Among the protesters were members and staffers wearing T-shirts of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 32BJ and members of the Laborers Union, as well as many immigrant workers from the area.

Sergio Pérez and María García and their one- and five-year-old children had been asleep when neighbors saw the flames of the fire at 1:00 am July 5, pounded on the door of the house, and got the family out in time. Their house and belongings were destroyed.

The organizers called the demonstration of about 120 people a “prayer for peace, tolerance and community harmony.” Most in the largely working-class protest demanded that the perpetrators of the crime be brought to justice, as they had done in response to a similar attack three years earlier.

The burned house is next door to the dwelling where two immigrant workers lived who were nearly beaten to death in September 2000. Day laborers Ismael Pérez Aruizú and Magdaleno Estruda Escamilla had been lured with an offer of work, taken to a deserted building, and beaten with a shovel, knife, and a crowbar.After numerous protests in the Farmingville area and in New York City, two neo-Nazis, Chris Slavin and Ryan Wagner, were charged, convicted, and jailed for that attack.  
 
Rightists target immigrants
An ultrarightist group called Sachem Quality of Life, which campaigns against immigrant workers and is tied to the California-based anti-immigrant American Patrol organization, has maintained a presence in Farmingville for a number of years.

It enjoys open support from some local politicians, cops, and the fire department, where it holds meetings. Its activity and backing declined somewhat after the protests in 2000 that finally won the convictions of the two attackers. But the rightists regularly hold street actions with signs targeting immigrants.

Workers Militant reporters interviewed at the July 19 protest said they are subject to yells and taunts every day from these racists.

Farmingville is in central Long Island, 55 miles east of New York City. Sachem is the name of the school district in that area of Long Island.

The firebombing marks a new escalation of the attacks.

People coming to the July 19 demonstration were confronted by the sight of three rightists with signs and a large banner reading “Pray for Mass Deportations” at the busy intersection near the site of the bombing. A few cars driving by honked in support of the racists.

The July 19 vigil was the first organized street action against the firebombing. The immigrant workers who were attacked, however, had already received numerous messages of solidarity protesting the assault, especially after the police said they were investigating the attack as a “personal feud or a landlord-tenant dispute.”

New York Newsday reported July 16 that the Suffolk County police announced they had finally decided to investigate the bombing as a racist attack. The FBI and Justice Department are also reported to be involved in the investigation.

As people were leaving the scene of the July 19 action in front of the remains of the burned house, a carload of immigrant workers drove by and its occupants yelled, “Sí, se puede!” (Yes we can).  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home