Group Outraged by Beating of Filipina Student in New York Bus
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NEW YORK, NY, April 20, 2007 — FIND, Inc. is appalled at the nightmarish event that occurred on March 14, 2007 as a Filipina Catholic-school girl was heavily beaten on a New York City MTA bus and was further ignored by the bus driver who insensitively told her to “Go talk to a priest.” 17-year old Marie Stefanie Martinez was attacked by 13 African American teenagers after stepping onto a B82 bus in Brooklyn. After being taunted, being called a “Chink” and being pushed around, Martinez finally decided to fight back and that is when things took a turn for the worse.
Martinez recalls, “They were pulling my hair, pulling my hair, opening my book bag!” she said. “I said, ‘Leave me alone. I’m not doing anything to you… That’s when they started to crowd around me. [One] boy punched me twice in my face and my mouth.”
Fortunately, a man in his 30s currently on the bus intervened and took Martinez away from the group of rowdy teenagers, although afterwards she was thoroughly bruised and battered. After notifying the bus driver of what had happened to her she was shockingly told to “Go talk to a priest” without any other effort being done to ameliorate the situation.
After talking with the Martinez family, Martinez’s lawyer Rosemarie Arnold stated that the family has decided to sue the MTA. “How did the bus driver let this happen?” Arnold said. “You have 13 kids making a commotion. This guy just turned a blind eye to it.
FIND Inc. National Chairman Steven Raga stated “This attack on Marie Martinez was a blatant act of anti-Asian racism, but not just by the assailants. As the MTA bus driver is responsible for the rights and welfare of those in the vehicle, it is shameful that his cavalier attitude towards this serious matter serves as representation for the New York City MTA. FIND Inc. fully supports Marie Martinez on her lawsuit and hopes for her full and quick recovery.”
Please spread the word about this incident as anti-Asian hate crimes such as this are not to be tolerated. FIND, Inc. would like to encourage you to please review and take time to sign the petition linked below targeting the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) for accountability.
http://www.petitiononline.com/mtahate1/petition.html
Thank you for your time in helping in this course of action. For more information on future FIND Inc, programs or events, please visit WWW.FINDINC.ORG.
Steven B. Raga
National Chairman; Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue
National Director, D3; Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue
(917) 392-4546 / (631) 821-4485
Raga.Steven@Gmail.com
EastDirector@Sandiwa.org
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Transport of flu patient to DMC done under strict protocol
April 23rd, 2007 at 4:53 am
First let me say how sorry I am to hear of this incident and my wishes for a speedy recvovery. Next It is a sad comentary about our American way of life that the black population is allowed almost by proxy to get away with this type of behavior. I myself have wittnessed and confronted this behavior and given statement against the aggressor , unfortunatly the victem was white as am I so my statement held no credibility. The Black population of this country has been givin almost free reighn to do as they please in the name of past evils that were afflicted upon them.When it comes to race in the U.S. the black population has it made. Even though they comprise around 60 % of th prison population it is only because they have gone through most of there lives with little or no consequenses for ther crimes. It is only when they cross the line so agreegeously the law must take action they are punished .Take heart these people will have little or no punishment for this crime , but they will go on to bigger better activities and then they will be punished. though it is of little consulation To Marie, these fools will ruin there lives forever in the future , just to prove how tough they are. and there are a few of us over here that will hunt down and take care of our problems where the law fails when one of our owne or someone we love is treeted this way. A U.S citisen married to a verry wonderful Filipina
April 24th, 2007 at 9:08 pm
What’s sad about this issue is that some people like Lawrence above have taken the opportunity to push their own racist agenda and frame the issue as an Asian American vs. African American issue. Let’s be frank, Filipino American hate crime victims like Joseph Ileto and Fermin Tobera were killed by European Americans. The focus should not be on the race/ethnicity of the perpetrators, the focus clearly needs to be on the fact that this was a hate crime based on the Ms. Martinez perceived race/ethnicity. The Asian American community’s response should and would have been the same REGARDLESS of the race of the perpetrators. What we don’t need is racists like Lawrence to speak on the behalf of Asian Americans.
May 1st, 2007 at 1:58 am
http://www.falloutcentral.com/news/2007/04/17/podcast-episode-interview-with-john-leo-directory-of-community-relations-for-the-chinatown-partnership-new-york-city/
On this week’s show, Fallout Central discusses:
*The future of New York City’s Chinatown with John K. Leo, Director of Outreach and Community Relations for the Chinatown Partnership.
*A recent racist skit (”Are You Smarter than an Asian?”) that aired on New York radio station Power 105.1 with Vicki Shu Smolin. President of the Organization of Chinese Americans – New York,
*An update on the the bias attack of Marie Martinez from Jun Zuniga dialing in from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
*A protest against racist Chinese restaurant ads in Tucson, AZ with Victor Wong of the TCA dialing in from Tucson, Arizona Denny’s Incident: 10 Years Later with Jennifer Zhao, Education Chair of the Syracuse “Denny’s 10 Year Remembrance Committee,” dialing in from Syracuse, New York.
If you have any comments about anything said in this podcast, contact us at comments@falloutcentral.com. We will respond to your comments on our next podcast episode and on our message board.
May 1st, 2007 at 10:06 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.
http://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.
http://www.mta.info/foil.htm
*******************************************************
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!