Slurs Preceded L.I. Attack, Victim’s Friend Says - NYTimes.com: ...They were on their way to a friend’s house when they saw the seven young men approach. Mr. Loja said he took two steps back, and then the insults started. Mr. Loja said the group called him and Mr. Lucero “Mexicans” and “illegals” and used racial and ethnic slurs against blacks and Hispanics.
Mr. Loja recalled one of them saying, “You come to this country to take our money from us.”
Mr. Loja gave his testimony on Wednesday in the hate-crime trial of the Long Island teenager prosecutors have charged with fatally stabbing Mr. Lucero that evening. The teenager, Jeffrey Conroy, 19, is accused of second-degree murder as a hate crime, gang assault and other charges. The authorities said Mr. Conroy was one of seven Patchogue-Medford High School students who attacked Mr. Lucero as part of the sport they called “beaner hopping” or “Mexican hopping.” Mr. Conroy has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Mr. Loja’s testimony was the most dramatic moment in the trial so far, and was the first time that a witness had recounted the attackers’ racial and ethnic epithets.
