5th Black on Latino hate crime attack on Staten Island in 2 months

Black racism https://www.silive.com/northshore/2010/04/cops_eye_port_richmond_attacks.htmlShow more

A Staten Island man remains hospitalized after he was beaten in an attack that his family says was racially motivated.

The 18-year-old victim's father says his son walked out of a convenience store in Mariners Harbor Wednesday night and was attacked by three black men who punched him in the face.

He remains in critical condition at the hospital.

Police are not investigating the incident as a hate crime, because a friend of the victim said the attack came after a dispute, and does not appear to be racially motivated.

But the victim's father, who did not want to be identified, disagrees.

"You think this is a hate crime? I do think so. I do," said the father. "A lot of people in Port Richmond, New Brighton, West Brighton, everywhere, it's Latinos getting hit."

The attack came just hours before a 52-year-old Mexican immigrant was beaten in nearby Port Richmond by three men who yelled racial slurs.

That incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

While the family believes the suspects are the same, police are not linking the two attacks.