January 18

On this date in 2008, in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York, a Yeshiva student, Samuel Balkany, 16, was assaulted by five black youths who are said to have yelled "You fucking Jew", "You little Jew boy," and other threatening and anti-Semitic remarks as he was beaten and hit in the head with a rock on Carroll Street. The police are investigating the attack as a possible hate crime. The Lubavitch Hasidic teen was taken to the Kings County Hospital where he was treated for the injuries he sustained in the assault.

On this date in 2008, Max Blumenthal wrote in The Nation an article connecting former Arkansas Governor and Republican presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee, with the known white supremacist hate group, the Council of Conservative Citizens. Blumenthal’s article, titled “Mike Huckabee’s White Supremacist Links”, wrote that Huckabee accepted invitations to speak at the hate group’s 1993 and 1994 national conventions in Memphis, Tennessee, and Little Rock, Arkansas, respectively, when he was the Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas. Blumenthal also noted that the Arkansas state legislature prevented Huckabee from attending the 1993 conference in Memphis by passing a resolution forbidding Huckabee from leaving Arkansas until Governor Jim Guy Tucker returned from out of state. For more about Huckabee’s presidential bid, see our Trend Report titled, “Why Like Mike?”.

In Cumming, Georgia (Forsyth County), on this date in 2009, the home of a white woman, Pam Graf, 47, was destroyed by an arson fire, and someone spray-painted a racial slur and the phrase "your black boy will die" on a fence along her Lanier Drive property, an apparent reference to Graf's public support for Barack Obama. Graf told authorities she was in Washington, DC, to attend the inauguration of President Barack Obama at the time of the blaze and rushed back to Georgia when she was notified that her 2,800-square-foot home had been torched. Prior to the deliberately set fire, Graf said she took down an "Obama for President" yard sign after she received a threatening letter. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was called to aid in the investigation, and on February 6, 2009, Graf and her white boyfriend, Steve Strobel, 46, of Winder, Georgia, were arrested and charged with first-degree arson in what police believe was a faked hate crime arson-for-money scheme.

On this date in 2009 in the Jackson Heights section of Queens, New York, while walking with a friend, a Sikh college student, Jasmir Singh, 21, was attacked by three men on 37th Avenue who touched his hair and taunted him about its length saying they were going to cut it. They also asked the biomedical sciences student at City College why he wore a beard. The three perpetrators then beat Mr. Singh and stabbed him in the eye with a broken bottle as he tried to flee for help; his friend escaped unharmed. Mr. Singh was attacked so savagely that he permanently lost eyesight in his left eye; he was admitted to the Elmhurst Hospital following the attack. Despite the targeted nature of the attack and despite the assailants' focus on Mr. Singh's beard and hair—which are worn long as a part of his Sikh faith—the New York City police and the Queens District Attorney refused to call the attack a hate crime. A South Asian male, Rahman Shabad, 16, and a 21-year-old Latino man, Gevin Burgos, were arrested for their alleged roles in the brutal attack. Shabad and Burgos were charged with robbery and assault, both first-degree felonies. Jasmir Singh’s father, Jiwan Singh, said that this attack on his son is the fourth hate crime against his family since 9/11. See our May 30 calendar date for details about a fifth hate crime perpetrated against the family, that one directed at Mr. Jiwan Singh.

On this date in 2009 in Wausau, Wisconsin, the St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church, located on the corner of 6th and Stark Streets, was broken into by someone who stole $30 from a wooden collection box, drank a half a bottle of wine, and carved a Satanic pentagram on a wooden desk with a church cross. Arrested on charges of burglary, theft, and criminal damage to property with a hate crime enhancer was Wausau East High School senior Aaron Kremer, 18, who also goes by the name Aaron Kremer-Allen. On January 20, 2009, prosecutors decided to drop the hate crime enhancer against Kremer—who at the time of his arrest had his artwork of Martin Luther King, Jr. on display at the University of Wisconsin Marathon County as part of their exhibit to pay tribute to the civil rights leader titled "Living the Dream." Instead, Aaron Kremer was charged with burglary, theft, criminal damage to property, and six counts of jumping bail. The church is said to have had problems with Kremer in the past according to WSAW Channel 7 (CBS affiliate) reporter Matt Behrens.

In Farragut, Tennessee (Knox County), on this date in 2012, it was discovered that someone vandalized an African-American church on Loop Road. The Concord Original Church of God had ten windows broken. In addition, another African-American church also located on Loop Road in Farragut, the Concord A.M.E Zion Church, had also been vandalized more than once since early December 2011. Following the attack on the Concord Original Church of God on this date in 2012, the FBI began investigating whether the vandalisms at the two churches constitute federal hate crimes. If you have any information about these felony vandalisms, please call the Knox County Sheriff's Office at 865-215-2243.

In Chicago, Illinois on this date in 2012 six teenagers—two 16-year-old males; three 15-year-old males; and, a 15-year-old female—were charged as juveniles, and a seventh teenager, 17-year-old Raymond Palomino, whose father is a Cook County sheriff's deputy, was charged as an adult for allegedly kicking, punching and robbing an Asian teenager while hurling racist slurs at him on January 15, 2012. The attack, which occurred in an alley behind an elementary school in the 2700 block of South Shields, was videotaped and posted on YouTube, and despite the alleged racist slurs used during the attack no hate crime charges were filed against those arrested. Police said the attack stemmed from a fight in October 2011 between the victim and his alleged attackers (but that does not explain why racist slurs were used during the attack). The 17-year-old victim, who was a senior at Curie High School at the time, had his gym shoes, wallet and cash stolen; and, he was treated for his injuries at a local hospital. Raymond Palomino, who is white and who has no previous criminal record, was charged with robbery and aggravated battery; he was held on $100,000 bail. Each of the arrested juveniles were also charged with robbery and aggravated battery. One of the juveniles is from Arlington Heights, Illinois; the others are from Chicago. According to data from the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education, Asian-American teens are bullied more than youths from any other racial group.