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Bias attacker apologizesBY JESSICA LYONSThe second defendant in a Douglaston bias attack that took place last August apologized for his actions as he was sentenced to five years’ probation and 75 hours of community service.
Early in the morning on August 12, 2006, John Lu and Reynold Liang were beaten in the racially motivated attack by Kevin Brown of Auburndale and Paul Heavey of Little Neck. It included racial epithets and Liang being hit with a steering wheel lock called “The Club.” Lu suffered lacerations and lost several teeth while Liang had a possible skull fracture and pain to the chest. During Heavey’s sentencing, he publicly apologized for the 2006 attack. “I extend my apologies to the people involved in the incident and to the Asian-American community,” said Heavey, a 21-year-old college student. “The actions and the words that were used were wrong.” District Attorney Richard A. Brown said, “While his words stand in sharp contrast to his actions nearly a year ago, his apology doesn’t lessen the seriousness or the impact that such a hateful act has on its victims or society in general. Crimes of hate must never be tolerated and when they do, regrettably, occur, those responsible will be brought to justice.” Liang thanked the District Attorney for the outcome and expressed his hope that such crimes would not happen again. Lu spoke about Heavey’s apology. “We’re happy that Heavey apologized and wish him well in his future,” Lu said. Brown was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison and two-and-a-half years of probation in March. He did not offer an apology. |
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Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of queenscourier.com.
Jun Zuniga wrote on May 29, 2007 3:26 PM:
" Paul Heavey, your court mandated apology is meaningless. This Asian-American doesn’t accept your apology, and you should have served the full and commensurate penalty for the hate crime that you committed.
http://www.falloutcentral.com/news/2007/05/22/editorial-coverage-of-queens-hate-crime-sentencing/
http://www.falloutcentral.com/news/2007/05/24/weekly-poll-why-does-mainstream-media-choose-to-report-news-in-this-way/
http://www.falloutcentral.com/news/2007/05/28/podcast-episode-interview-with-john-yong-legal-counsel-for-the-new-food-king-restaurant/
Why has the media focused on the court mandated apology that Mr. Heavey was forced to read off a sheet of paper to avoid jail time? Are hate crimes committed against Asian Americans not considered qualitatively as serious as those committed against other Americans? Paul Heavey, Ronald Ebens, Michael Nitz & their racist hate crime committing ilk disgust me. Report this crime accurately. A suggested headline might read, "Perpetrator of anti-Asian hate crime assault forced to apologize, serves no jail time". "
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