Rest in Peace J.B. Hehman (TLOZ Link5)

**Schadenfrau** · April 10th, 2006, 07:05 PM

Infoshare, please don't insult me. I posted the Eric Adams quote pages earlier in this thread. Clearly, I read it.

Adams is not the representative of "NYPD blacks," he's the speaker for a group by the name of 100 Blacks In Law Enforcement.

**BrooklynRider** · April 10th, 2006, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by infoshare

...But my main concern continues to be about people "like you" who seem to have a somewhat dismissive attitude about this.....the racial comments that were made by his attackers and the beating is sufficient to charge these people for a hate crime.....and its "publics" lack of insistence on this point that angers me most.

The factor you are omitting from all of this and that the news also omits is that Harlem is being gentrified. There is no justification for violence - period. But, when communities are displaced or faced with displacement, violence and serious crime escalates.

Info, I think you are getting ahead of the story. We have no idea how these kids will be charged, what defense they might use and what evidence is in hand. Luckily there seem to be confessions. I am very pleased and satisfied that they are no longer on the loose. I think I am particularly sensitive to ensuring that hate crimes are prosecuted to the fullest extent. However, it does not seem that JB was attacked because he was white. It does not seem that those boys went out looking for a "white boy." They went out looking for trouble and unfortunately a "white boy" crossed their path. Manslaughter charges, at least, should be sufficient to give them the punishment they deserve. Although, I would not be surprised to see JBs family show grace and mercy in this situation. They have had a sad and horrifying year. Two losses in a short term forces a lot of reflection and introspection.

I am dreading the lame excuses the families will make for their children's behavior. That's where you'll see me expressing as much anger as you feel now.

**MidtownGuy** · April 10th, 2006, 08:11 PM

I am dreading the lame excuses the families will make for their children's behavior

Amen to that. Much of the blame rests with them- they are probably the kind of parents that shouldn't be allowed to raise a fish let alone a child. Absentee fathers and skeezer mothers don't generally raise saintly children.

**czsz** · April 10th, 2006, 08:20 PM

This quote from the Daily News article may be instructive:

Hehman was jumped after an earlier plan to mug a Latino man was foiled when the teens saw a passing police cruiser, cops said.

Are we overreacting to the "get the white boy" remark? It may indeed just have been a means of identifying him in a crowded street of mainly nonwhites. Then again, this was all happening under the 125th MetroNorth station, which is a transfer point for many commuters from Westchester and Connecticut...

**MidtownGuy** · April 10th, 2006, 08:25 PM

Is there already a thread where we can discuss and debate issues of gentrification?

**MidtownGuy** · April 10th, 2006, 08:34 PM

I am dreading the lame excuses the families will make for their children's behavior

Just read this on NY1:

An uncle of one of the teens vouched for the group.

"It's a 13 year-old kid who's got A's in school, who's got awards. He made an essay the other day and got an award for that. They gave him an award for attendance," said Guzman's uncle Louie Rodriguez. "He's a good kid, all those kids were good kids."

Give me a break.

http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index...id=1&aid=58492

**ZippyTheChimp** · April 10th, 2006, 09:46 PM

I've been having difficulty, for reasons I won't go into, in posting anything beyond copy and paste, but I'm troubled by the inclination to pile it on.

When this awful crime was committed, I feared that no one would be arrested and held accountable. I was relieved that there was a videotape of the perpetrators trashing a McDonald's, and thought arrests would quickly follow. Like those who have all the facts, I was wrong in assuming the four arrested were part of the mob in the videotape.

As for characterizing the act as a bias crime, only czsz seemed to pick up on the significant fact that a Latino was targeted earlier. Crimes have an emotional impact on those who knew the victim, but the law is cold and often unsatisfying.

What we have: 2 aged 15 and 2 aged 13 are charged as adults with Murder in the 2nd degree, a Class-A1 felony. They face 9 years to life if convicted.

