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Puerto Rican authorities agree to investigate gay teenager’s murder as hate crime by Michael K. Lavers
National News EditorWednesday Nov 25, 2009 Puerto Rican authorities have agreed to investigate Jorge Steven López Mercado’s murder as a hate crime after they met with local representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Nuevo Dia reported William Ramírez, executive director of the ACLU and of the University of Puerto Rico’s Legal Clinic, pointed out to Puerto Rico Department of Justice Secretary Antonio Sagardía the Commonwealth has a history of "not investigating hate crimes cases" like the one he said to which Juan A. Martínez Matos reportedly has confessed.
"The ACLU has tried to get the government to accept its responsibility to investigate cases... that are hate crimes, particularly that of young Jorge Steven López Mercado," Ramírez said in a statement. "We should not be satisfied with the possibility the federal government will do what our government is not interested in doing; which is to protect every citizen."
Activists on Puerto Rico and around the country have repeatedly called upon local authorities to charge Matos under Puerto Rico’s hate crimes law, which includes sexual orientation. They have also blasted investigator Ángel Rodríguez Colón’s assertion López somehow contributed to his own death. The Federal Bureau of Investigation in San Juan has not ruled out the possibility of additional federal charges in the case.
This article originally appeared in Boy in Bushwick.
Michael K. Lavers has written for the Advocate, the Fire Island News, the Village Voice, WNYC and other media outlets. He has also provided commentary on LGBT and other issues to the BBC and the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. He blogs at Boy in Bushwick [www.boyinbushwick.blogspot.com]
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