County prosecutors have labeled the May 6 murder of a Phoenix man a hate crime, the Arizona Republic reports. Gary Thomas Kelley, 50, is accused of shooting his neighbor Juan Varela in the face after shouting racial slurs, and then telling Varela’s brother to "hurry up and go back to Mexico or you’re gonna die" while brandishing his gun. Kelley allegedly walked over to Varela’s property to assault him, report Michael Kiefer and Michael Feraresi of the Republic.
Police at first characterized the crime as a dispute among feuding neighbors, and the Maricopa County District Attorney’s office only recently ruled it a hate crime. The hate crime designation could mean a tougher sentence for Kelley, a retired golf cart repairman.
The victim’s brother, Antonio Varela, contends that the assault grew out an atmosphere of hostility toward Hispanics that has gripped the state since the passage of SB 1070, the controversial state law cracking down on illegal immigration.
"1070 is what caused all this. You could just see the tension in the air," Varela told Phoenix’s local Fox affiliate. Juan Varela was a third-generation Mexican-American.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/20100618/ts_ynews/ynews_ts2719
Just goes to show the world we needed to do something about the southern invasion along time ago!
Also I say SB 1070 is a good thing! You can cry and whine all you want but it’s long over due.
On the flip side I also say anyone that even mentions SB1070 in a bad light without bringing up Oklahoma is a full on racist in my book simply because Oklahoma was the first state to adopt similar legislation to address the illegal immigration problem there but do you ever hear a thing about Oklahoma? nope only because it’s not on the border! But now Oklahoma is going to get even tougher.
And no SB 1070 didn’t cause this, the arrogance and ignorance of the latino community did with their idea of ruining a good thing, thus all good things come to an end, so get used to it!