NALACC/AMEXCAN Press Statement: Justice for 9-Year-Old Murder Victim Brisenia Flores

PRESS STATEMENT

February 15, 2011 Contact Person:

Juvencio Rocha Peralta (252) 258-9967 or jrocha-peralta@nalacc.org

9 year-old Murder Victim,

Brisenia Flores, Gets Justice

Verdict Moves Latin American Immigrant Communities to Continue Watching

Those Who Provide a Platform to Hate and Prejudice

Greenville, NC – Latinos across the United States applaud the guilty verdict of two counts of first-degree murder rendered by the Pina County jury on the trial of Shawna Forde, a leader of the hate-group Minuteman American Defense (MAD) who was found guilty of murdering 9 year-old Brisenia Flores and her father Raul Flores. The National Alliance of Latin American and Caribbean Communities (NALACC), salute the Flores family in its efforts to achieve justice for Brisenia. The verdict sends a strong message throughout the nation that hate-crimes will face the full force of the law.

On May 2009, Forde and two accomplices – MAD Operations Director Jason Bush and local MAD member Albert Gaxiola – broke into the Flores’ home in the border town of Arivaca, Arizona. Without compunction, they shot Raul Flores, his wife Gina Gonzalez and their daughter Brisenia who screamed, “Please don’t shoot me!” before being shot twice in the head; Gonzalez survived the incident.

“Though we received a verdict that condemned these atrocious murders, we also recognize that the Brisenia Flores’ case is not the isolated incident that some media reports make it out to be,” stated Angela Sanbrano, NALACC’s board president. “Sadly, hate crimes against Mexican and other Latin American immigrants in the U.S., and Latinos in general; have been on the rise in recent years,” added Ms. Sanbrano. “This trend is related to the increase in hate speech against Latinos, which sadly, has become commonplace. The persistent use of words such as ‘illegal immigrants,’ lead hate driven groups and individuals to treat human beings who happen to be immigrants, in ways that have been increasingly reaching the form of extreme crimes like the one committed against the Flores family,” concluded Ms. Sanbrano.

“The details revealed in the murder trial have touched us all in a deep and unique way,” declared Juvencio Rocha Peralta, NALACC’s board vice-president, and president of the Mexican Association of North Carolina. “These important details reflect the deepening and mainstreaming of the most noxious and dangerous strands of hatred in the United States. They move us to continue efforts to make sure there are no more hate-crimes and to take action in condemning media outlets that help disseminate hatred,” concluded Mr. Rocha Peralta.

To fight back against the systematic attack against immigrant communities, NALACC member organizations have been engaged since November of 2009 in the implementation of SOMOS/WE ARE, a media and education initiative intended to highlight the fact that immigrants, regardless of their immigration status in the U.S., are above all human beings, who happen to be workers, tax payers, mothers, fathers, and children. “If our policies towards immigrants, as well as our immigration policy, were to recognize the basic humanity of all persons; the abuses committed against immigrant communities, and hideous acts of violence like the one perpetrated against Brisenia Flores and her family; would not be happening,” stated Oscar Chacon, NALACC’s executive director.

Today’s nationally coordinated press events are part of a collaborative action involving several organizations committed to justice and equality in our society and the world. NALACC, in association with Presente.Org, an online advocacy group that seeks to strengthen the political voice of Latino communities, will continue to educate immigrant communities and the general public on the links between hate-speech and hate crimes. We call on the media to be socially responsible by reporting the linkages between Forde’s proven extremism and that of extremist groups she represents, so that the intellectual authors of the anti-Latino, anti-immigrant industry that has been growing in the nation -and the violence they perpetrate- may be known, discussed and confronted with greater urgency and determination.

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