Hispanic Group Presses Acid Attack to a Latino a Hate Crime
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), a leading Hispanic group, is now calling for hate crime charges following the grisly acid attack to a Latino man. Earlier this week, a 61-year-old white American man threw a battery acid to Mahud Villalaz, a Latino, in Wisconsin.
In a joint statement, LULAC President Domingo Garcia and Wisconsin State Director Lupe Martinez said that hate crimes due to racial differences must be charged with hate crimes at the fullest extent of the law.
According to a report from The Hill, the incident started when Mahud Villalaz parked his car in front of the restaurant when a man approached him and confronted him about his parking space. Hoping to avoid an argument with the 61-year-old man, Villalaz moved his car to another space, but apparently, it wasn't enough to quash the man's anger.
The attacker waited outside Villalaz' car and shouted: "Go back to your country!" Right after Villlalaz parked his car, the man threw the battery acid in his face. This grisly acid attack left the Latino man with second-degree burns on his face.
Because of this alarming attack, Garcia and Martinez urge Milwaukee District Attorney John Chrisholm to file hate crime charges to the suspect. LULAC President Domingo Garcia said that the violent racial attack to the Latino man is motivated because there are politicians and public servants who encourages violent behavior towards immigrants.
The Latino man's family is now raising money through GoFundMe to pay for his medical expenses. Help and donations flooded for the victim and as of Monday, the family has already raised an amount of $39,000 coming from 946 donors all over the world.
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Police Department Spokesperson Sheronda Grant told the reporters through an email that they have arrested the suspect right after the incident. As of now, the man is under the custody of the Milwaukee Police Department while the probe is on-going.
For some people, this hate crime and the new immigration policy of the President Trump might affect his 2020 elections candidacy because Hispanics are considered as the largest minority group that has a growing population and registered voters in United States of America.
Meanwhile, LULAC is looking forward for the hate crime charges to be filed as soon as possible.
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