Picture this: A homeless man was sleeping near a train station, then wakes up to two men urinating on him. Not satisfied, these men beat the homeless man with a metal pole repeatedly and walked away laughing. When apprehended, these men told police they attacked the victim because he was “homeless,” “Hispanic,” and an “illegal immigrant.”
This is a true story reported by CNN last Friday and it happened in Boston, Massachusetts.
“Donald Trump was right,” the two men said, according to police, as they beat the man with a metal pipe and then urinated on him. “All these illegals need to be deported.”
But according to the CNN report, the victim is in fact not undocumented, as evidenced by a Social Security number for the man listed in the police report (but blacked out for privacy reasons). Social Security numbers are issued to U.S. citizens and authorized workers, according to the Social Security Administration website.
The two men were identified by police as Scott Leader, 38, and his brother, Steve Leader, 30. They were reportedly on their way home from a Red Sox game when this incident happened. As CNN reported, they are being held in jail without bond. face a number of assault and battery charges as well as gross lewdness, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office. They would have to go back in court on Sept. 3.
According to Trump — while he hadn’t heard about the Boston incident — it would “be a shame.” But CNN said he didn’t stop there, and “quickly went to applaud those who echo his views.”
“I will say, the people that are following me are very passionate,” Trump said. “They love this country, they want this country to be great again.”
Trump’s initial reaction was very bothersome, as it might be misconstrued by some people with very strong anti-immigrant sentiments and violent tendencies as a green light to take matters into their own hands, violate the humanity and rights of the undocumented immigrants, and attack them.
This could affect our own kababayans, documented – US citizens, greencard holders included — or not, as we all do not look “white” at all. We could all suffer and be attacked because of racial profiling.
Donald Trump is the leading presidential candidate for president in the Republican Party. His platform resonates among many conservatives especially when it comes to immigration, which includes building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border, revoking citizenship of babies born in the U.S. to undocumented parents and deporting undocumented immigrants.
Under no uncertain terms must he be deemed as rewarding and reinforcing any discrimination and violence against people, “illegal” or otherwise.
It was a good thing that on Friday, Trump belatedly tweeted: ”Boston incident is terrible. We need energy and passion, but we must treat each other with respect. I would never condone violence.”
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Gel Santos Relos is the anchor of TFC’s “Balitang America.” Views and opinions expressed by the author in this column are are solely those of the author and not of Asian Journal and ABS-CBN-TFC. For comments, go to www.TheFil-AmPerspective.com, https://www.facebook.com/Gel.Santos.Relos
