Lemrick Nelson
Lemrick Nelson, Jr. is an American who took part in the murder of Yankel Rosenbaum during the 1991 Crown Heights riot. After three trials, he was convicted of violating Rosenbaum's civil rights and served a ten year sentence.
Background
After seven-year-old African American Gavin Cato was acidentally killed by a Jewish motorist, some black residents of Crown Heights rioted. Shortly after the riot began, a group of approximately 20 young black men (including Nelson) surrounded Yankel Rosenbaum, a 29-year-old University of Melbourne student in the United States conducting doctoral research. They stabbed him several times in the back and beat him severely, fracturing his skull. Before being taken to the hospital, Rosenbaum was able to identify 16-year-old Lemrick Nelson, Jr. as his assailant in a line-up shown to him by the police..[1] Rosenbaum died later that night.
Trials
Though Nelson contended that religion had not been a factor in his decision to join the mob—that he had been drinking alcohol and gotten "caught up in the excitement"--prosecutors at his trial said Nelson had told a police officer he had heard someone shout "Let's get the Jew!" before he and the crowd attacked Rosenbaum. [2]
Charged with murder, Nelson was acquitted in 1992 by a largely African-American jury, some of whom later attended a party to honor Nelson as a "hero." [3]
Nelson was later convicted of violating Rosenbaum's civil rights; he eventually admitted that he had indeed stabbed Rosenbaum.[4][5]Nelson was found to have violated Rosenbaum's civil rights and not to have directly caused the victim's death. [6]
Aftermath
Nelson served a total of ten years, and was released from prison on June 2, 2004. [7] In an interview with the New York Post, Nelson indicated that he had stopped drinking, though he declined to apologize to the victim's family. [8]
Edward Shapiro, a historian at Brandeis University has called the riot "the most serious anti-Semitic incident in American history."[9]
References
- ^ Wilson, Judy (2006). "Crown Heights riot — fact, fiction, and plenty of blame". New Jersey Jewish News. Retrieved October 20, 2007.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ New York Times, May 15, 2003.
- ^ Gerhard Falk, The American Criminal Justice System: How It Works, How It Doesn't, and How to Fix It, ABC-CLIO, 2010, p. 50.
- ^ Gourevitch, Philip (1993). "The Crown Heights Riot & Its Aftermath". The Jewish Forward. Archived from the original on February 20, 2004.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Newman, Andy (August 21, 2003). "Penalty in Crown Hts. Case Means a Little More Jail Time". The New York Times. Retrieved March 3, 2009.
- ^ New York Times, May 15, 2003
- ^ New York Daily News June 3, 2004.
- ^ New York Post May 16, 2010.
- ^ Shapiro, Edward S. (2006). Crown heights: Blacks, Jews, and the 1991 Brooklyn riot. Waltham, Massachusetts: Brandeis University Press, University Press of New England. ISBN 1584655615. Retrieved October 20, 2007.