• LA officials: 3 held over attempt to drive African American family out of Compton

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    By Jason Kandel, NBCLosAngeles.com

    Two men and a teenage boy were arrested in connection with a series of race-based attacks on an African American family in an attempt to drive them out of Compton in Los Angeles, sheriff’s officials said.

    A group of Latino males who claimed to be in a local street gang used metal pipes and shouted racial epithets at a black man who had recently moved into the neighborhood, sheriff’s officials said.

    One of the suspects, identified as Efren Marquez, 21, allegedly pointed a gun at the victim and threatened to shoot him while he was being beaten with a metal pipe allegedly by a second suspect, identified as Jeffrey Aguilar, 19, officials said.

    After the attack, the group left in a black sport utility vehicle.

    Marquez and Aguilar returned 30 minutes later with a group of up to 20 gang members, who surrounded the front of the victims’ home shouting racial epithets and telling them that members of the African American race -- using the “n-word” -- were not allowed to live in the neighborhood, sheriff’s officials said.

    An unidentified member of the group threw a beer bottle through the front living room window.

    Sheriff’s officials said the suspects continued to drive by the home of the family -- which includes four children -- several times a day, shouting racial epithets while ordering the family to leave the neighborhood.

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    Aguilar, Marquez and a juvenile were arrested on Thursday, said Capt. Mike Parker of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau.

    They face hate crime charges.

    Anyone with information is asked to contact Sheriff’s Operation Safe Streets Bureau gang investigators at (310) 603-3100 or the Compton Sheriff’s Station at (310) 605-6500.

  • Identity crisis: Most Hispanics prefer to ID themselves by country of origin

    By James Eng, NBC News

    Hispanic? Latino? When it comes to describing themselves, most Hispanics prefer to identify themselves by their family’s country of origin rather than either of those two pan-ethnic  terms, a new Pew survey finds.


    Just over half (51 percent) say that most often use their family’s country of origin (such as Mexican, Cuban or Dominican) to describe their identity, according to the Pew Hispanic Center report.  Just one-quarter (24 percent) use the terms “Hispanic” or “Latino.” Twenty-one percent use the term “American.”

    The U.S. government mandated the use of the terms “Hispanic” and “Latino” in 1976 after a number of years of lobbying by Mexican-American and Hispanic organizations, according to Pew.

    “The use of the terms ‘Hispanic’ and ‘Latino’ to describe Americans of Spanish origin or descent is unique to the U.S. and their meaning continue to change and evolve. Outside of the U.S., these terms are not widely used (National Research Council, 2006) and may also have different meanings,” the Pew reported noted.

    Despite the formal definition, the U.S. Census Bureau allows people to self-report their ethnicity – someone is Hispanic or Latino if they self-identify as such. The 2010 census counted 50.5 million Hispanics.

    According to the Pew report, about half of Hispanics say they consider themselves to be very different from the typical American. And regardless of where they were born, large majorities of Latinos say that life in the U.S. is better than in their family’s country of origin.

    The survey of 1,220 Latino adults was conducted in both English and Spanish from Nov. 9 through Dec. 7. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

    You can read the full report here.

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  • Time apologizes for featuring a non-Latino on its Latino voters cover

    NBCLatino.com

    Time magazine's Arizona Latino voter cover featured Michael Schennum, a Chinese-American man, pictured behind the large 'M' in Time.

    By NBC Latino and msnbc.com staff

    Time magazine has apologized for its cover this week featuring portraits of 15 Latino voters in Arizona after it emerged that one of them isn't Latino.

    The cover features the bold proclamation "Why Latinos will pick the next President," along with "Yo Decido" — or "I decide" in English. But Michael Schennum — the man behind the "M" in Time's name — told The Arizona Republic, for whom he works as a staff photographer, that he's "part Norwegian and part Chinese and part Irish."

    See the full Time Latino voters cover

    Michelle Woo of OC Weekly in Orange County, Calif., was the first to spot the error, writing Thursday:

    "A friend of mine, Michael Schennum, is the short-haired gentleman in the top row, center, behind the letter 'M.' He is half Chinese and half white. Not Latino. Not even a little bit."

    Latino news and features on NBC Latino

    Schennum said he wasn't offended by the article, "just surprised."

    "It's a bit of an error on their part," he told the Republic. "If they would have asked me, I would have honestly answered, but they didn't ask me."

