Pocono News Section

Call for Justice Rally Has Ties to Shenandoah Case

Call for Justice Rally Has Ties to Shenandoah Case - Wednesday, May 13, 2009 at 5:10PM EST

WASHINGTON, D. C.- A call for justice went out Wednesday in Washington surrounding a beating death in Schuylkill County.
Illegal Mexican immigrant Luis Ramirez was killed last July when he was attacked by a group of teenagers in Shenandoah.

A Pottsville jury acquitted Brandon Piekarsky and Derrick Donchak of the most serious charges earlier this month.

The Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, or "MALDEFf", claims the verdict sent a disturbing message. Attorney John Amaya said, "If you are Latino in America, if you are brutally attacked because of your ethnicity, if you die as a result of that brutal beating that is senseless and unjust -- there is no justice for you."

MALDEF wants the Department of Justice to move swiftly and file civil rights charges in the Ramirez death case. The group also urges Congress to pass the Federal Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act.