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New Jersey Employment and Civil Rights Attorney Discusses…

On Behalf of | Apr 15, 2014 | Blog, Uncategorized |

A mother of a murdered son, the daughter of a murdered father, had to stand before a congregation and thank them for their support. The son, Reat Underwood, was a high school freshman, 14. Also murdered was Teresa Lamanno. These people were killed on April 14th by Frazier Glenn Cross. Mr. Cross is a 73 year-old former KKK leader and general white supremacist piece of human filth.

And yeah, I get that I’m a civil rights lawyer and you’re shocked I’d say that about a fellow human being, but frankly, at 73, he’s had a long life in which to know better, and he’s chosen to kill in the name of hate. So yeah, I’m writing him off the human list, without a speck of conscience about it. He’s not worth the air he breathes.

He did this deliberately. He did it on the eve of Passover, one of the holiest Jewish holidays on the calendar. As he was being taken away by the police, seeing cameras, he shouted “Heil Hitler!”

There’s no doubt whatsoever that this is a hate crime. It’s also the reason we do what we do at Costello & Mains. It’s also the reason we have anti-discrimination laws and it’s also the reason that we allow cases to go to juries.

When people ask me whether or not we’re in a “post-discrimination” world, whether what I do is really any longer necessary, I mention stories like this, stories about abuse of women, about abuse of other races, LGBT people, religious minorities, people with HIV, people with disabilities.

This is why I do what I do.