Either MTA’s FOIL office or Senior Vice President Seay is being disingenuous. Please let this correspondence serve as the second submission of a formal FOIL request for information regarding the Marie Stefanie Martinez hate crime incident. I will follow up in two weeks with Senior Vice President Seay to assess the status of this request. Thank you in advance for your assistance and cooperation with this matter.
Dear Records Access Officer:
(1) Please email the following records if possible [include as much detail about the record as possible, such as relevant dates, names, descriptions, etc.]: any source documentation regarding the MTA’s investigation of the assault of Marie Stefanie Martinez on a MTA B82 bus on March 16, 2007. Please include any statements, memos, and source documentation illustrating if any discipline was meted out to the driver involved in the incident, including but not limited to what protocol the driver followed during the course of the incident and if he/she reported the incident to any law enforcement agencies and\or to MTA via any internal reporting mechanism.
(2) Please advise me of the appropriate time during normal business hours for inspecting the following records prior to obtaining copies (include as much detail about the records as possible, including relevant dates, names, descriptions, etc.):
(3) Please inform me of the cost of providing paper copies of the following records [include as much detail about the records as possible, including relevant dates, names, descriptions, etc.].
(4) If all the requested records cannot be emailed to me, please inform me by email of the portions that can be emailed and advise me of the cost for reproducing the remainder of the records requested ($0.25 per page or actual cost of reproduction).
(5) If the requested records cannot be emailed to me due to the volume of records identified in response to my request, please advise me of the actual cost of copying all records onto a CD or floppy disk.
(6) If my request is too broad or does not reasonably describe the records, please contact me via email so that I may clarify my request, and when appropriate inform me of the manner in which records are filed, retrieved or generated.
If it is necessary to modify my request, and an email response is not preferred, please contact me at the following telephone number:
If for any reason any portion of my request is denied, please inform me of the reasons for the denial in writing and provide the name, address and email address of the person or body to whom an appeal should be directed.
Name: Jun Zuniga
Address [if records are to be mailed].
Jun Zuniga said,
May 1, 2007 at 3:20 pm
The text of a letter I received from MTA yesterday. Here’s the question, if this is the case and MTA did “thoroughly investigate” the incident and “appropriate action will be taken” then why in response to requests for source documentation via MTA’s Freedom of Information Law request form does MTA deny having ANY source documentation regarding the anti-Asian hate crime committed against Ms. Martinez?
Specifically, here is the text of the email I received from MTA in response to the FOIL request.
****************************************************
Re: FOIL request - Marie Stefanie Martinez
Response (Gail Rogers) - 04/05/2007 08:56 AM
Dear Mr. Zuniga:
This is in response to your Freedom of Information Law request, wherein you requested various information relating to a bus assault, on the B82 bus, involving Marie Stefanie Martinez.
A search for records relating to the incident described in your letter, based on the details, date, bus route and name, has been conducted. However, we have been unable to find any report, and/or records that respond to your request.
It is possible that, in a crimianal investigation, the Transit Police and/or the NYC Police might have records responsive to your request. However, the transit police are part of the NYC Police Department and, therefore, you will have to make your request directly to the NYC Police Department for its report.
Accordingly, we consider this request to be closed.
Sincerely,
Gail Rogers
Deputy Foil Officer
****************************************************
April 23, 2007
Re: Complaint – B82 Bus Operator
This is in response to the above-captioned complaint that you filed with the Office of the MTA Inspector General concerning a March 16 New York Post article reporting the assault of a 17-year old high school student. The New York Post article reported that the bus operator witnessed the assault but failed to take appropriate action.
NYC Transit does not tolerate the type of behavior described in the article. I want to assure you that this incident was thoroughly investigated and appropriate action will be taken.
Thank you for taking the time to inquire about this incident.
Sincerely,
Millard L. Seay
Senior Vice President
Department of Buses
Cc: H.H. Roberts, Jr (041601)
B.L. Kluger (21862)
M.J. Fucilli
M.S. Neadel
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Here’s what I’m asking folks to do to assist with follow up on this anti-Asian hate crime, no one is going to do it for us, we’re going to have to do it ourselves.
1) File an online complaint with the State of New York - Office of the Inspector General -MTA. Tell them you are concerned about how the discipline and investigation of the anti-Asian hate crime committed against Marie Stefanie Martinez is being handled. Request a response.
mtaig.state.ny.us/html/complnts.html
2) Submit a FOIL request to both MTA Headquarters and to the MTA police. Specifiy you are seeking any source documentation regarding the MTA’s investigation of the anti-Asian hate crime incident involving Marie Stefanie Martinez and any notation of any discipline meted out to the bus operator.
www.mta.info/foil.htm
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Today is the first day of Asian American Heritage month, helping ensure accountability for all Asian Americans and striking a blow for justice would be a great way to celebrate and show solidarity for Asian America!