By
Mallary Jean TenoreThe Los Angeles Times reported this week on the death of Lawrence "Larry" King, an openly gay 15-year-old who was shot by his 14-year-old classmate, Brandon McInerney. Brandon was charged with a hate crime and premedidated murder, according to the
Times. King was taunted at school because of his sexuality.
The Times reports:
"They used to bug him a lot, pick on him -- 'Hey you, gay kid, you want to wear lipstick?' said Vanessa Ramirez, 15, of Larry’s belittlers. 'He'd start crying. ... He didn’t want to tell the teachers because they’d start picking on him more.' But 13-year-old Mark Reyes said Larry did go to teachers for help. 'You'd hear 'Faggot! Hey, faggot!'" Mark said. 'That was happening in every class."
This is an excerpt from a detailed story that
Times reporters Paul Pringle and Catherine Saillant wrote a few weeks after the original
breaking news story ran. The
Times ran a series of other related articles, including
"Oxnard School Shooting Called a Hate Crime," "
Shooting Sparks Call for Changes," "Teaching Tolerance without a Class," and
"Meaner Bullying Is Leading Schools to Find New Tactics." It also published
a sampling of the more than 600 comments from readers about the hate crime.
What are some other examples of hate crime stories that you think are particularly good?
