Feds May File Hate Crime Charges Against Puerto Rican Teen’s Murderer

Feds May File Hate Crime Charges Against Puerto Rican Teen’s Murderer.

When President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law October 28, he could not even have imagined that just two weeks later, Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado would be murdered, his body decapitated, dismembered, and burned. But this type of hate crime is the very essence of what the hate crime bill – now law – was designed to battle. And thanks not to the Governor of Puerto Rico – who has refused to call this brutal, inhuman act a hate crime – but to a federal prosecutor, it very well may.

Mercado’s murder may in fact be the first case that takes advantage of the new Hate Crimes Prevention Act. As I wrote here just a few days ago, Juan Martinez Matos, Mercado’s confessed killer, underwent – and “failed” – a psychiatric evaluation, but is still under observation.

United States Attorney Rosa Emilia Rodríguez says her office may file hate crime charges if local authorities do not.

Thank you to all who worked for years to bring the hate crimes bill into existence. While it’s a shame it has to be put to use so quickly, imagine where justice would be for Mercado’s family without it.

Related posts:

1. Gay Puerto Rican Teen’s Murderer Fit To Stand Trial
2. Republican Congressman Thinks Hate Crime Is A Thought Crime
3. Hate Crime Bill Passes Committee
4. “More than 80 percent of the participating [law enforcement] agencies reported no hate crimes in their jurisdictions in 2008.”
5. Less Than One Month After Gay Teen’s Brutal Murder, Killer Found “Mentally Incompetent.”

Tagged as: Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, Juan Martinez Matos, Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Puerto Rico, Rosa Emilia Rodríguez