8 youths are charged with hate crime in Long Beach

Los Angeles County prosecutors Wednesday filed hate crime charges against eight black youths accused of beating three white women on Halloween night in an incident that startled Long Beach.

Authorities said they concluded that the suspects -- seven girls and one boy -- beat the women in the upscale Bixby Knolls area because they were white.

The case has been the subject of a wrenching public dialogue over the last few weeks in the racially diverse city of 460,000, with civil rights groups such as the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People expressing dismay over the attack and the city holding a public forum meant to ease tensions.

The violence occurred on a predominantly white block known for elaborate Halloween decorations and fancy candy. According to police, a group of black youths -- mostly teenagers but some as young as 12 -- allegedly hurled racial insults at the women, threw objects at them and then knocked them to the ground with kicks, punches and skateboard blows.

The attack was broken up by a black man who stopped his car and pulled the assailants away. But the women -- two of them 19 years old, the other 21 -- suffered injuries, including broken bones.

“What could have possibly gone through their mind to make them think this kind of behavior was OK?” Long Beach police Officer Jackie Bezart asked.

The youths, who also face felony assault charges, appeared in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty. Attorneys for some of them said they were good students and had no history of criminal behavior.

One of the girls is in line to receive an athletic scholarship from USC and had represented the United States at a track meet in China, her attorney told the court. He asked the judge to allow the girl out of Juvenile Hall so she could take her SAT and complete college-prep classes.

“She’s anxious to return to life as she knew it, a typical young girl who is concerned with the prom, her schooling, boys and athletics,” attorney Frank Williams Jr. said. “They are all good girls. They stand to lose a lot.”

He urged the public not to judge the youths until they could present their side of the story.

Williams said the youths didn’t live in the immediate area, but went there to enjoy the Halloween festivities.

“Understand that what has been out there is one side of what happened,” he said. “I would suggest the community refrain from arriving at any conclusions or any opinions until there’s been a hearing to determine what actually happened.”

The incident has been a topic of much debate in a city that has long prided itself on its racial diversity.

“I think everyone has been on edge,” Long Beach Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga said. “We have neighbors looking at neighbors wondering what they knew and what their involvement was. There’s an underlying uneasiness.”

Anitra Dempsey, the city’s human dignity officer, said she got calls from blacks fearful of a backlash and from whites fearful of being targeted. Reyes Uranga added that one black woman told her that she was worried about going to a local grocery store for fear that white shoppers might think that she was connected to the attack.

Police allege that a “pack mentality” took hold that Halloween night.

“There was an opportunity for anonymity, and maybe some of these kids did something they normally would not do,” Long Beach police Cmdr. Jeff Johnson said.

Bixby Knolls is in a posh section of Long Beach north of the 405 Freeway, near the Virginia Country Club and Rancho Los Cerritos. But the area is bounded on the north by poorer parts of North Long Beach, which has long struggled with crime and gang problems.

Johnson said racial tensions do exist in some quarters of the city. “At schools, sometimes you find tension between blacks and Hispanics. But nothing like this,” he said. “This is an aberration.”

Officials said the three white women were on Linden Avenue to attend the Halloween block party. Shortly before they were attacked, they had been subjected to catcalls from a group of mostly young black males, Johnson said.

Moments later, the women were pelted with lemons and small pumpkins. Then the group of black youths shouted anti-white slurs before physically attacking them, Johnson said.

The women later recounted the incident to the Long Beach Press-Telegram, saying that they did nothing to provoke the attack and were grossly outnumbered.

“Yeah, three of us decided to take on a mob,” one of the women told the paper.

They said a dozen males began to taunt them and made suggestive comments before they entered a haunted house. When they got out, the crowd had grown, and some of the girls began shouting.

One of the women told the newspaper that she tried to stave off the attack but was struck in the head by a skateboard, knocking her unconscious. Then the Good Samaritan came to their rescue.

“If it wasn’t for that guy, honestly, I don’t think these two would be here today,” one woman said, referring to her friends.

Eight of the alleged attackers were charged with hate crimes and assault counts; two others were charged only with assault. Because the defendants are juveniles, a judge, not a jury, will render verdicts. If convicted, the defendants face punishments ranging from probation to confinement in the California Youth Authority.

Los Angeles County district attorney’s spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said prosecutors decided to file the hate crimes charges after receiving the results of the full investigation from Long Beach police.

“You hate to see hatred like this, actions like this in young people,” Gibbons said. “The bottom line is if you see somebody and attack them because of the color of their skin, or because their religion is different or because you don’t like their sexual preference, then it’s a hate crime.”

Reports of hate crimes in which whites have been the targets are relatively unusual, according to a report by the county’s Human Relations Commission. The report, based on 2004 numbers, showed that blacks were targeted in 55% of the reported cases; Latinos, 22%; Asians, 10%, and whites, 7%. The survey examined reports of hate crimes, not necessarily cases in which prosecutors had filed charges.

One of the most famous black-on-white, race-related crimes in Los Angeles occurred amid the rioting of 1992, when Reginald Denny was pulled out of his truck and beaten by several black men.

In Long Beach, the president of the local branch of the NAACP called the Halloween violence “deplorable,” adding that the organization would monitor the case to ensure a fair trial.

“We’re deeply saddened that this incident occurred,” said Naomi Rainey, a resident of Long Beach for more than 35 years. “But right now we do not have sufficient information to determine whether this is a true hate crime and we just have to monitor this.”

For Reyes Uranga, the city has a chance to live up to its reputation.

“We brag about being the most culturally diverse city in the nation, and if we can’t get over this in a productive, positive way, that title is going to be meaningless,” she said. “I’m hoping people will all calm down and not get caught up in the hate.”

*

hector.becerra@latimes.com

ron.lin@latimes.com