Massachusetts AG Obtains Civil Rights Hate Crime Injunction Against Two South Boston Men

May 8, 2007 -- BOSTON – Yesterday, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley's Office obtained a civil rights injunction against two South Boston men accused of a racially-motivated attack on three men of Moroccan descent. The order, granted by Suffolk Superior Court Judge Thomas Connolly, prohibits Kenneth Rooney, age 27, and Neil Woodworth, also age 27, from threatening, intimidating or coercing the victims or anyone else in the Commonwealth on the basis of actual or perceived race, ethnicity or national origin. A violation of the injunction is a criminal offense punishable by up to 10 years in State Prison.

The Attorney General's lawsuit and her request for a court order stem from Rooney's and Woodworth's attack on three Moroccan men outside of the Avenue Bar and Grill, located in Allston, on April 2. According to the Attorney General's suit filed last week, Rooney and Woodworth left the restaurant and then brutally attacked the victims on the sidewalk outside, while using racial and ethnic slurs. Allegedly, Rooney and Woodworth initially targeted the victims after overhearing the victims speaking Arabic to each other in the restaurant. After Rooney and Woodworth were ejected by restaurant management, they waited outside for the victims to leave and then attacked them by kicking and beating them with a stick and a belt. One of the victims sustained a severe head wound and was hospitalized.

Rooney and Woodworth were arrested following the attack, and criminal charges for the alleged beating are being prosecuted by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

The Attorney General's Office sought civil injunctions against Rooney and Woodworth under the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act (MCRA), commonly referred to as the hate crimes statute, which protects the rights of all citizens and visitors to Massachusetts. Under the MCRA, the Attorney General has the power to obtain an injunction in cases where a victim has faced threats, intimidation, or coercion because of his or her membership in a protected category, for example, race, religion, sexual orientation, or disability, or because he or she is engaged in a protected activity, such as the right to use public ways and public places, the right to vote, or the right to associate.

In addition to protecting the victim and others against harassment, discrimination or coercion, the injunction further prohibits Rooney and Woodworth from communicating with the victims or the victims' families or any other persons assisting the police, the Attorney General's Office, or the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office in their investigations. The court order also prohibits Rooney and Woodworth from knowingly going within 500 yards of the victims' homes or places of work.

This case is being handled by Assistant Attorneys General Sheila Creaton Kelly and Zoë Butler-Stark of Attorney General Coakley's Civil Rights Division, with the assistance of the Boston Police Department's Community Disorders Unit.

Source: Massachusetts Attorney General

Bookmark/Search this post with:

 •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •    •