    Time told New York Magazine on Thursday:

    "Over the course of three days TIME photographed 151 people for the current cover. We took steps to ensure that everyone self-identified as Latino, that they are registered voters and that they would be willing to answer our questions. If there was a misunderstanding with one of our subjects, we apologize."

    By Adrian Carrasquillo of NBC Latino and M. Alex Johnson of msnbc.com.

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  • 2,000 tacos delivered to 'I might have tacos' mayor

    Jessica Hill / AP

    Dixon Jimenez, right, delivers tacos to East Haven, Conn. Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr., Jan. 26. Maturo has expressed remorse for saying he "might have tacos" to do something for his town's besieged Latino community - but he has no plans to step down.

    By James Eng, NBC News

    A Connecticut mayor who sparked a firestorm of criticism for quipping “I might have tacos” when interviewed by a TV reporter about the arrest of four town police officers accused of racially profiling and bullying Latino residents got more than he bargained for.

    More than 2,000 tacos were delivered to the office of East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo on Thursday, ordered by people who found his comments insensitive racially offensive. The send-the-mayor-a-taco campaign, which took off via tweets, cellphone texts and social-media shares, was organized by Reform Immigration for America, a group that advocates comprehensive immigration reform.

    A bulk order of 500 tacos was hand-delivered to the mayor’s office by members of Junta for Progressive Action, a Latino nonprofit in New Haven, Conn. Others texted in individual orders.

    In a letter accompanying the bulk delivery, Junta for Progressive Action said:

    “These are serious allegations against the state of civic affairs in your community – yet when asked what you personally would be doing to address racial discrimination in East Haven, you made a mockery of the crisis by suggesting that eating tacos is enough to help the Latino community in the wake of this tragedy.

    Your subsequent apology isn’t enough to make up for allowing institutionalized racism in a police force and city government.”

    Maturo wasn’t in the office when the delivery was made, the group said.

    facebook.com/pages/Joe-Maturo-Jr

    East Haven Mayor Joe Maturo

    Maturo issued a statement later Thursday saying the taco bonanza will be donated to local soup kitchens.

    “The abundance of tacos that we received today underscores the importance of the issues currently facing the town of East Haven and highlights the need for the town to continue the process of healing and reform…” he said.

    The events of the past few days have focused our town, and my administration, on the need to deal sensitively and compassionately with the challenges currently facing our town.  We will continue to address those challenges while also striving to provide the services our residents have come to expect.”

    Reform Immigration for America said it had already planned to donate the tacos to local soup kitchens and claimed the mayor falsely took credit for the idea.

    The mayor's woes began Tuesday with the announcement that  the FBI had arrested four East Haven police officers on charges that they conspired to deprive Latinos and other residents of their constitutional rights. The charges include multiple counts of excessive force, false arrest, obstruction and conspiracy.

    WPIX reporter Mario Diaz interviewed the mayor later Tuesday about the arrests and how he would respond to the fallout.

    At one point in the exchange, Diaz asked Maturo: “What are you doing for the Latino community today?”

    The mayor replied on camera: “I might have tacos when I go home. I’m not quite sure yet.”

    Maturo backtracked on Wednesday, issuing a public statement apologizing to the town of East Haven and to the Latino community for what he called an “insensitive and off-color comment.”

    “Unfortunately, I let the stress of the situation get the best of me and inflamed what is already a serious and unfortunate situation. I regret my insensitive comment and realize that it is my job to lead by example. “

  • Conn. mayor's 'tacos' comment in Latino profiling case draws outrage

    By James Eng, NBC News

    One blunder on top of another?

    The mayor of East Haven, Conn., came under a torrent of criticism Wednesday for telling a TV reporter “I might have tacos” when asked about how he would support the Latino community in the aftermath of the arrest of four town police officers accused of racially profiling and bullying Latino residents.

    Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy called Mayor Joseph Maturo's comments "repugnant" and "unacceptable." An attorney for some Latinos suing the town police department called the comments “appalling.” Some residents said the mayor should step down.

     Maturo sought to backtrack Wednesday, issuing a statement of public apology.

    facebook.com/pages/Joe-Maturo-Jr

    East Haven Mayor Joe Maturo

    “My sincerest apologies go out to the East Haven community and, in particular, the Latino community for the insensitive and off-color comment that I made to WPIX reporter Mario Diaz yesterday regarding the recent events affecting our community and our police department,” the statement said.  “Unfortunately, I let the stress of the situation get the best of me and inflamed what is already a serious and unfortunate situation. I regret my insensitive comment and realize that it is my job to lead by example. “

    Maturo did not return a telephone call from msnbc.com for additional comment.

