{"id":1078,"date":"2009-10-05T21:10:55","date_gmt":"2009-10-05T21:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/?p=1078"},"modified":"2010-12-22T12:48:57","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T17:48:57","slug":"7337","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/05\/7337\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaking Out Against Hate Crimes in Wake of Violence"},"content":{"rendered":"

BROOKLYN PARK, MN (October 5, 2009) \u2013 Steven P. Larson, pastor of Redeemer Covenant Church<\/a>, emceed a rally of more than 150 people who gathered Thursday to stand against hate crimes in the wake of the beating and robbery of a black man in this racially diverse community.<\/p>\n

Three men have been arrested in the September 23 attacks on 18-year-old Derrick Thomas who, authorities said, has autism and the mental capacity of someone eight to ten years old.<\/p>\n

The men knocked Thomas from his bicycle a short distance from his home, and three blocks from Redeemer Covenant. They threatened him with an ax, brass knuckles, and a gun.<\/p>\n

The trio beat and kicked Thomas while yelling a racial epithet. They then forced him to strip naked, and they robbed him, taking even his shoes, blue jeans, and shirt.<\/p>\n

Thomas told the Minneapolis Star Tribune<\/em>, \u201cThey said, \u2018Every black person that comes through our park, we’re gonna kick their butt. We don’t like black people, period.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

A short time later Johnny Robinson, 40, was also attacked. He is Thomas\u2019s uncle.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Park is also now listed as one of the most diverse cities in the state of Minnesota, says Larson. \u201cIt is the fifth largest community in the state and has surpassed both St. Paul and Minneapolis in the percentage of Hispanic population living in its boundaries. We also have one of the largest population of Liberians living outside the country of Liberia.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rally was held at the community center located just a few blocks away from the park where the attack occurred. The event reflected the area\u2019s diversity. Local clergy planned the rally, at which the chief of police spoke, along with other local and state leaders.<\/p>\n

Larson condemned the trio\u2019s actions and told the gathering that the violence also harmed the community. \u201cThe bruises that Derrick and Johnny received during the attack will take a while to heal, but the community sense of safety will take just as long. It is the reason we need to draw the community together now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTonight is an opportunity for us to say tonight we are reclaiming every mile, every footprint, every place of Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center.\u201d Larson said.<\/p>\n

He called on the attendees to continue battling racism. \u201cYou carry with you the spark of what was going on here tonight. If we don’t share that, we’ve snuffed out the light.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas attended the rally and thanked the people who came out to support him. His foster mother, Jerry Searcy, said, \u201cI hope people can forgive the ones that did this, and I hope they know people are not going to tolerate this in this day, it is inexcusable.\u201d<\/p>\n

To see a local news report of the event, click here<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Report This Post<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BROOKLYN PARK, MN (October 5, 2009) \u2013 Steven P. Larson, pastor of Redeemer Covenant Church, emceed a rally of more than 150 people who gathered Thursday to stand against hate crimes in the wake of the beating and robbery of a black man in this racially diverse community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nSpeaking Out Against Hate Crimes in Wake of Violence - Covenant Newswire Archives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.covchurch.org\/newswire\/2009\/10\/05\/7337\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Speaking Out Against Hate Crimes in Wake of Violence - Covenant Newswire Archives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BROOKLYN PARK, MN (October 5, 2009) \u2013 Steven P. 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