Teen apologizes in Luis Ramirez murder

A Pennsylvanian teen publicly apologized in juvenile court for participating in the beating death of a Mexican immigrant.

According to the AP wire, eighteen-year-old Brian Scully admitted that he was part of a group of teens who assaulted and murdered 25-year-old Luis Ramirez last July. A local judge subsequently reprimanded Scully (to use the term loosely) by ordering him to spend at least 90 days in a treatment center.

Scully and three other teens were charged in connection with Ramirez’ death in the rural mining town of Shenandoah. Two of his cohorts- Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak- were cleared of serious charges including murder and “ethnic intimidation”. (Both of them were still convicted of simple assault and could face federal charges.)

During the trial, both sides agreed that the assault took place with prosecutors arguing that the teens targeted Ramirez and baited him with racial slurs. Yet the jury sided with the defense who emphasized conflicting witness testimony and painted Ramirez as the real aggressor (despite him ending up dead, that is).

The trial highlighted the racial tensions in Shenandoah, a town that has recently seen a boost in its Latino population:

“It’s only gotten worse since the verdict,” said a white woman at a downtown store who asked that her name not be used because she was afraid of how her neighbors might react to her having talked to a reporter. “The whole thing has set us backwards, and if the trial had swung the other way, it would have just been the whites who were angry”…

Downtown, at the local Hispanic bodega and the town’s main Mexican restaurant, patrons did not want their names used but seemed eager to tell their stories.

One Mexican woman described how people yelled at them if they spoke Spanish in public. Another said that since the trial, more people in passing cars seemed to yell things at her as she walked home from work.

All of them added that most people in town did not act that way, but that there were enough exceptions to make them fearful.

Image- CNN (“Luis Ramirez died of blunt force injuries after a confrontation with a group of Pennsylvania teens.”)
Online Sources- New York Times, CNN, Guardian UK, Los Angeles Times, philly.com, standadspeaker.com

Luis Ramirez and Every Mother's Sons and Daughters : Seeking Justice by All Means Necessary

Cross-Posted from VivirLatino and the Sanctuary


in 1991, in the rapidly changing immigrant community of Corona, Queens, NYC 19 year old son of Dominican immigrants, Manny Mayi Jr. was beaten to death.

Last year, Marcelo Lucero was killed.

At the start of the new year Wilter Sanchez was nearly killed.

In February of this year Jose Sucuzhañay, an Ecuadorian immigrant was beaten to death.

Speaking Spanish can get you beaten.

And most recently, Luis Ramirez was beaten and killed and those accused got away with murder.

I could go through recent and not so recent history and clearly see a pattern and practice of hate that has been growing. A pattern and practice of racism, nativism, fueled by the media and government, eaten up by the mainstream public.

People in Shenandoah celebrated, went out into the streets and rejoiced after an all-white jury found Brandon J. Piekarsky, 17, and Derrick M. Donchak, 19, guilty of lesser charges and acquitted them of criminal homicide and aggravated assault.

And then people have the nerve to ask why are more Latinos not more active in the fight for immigration change?

This is not just about laws, this about lives.

So what do we as a community do?


In the case of Marcelo Lucero, the Feds have stepped in to investigate a pattern and practice of hate crimes against Latinos while local law enforcement did nothing.

The Feds are considering opening an investigation into the 18 year old killing of Manny Mayi jr.

18 fucking years.

Federal investigations and federal hate crimes legislation will not bring sons and daughters like Angie Zapata back. Civil rights statutes do not equal justice against individuals and a society that sends the message that our lives are worth less because of what we look like, how we speak, and where we come from. Pero, they are weapons people can get behind in addition to other strategies.

MALDEF has a petition that all people should get behind. It asks that the United States Department of Justice to intervene and conduct an independent and comprehensive investigation of the brutal murder of Luis Ramirez in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania.

It is not the answer. It will not save our lives and the lives of our children. That HAS to happen on multiple fronts that include direct action, legal action, media strategies and education.

Think of all the mothers without their children this coming Sunday, Mother's Day.

Sign the petition . Our lives cannot wait.