ARE ASIAN/AMERICANS held to a different standard of justice because they look so foreign?
Three recent unrelated cases makes one wonder if the judicial system simply doesn't take Asian/Americans seriously.
CASE 1: Copy tells salon worker, "You''re not a f****g American!"
CASE 1: Copy tells salon worker, "You''re not a f****g American!"
Chicago Det. Gerald Di Pasquale, is on tape saying to tanning salon manager Jianquing "Jessica" Klyzek, “You're not a f****** American. I'll put you in the UPS box and send you back to wherever the f*** you came from.”
Klyzek is a naturalized American citizen of Chinese descent.
Klyzek is a naturalized American citizen of Chinese descent.
Di Pasquale threatens to shut down the business where Klyzek works and then says, “Whoever owns it will f****** kill you because they don’t care about you, Okay! I’ll take this building. You’ll be dead and your family will be dead!”
The civilian-led Independent Police Review Authority is recommending a 25-day suspension for Di Pasquale and an 8-day suspension for another officer, Frank Messina, who hit Klyzek in the head while she was handcuffed and on her knees.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice is calling for the officer to be fired. “You know when it really comes down to what is caught on tape it’s very difficult to see any situation where that is justified,” says Steven Moon of the AAAJ.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice is calling for the officer to be fired. “You know when it really comes down to what is caught on tape it’s very difficult to see any situation where that is justified,” says Steven Moon of the AAAJ.
THE RESULT: Two weeks ago, the three officers involved are temporarily suspended - a slap on the wrist.
CASE 2: "Terrorist, go back to your country, Bin Laden!" yelled the assailant
An elderly Sikh/American man was brutally injured and called “terrorist” and “Bin Laden” in what many have called a hate crime case in Darien, Illinois near Chicago, just days before the US commemorated the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Inderjit Singh Mukker was assaulted on last week when the 17-year old assailant - unable to distinguish between Sikhs and Arabs - pulled up to Mukkar's car yelling racial slurs, including, “Terrorist, go back to your country, Bin Laden!”
Mukker, a U.S. citizen, was on his way to a grocery store and was repeatedly cut off by a driver. He pulled over to the side of the road to let him pass but the driver instead pulled in front of his car and reportedly aggressively approached Mukker’s vehicle. The teenager then reached into the car and repeatedly punched Mukker in the face, causing him to lose consciousness, bleed profusely and suffer a fractured cheekbone and a laceration to his
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| Inderjjit Singh Mukker |
cheek.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he received six stitches, treatment for lacerations, bruising and swelling. The suspect is in custody.
THE RESULT: Instead of being charged with a hate crime, the assailant is being charged for "aggravated battery" spurred by "road rage."
UPDATE: The DuPage County State's Attorney's office on Sept. 15 has upgraded the attack to a hate crime, which carries stiffer penalties if a conviction is determined.
CASE 3: Indian/American elder slammed to ground by overzealous copTHE RESULT: Instead of being charged with a hate crime, the assailant is being charged for "aggravated battery" spurred by "road rage."
UPDATE: The DuPage County State's Attorney's office on Sept. 15 has upgraded the attack to a hate crime, which carries stiffer penalties if a conviction is determined.
After a jury failed to reach a decision in the federal trial of a Huntsville, Alabama police officer, which left an Indian/American grandfather partially paralyzed, the judge declared a mistrial in the case.
The surprising announcement by U.S. District Court Judge Madeline Haikala came after jurors told the judge on four separate occasions that they were unable come to a unanimous decision.
Officer Eric Parker is accused of using excessive force while violating the civil rights of a man from India. Parker was caught on video violently slamming 58-year-old, Sureshbhai Patel to the ground in early February 2015. This left Patel with severe injuries, including partial paralysis.
Patel, who was in the U.S. visiting relatives, was taking a morning walk when he was approached by Parker after a neighbor reported a “suspicious” thin black man walking through the neighborhood.
Parker was later arrested after the brutal encounter with Patel, which was caught on his car's dash camera. When the incident became public, it sparked international outrage. Patel had only recently come to the United States to assist in caring for his grandson, and spoke no English. The controversy went so far as to force Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley to formally apologized to the Indian government.
Parker claimed that he simply lost his balance as he took the grandfather to the ground. Although the videotape shows Patel had his handcuffs on hands behind him.
THE RESULT: Despite the video evidence, after several attempts to render a verdict, the jury couldn't come to a decision. The judge declared a mistrial.
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The Patel and Mukker cases will most likely be appealed and the Klyzek case will probably go to court but that doesn't explain what appears as shoulder shrugs from the responsible agencies. Is it because police and the courts don't take the plaintiffs seriously enough because American law doesn't apply to foreigners? Asian/Americans are always seen as "outsiders," and "foreigners" no matter what their status or even if their family has been in this country for generations.
What Chicago attorney Nebula Li said about the Klyzek case could be applied to all three victims: “Jessica’s case is only one of many examples of the criminalization of immigrants, women, people of color, and Asian Americans,” said immigration attorney Nebula Li. “Some may find it shocking to hear those words coming out of a Chicago police officer’s mouth, but many of us in the Asian-American community have been told all our lives that we don’t belong, and to go back to wherever we came from.”
It also demonstrates that Asian/Americans, as people of color, have issues in common with the Black Lives Matter movement and their quest for justice. As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said from the Birmingham jail, "Justice denied anywhere diminishes justice everywhere."
It also demonstrates that Asian/Americans, as people of color, have issues in common with the Black Lives Matter movement and their quest for justice. As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said from the Birmingham jail, "Justice denied anywhere diminishes justice everywhere."
Chirag Patel, say it loud. Inderjit Singh Mukker, say it loud. Jessica Klyzek, say it loud.
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