Police tell beating victim's mother: 'Hate crimes don't happen to white people' - Tampa Bay Conservative | Examiner.com
The cousins were on their way home from the boardwalk between 1:00 and 2:00 am when they walked past a group Herring described as “five Hispanic men between the ages of 25-35.” One of the men said, "You don't belong here," and asked some "strange questions," as reported first by Sean Streicher of the Cape May County Herald.
The young men attempted to walk away, but instead were both viciously attacked and beaten for no apparent reason. Neither of the boys were robbed.
Jonathan suffered a “bump on his head,” and torn ligaments in his jaw and neck. A teary Cecelia said Jonathan could “only eat soft food for three weeks.”
Bobby’s injuries, however, were quite severe. At the time of the beating, Deeanna and Robert could not get an immediate flight from their home in Florida, so they drove to New Jersey.
Deeanna described her son's physical and emotional injuries (his sinus cavity was crushed as shown in his x-ray [see slideshow] and his left eye is now kept in place by a mesh plate attached to titanium that was screwed into his skull). Before the beating, Bobby was a confident young man who was three weeks away from getting his electrician's license. He was very trusting and “would talk to anybody,” Deeanna said, something that always made her a bit nervous.
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The case was assigned to Detective Rivera. When Deeanna mentioned the comment made by the Hispanic attackers that her son and his cousin "did not belong" in the area, he cut her off by saying, "
Hate crimes don't happen to white people." Deeanna said, "I couldn't believe a police officer said that."
