Town Still Torn Over Immigrant Murder

(CBS)  In the town of Shenandoah, Penn., parishioners at a local church offered up prayers for peace - a peace that was broken the night of July 12, when Luis Ramirez, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was beaten to death

The crime shocked people in this small, Appalachian town, reports CBS News correspondent Seth Doane. A late night street fight punctuated by ethnic slurs ended in Ramirez's death. Four high school students, all on the football team, are charged in connection with the homicide.

"I never thought there was such underlying hatred or bigotry," the town mayor said.

A group of girls that spoke to CBS News said they were shocked at the accused, "because they are nice boys."

"That's what I really don't understand," said one girl. "When I heard about it I was really surprised. I couldn't believe it was them."

Sixteen-year-old Brandon Piekarski and 17-year-old Colin Walsh were both charged with homicide. The football team's quarterback, 18-year-old Derrick Donchak, faces aggravated assault charges. The fourth teen's case is in juvenile court.

All of them, though, are charged with ethnic intimidation.

About a month after Ramirez's murder, some people aren't allowed to talk and others are still too frightened to. So trying to get a clear picture of what's really happening in Shenandoah isn't easy. And the answer changes, depending on whom you ask.

At a farmer's market, one woman emphatically denied noticing tension below the town's surface.

But Crystal Dillman, Ramirez's fiancé and mother of his three children, says she sees racism firsthand.

"It's pretty sad when you see the true sides of half of these people around here," she said. "It's not good when you go out and you have your small children and they're saying, 'Take your dirty Mexicans home and give them a bath.' "

Shenandoah has always been a magnet for migrants. Work in coal mines fueled a boom. But when the mines closed, people left and the population dropped to just over 5,500 today.

What has grown is the county's Hispanic population - up 65 percent since 2000 as a new wave of immigrants have come in search of jobs. Like "Cesar," who works in construction and said he knew Ramirez.

"After this happened I'm frightened to go out," he said through a translator. "You do go out, but not without watching your back."

White kids told CBS News they were scared and angry too - but from a different perspective.

"If that happened to a white person, every church in this god***n f***ing town wouldn't do a god***n thing about it," said one kid while pounding his fist to cheers from a surrounding group. "Just because they're f***ing border-jumpers and came over here."

"I can't say it without sounding racist," said another teenager. "I can't say, you know, the Mexicans came here and now there's problems."

"But is that how you feel?" asked Doane.

"Yeah … Obviously I've been here my whole life and I've never had a problem. Now there's problems," he responded.

The economic struggle here only aggravates any racial one. But even residents who just believe it was just a "terrible accident" say that's no excuse.

"It can't go unpunished," said the woman from the farmer's market. "Because it'll set a precedent that they can do that to the Mexican people."

While the community waits for justice, it holds a second vigil for Luis Ramirez, hoping for a future free of strife.

[obamanation6]

America now has done nothing but try to go into other countries and profit off other peoples lands. Think Iraq. If america was as good as you think it is, maybe America should look at the conflicts in Africa and help them out.

[kenammons]

obamanation the russians have not done anything that matters to me. the illegal foreign invaders are a provocation to all decent americans. they are a walking war crime and attrocity against legal citizens of this country

[kenammons]

still a bunch of illegal foreign invader appoligist i expect

[libsluv2spit]

Americans! Gather all your haters and agressive idiots and send to the Russian border to get killed.

You will be better off without them!!!

Posted by obamanation6 at 03:54 PM : Aug 15, 2008
+ report abuse

*********

obamantion..here is your ticket the bus leaves in an hour..

[patriot12436]

rlu18
No i thhink it is quite fair. If you allow the children to receive citizenship then it opens the door for the illegals to stay here legally. Anyone coming here illegally should not benefit from it in any way.

[rlu18]

Don''t you think that is a bit harsh? "Any child born to illegal parents should not be given citizenship", that is how half of the violence starts, because the children grow up with people who are against them just for being a different race? They cannot help it if their parents or parent did not have citizenship. They cannot control that. You''re so concerned about the American way of life, well I don''t know about you, but in my opinion, racism is NOT the American way of life. I do agree that it is a problem, with having to provide jobs for the illegal immigrants coming over, but all they are trying to do is try and start a new life....not all of them are bad people. Not all of them have the same ideas of hatred as the rest. They don''t mean any harm, and it is not fair for the children to have to grow up around this nonsense, i think we all need to grow up and accept eachother, no matter what language we speak. Because their intentions of being here are not at all what you make it out to be.

[patriot12436]

oldthought
I agree. We are at a point we do not have a choice. If we are to save American way of life something must be done to preserve our traditional values. If i go to another country i learn their language, if they come to live in the U.S. then they should learn english. Spanish should not be a required subject anywhere in the U.S. We shouldn''t have to teach spanish and and we shouldn''t have to provide service in spanish. If not a citizen and here illegally they should be denied all benefits. Any child born to illegal parents should not be given citizenship. We need a govt that will stand up and represent the American people. We also need to stop trying to force our way of life on other countries. We ned to do away with foreign aid. We can no longer afford to support the rest of the world. We need to address the problems facing America. All illegals need to be deported and anyone hiring them should face mandatory jail time.

[rlu18]

As a former resident of the town, I have to say there wasn''t ever as much problems as there is now. For the people who pity the four boys, you obviously do not know them well enough. I grew up with them, and they weren''t as innocent as everyone is putting them out to be. I should know. They picked on the kids in school that didn''t have as much as they did, the ones who were different, they got what they deserved. Murder is murder, illegal immigrant or not. I grew up in that town, and never have i ever been scared to walk the streets of shenandoah, until this situation occured. I dislike racism, and i heard the boys were under the influence when this fight took place. It''s a good thing their parents are paying enough attention.

[Netterz]

I hate to admit it, but this comes as no suprise. As stated in another article, that white people are much close to NOT being a majority any longer, and they are seeing the jobs disappear to illegals, and other minority groups, free college, free health care, and many other things that are granted to what is now considered minorities. It breeds anger to the young community, as they see there parents losing jobs, losing the lifestyles they are accustomed to, losing there homes, its a vicious cycle that needs to be stopped. The Gov''t continues to drop the ball on these things and immigration law, basically shove them under the rug, until something terrible happens. I wonder what will happen to groups like the NAACP, when there is no longer so called minority left.

[roberthaslag]

Having read all of the comments above, the thing that strikes me is the venom. We may or may not disagree on the way to deal with our immigration problem; but it would seem that anyone with a moral compass would not and cannot accept this kind of senseless violence as a realistic resolution.