From New York Penal Code:

S 485.05 Hate crimes.
1. A person commits a hate crime when he or she commits a specified
offense and either:
(a) intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is
committed or intended to be committed in whole or in substantial part
because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national
origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability
or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or
perception is correct, or
(b) intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense in
whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding
the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious
practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless
of whether the belief or perception is correct.
2. Proof of race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion,
religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of the
defendant, the victim or of both the defendant and the victim does not,
by itself, constitute legally sufficient evidence satisfying the
people`s burden under paragraph (a) or (b) of subdivision one of this
section.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, when a person is
convicted of a hate crime pursuant to this article and the specified
offense is a class A-1 felony, the minimum period of the indeterminate
sentence shall be not less than twenty years.

The 11 years don't make me feel any better.

**Edward** · April 11th, 2006, 12:14 AM

Originally Posted by sonhomeu01

I read that one of you thought it would be nice to collect all of JB's postings and put them on the cd. I think his father and sister would both like that. If you want to do that, you could send it to me and I would give it to them. I am a friend of the family.

At this moment all his posts are online. His posts would need to be in context so all (or most) thread would have to be included. I have to research how to extract relevant database records to put on CD.

**lofter1** · April 11th, 2006, 08:22 AM

From the NY Daily News :

Glowing cybertributes from friends

Friends of slain NYU student Broderick John Hehman have turned to the Internet as an outlet for their grief.

They've flooded his Web log with messages of sorrow and remembrance of the popular 20-year-old metropolitan studies student nicknamed J.B.

"The only comfort is that you are at peace and maybe God had a higher purpose for you in heaven," wrote friend Sasha Strenger.

"I can honestly say that knowing you has made me a better person and that although you are no longer here physically, you will always be alive in my heart," she wrote.

Pals also are using the Web log to plan a "Celebration of Life" service set for Friday, complete with lunch, a visit to Hehman's favorite karaoke bar and a prayer ceremony on the Hudson River.

"J.B. and I talked about how we wanted our deaths to be signified, and he and I agreed that it was best for our lives to be celebrated," wrote Paco Secada.

All contents © 2006 Daily News, L.P.

**BigMac** · April 11th, 2006, 08:49 AM

I just heard about this and am speechless. I had no idea.

Rest in peace, JB.

**BrooklynRider** · April 11th, 2006, 09:41 AM

Excellent article Lofter. I just spoke with the Daily News and directed them to our forum. If we can channel some of those folks over here, we might be able to go above and beyond what any of us imagined possible for this memorial.

**infoshare** · April 11th, 2006, 10:37 AM

Originally Posted by BrooklynRider

Excellent article Lofter. I just spoke with the Daily News and directed them to our forum. If we can channel some of those folks over here, we might be able to go above and beyond what any of us imagined possible for this memorial.

You done a lot for this cause. BRider....I for one appreciate your efforts. Being that the perps have been identified there is much closure for me on this.

About "going beyond what any of us imagined possible for the memorial" I have no idea,,,,,so far I like the CD idea.

**BrooklynRider** · April 11th, 2006, 10:55 AM

Infoshare,

This is a terrible, terrible incident and it has shaken a lot of people. As I said, I need to channel my emotion and energy somewhere. In some ways, I feel that our project memorializes JB in a way that "turns the other cheek," I think that will have a more profound and lasting effect on both the victim's and perpetrator's respective communities than the trial, which is going to make everyone sick, angry and full of helpless feelings.

The best response for me, at times, is action. Maybe its that whole "idle hands" thing. I don't know. I'm just moved to DO something.

**Schadenfrau** · April 11th, 2006, 11:40 AM

"'The murder of the young man in Harlem was wrong, reprehensible and must be deplored by all,' the Rev. Al Sharpton said yesterday. 'If in fact racial language was used, this also must be denounced by the entire civil rights community.'"

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/sto...p-345261c.html

**NoyokA** · April 11th, 2006, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by Schadenfrau

"'The murder of the young man in Harlem was wrong, reprehensible and must be deplored by all,' the Rev. Al Sharpton said yesterday. 'If in fact racial language was used, this also must be denounced by the entire civil rights community.'"

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/sto...p-345261c.html

I've always liked Sharpton. Something that must be remembered is that these kids are very much the minority and they are now off the streets, others still exist. But most people you will meet in Harlem, white, black, latino or otherwise are good-hearted, decent people, lets not forget that.