    The public fiasco began Tuesday with the announcement by federal officials that the FBI had arrested four East Haven police officers on charges that they conspired to deprive some residents, particularly Latinos, of their constitutional rights. The charges include multiple counts of excessive force, false arrest, obstruction and conspiracy.

     

    Latinos make up about 10 percent of East Haven's population of the town's population of about 28,000. Yet out of a police force of 50, only one speaks Spanish, according to local media reports.

    WPIX reporter Mario Diaz later interviewed the mayor about the arrests.

    At one point in the exchange, Diaz asked Maturo: “What are you doing for the Latino community today?”

    The mayor replied on camera: “I might have tacos when I go home. I’m not quite sure yet.”

    Later, Diaz said, the mayor came over to him and apologized, saying his comments were out of context. Maturo explained that he had a long day of interviews, and that he meant no harm by what he called a "flippant" remark.

    On Wednesday, Maturo sought to limit damage from the incident. In addition to publicly apologizing, his statement said his administration has already taken steps to “begin that healing process.”

    He said he recently commissioned a new advisory panel to recommend policy and procedure changes to the Board of Police Commissioners. And he said he appointed Jose Velasquez, a community volunteer and native of Puerto Rico, to the new panel.

    “I apologize, again, for my insensitive comments yesterday and recognize that they are a hindrance to the progress that must be made in our community,” Maturo said. “I am dedicated to the principles of tolerance and acceptance of all and will do all that I can to foster those principles in the daily execution of my duties as mayor.”

    Malloy called Maturo’s “tacos” remarks “repugnant.”

    "They represent either a horrible lack of judgment or worse, an underlying insensitivity to our Latino community that is unacceptable. Being tired is no excuse,” the governor said in a statement.

    David Rosen, an attorney representing several Latino residents and business owners suing the East Haven police department for alleged civil rights violations, said Maturo’s comments were “appalling.”

    “It just makes your heart sink to hear it and to see it. I can only hope that it will be a wakeup call to the townspeople of East Haven who are finding themselves represented this way by their elected officials and elements of their police department,” Rosen told msnbc.com in a telephone interview.

    As to whether the mayor should resign, Rosen said:  “I think it’s up to the people of East Haven what the mayor’s future should be.”
     
    Resign is exactly what some East Haven residents want the mayor to do.

    A Facebook was started Wednesday titled “East Haven Taxpayers Calling For Mayor Maturo to Resign.”

    Matt DeRienzo, group editor of Journal Register Company’s publications in Connecticut, including the New Haven Register, Middletown Press, Register Citizen and Connecticut Magazine, wrote in a column Wednesday that Maturo’s “blatantly racist, ignorant and arrogant slur” was “an embarrassment to the community.

    “Let’s not mince words,” DeRienzo wrote.

    “The thin translation of Maturo’s taco comment is, ‘I am a full human being and you are less than one.’”

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  • Hate letters sent to Latino families in Texas

    By Tammy Mutasa , NBC DFW

    The Garland Police Department in Texas needs the public’s helping finding the person sending threatening and racially charged letters to Latino families. The police have received four reports of the letters being sent out since this past weekend. 

    "The thing that concerns us is that these letters were sent to their home, it has threatening language in it, and it’s directed towards Latinos," said Officer Joe Harn of the Garland police. Garland is northeast of Dallas.

    One woman, who did not want to be identified, received a letter in her mailbox. She said it was addressed to her family, but there was no name or return address on the envelope.

    Read the original story on NBC DFW

    She said she fears for her safety. “Scared. Scared about this letter, you know? Scared they’re going to come and do what they say, you know? I’m very scared.”

    She said the letter told her to “leave the country now” and contained racially disparaging remarks as well as expletives.

    “I want this to stop, you know? We’re all people, we’re all humans,” she said.

    Police said whoever is writing the letters is sending them to the Buckingham and Lavon area in Garland. Police consider that offense harassment by writing and can carry a charge of a Class B Misdemeanor, up to a felony.

    “We have talked with the FBI about this;we don’t know if it’s going to rise to the federal level, but certainly, we take it very seriously,” added Harn.

    Police encourage other residents who have received similar letters to come forward and call them at 972-272-TIPS. Anyone with information about the letter writer can also call the tip line.

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