HATE CRIME? WHAT HATE CRIME?
Regular readers of INTHEHAT are well aware of our futile attempts to get the LA MEDIA interested in the Kenny Wilson murder case and the ethnic cleansing currently underway on LA's gang-controlled streets. We've been pitching that story to every media outlet in the city, county and state for close to two years now and so far we've only gotten a tentative bite from a soon to be named outlet. And we're not sure that will pan out because they may get a case of cold feet at the last minute.

To recap, Wilson was killed in 1999 by homies that claimed AVENUES. He was picked at random because he was black. Four shooters were involved. Only one was ever prosecute and convicted for a hate crime. I'll refrain from mentioning names right now.

To use a dopey cliche, the Wilson murder is only the tip of a very ugly iceberg. In the course of INTHEHAT's business, we've come across lots and lots of racially motivated assaults and murders all over the county. This was a story the media had completely ignored. I'll leave the reasons for ignoring these cases to your imagination. When we brought this story to the attention of the usual suspects - LAT, LA WEEKLY, LACITYBEAT, LA MAGAZINE, NYT MAGAZINE, ATLANTIC MONTHLY, SACRAMENTO BEE, FRESNO BEE and others, the responses ranged from dead silence to the plain bizarre. One editor told me the story was "unoccasioned seeming," whatever the hell that is. Another told me to supply them with the research and they'd do the story themselves. Thanks, but no thanks. The only outlet that showed some interest was the SACRAMENTO NEWS AND REVIEW. They looked at the info and supporting evidence and concluded that because there was no NORCAL angle, they would pass. The James Byrd killing in Texas had no local angle but that didn't stop that story from making national news. Go figure.

Now it seems the Wilson et al story is finally getting some traction. Two papers in the city are currently working on the Eme's ethnic cleansing policy and gathering up the information to support the case. The newfound interest is the result of a Federal hate crime indictment that was unsealed late last year against some of Kenny Wilson's killers. Back in July of 03, I mentioned that a Federal indictment was coming down on that case. And if you look back through my posts, I already outlined the bare bones of the Wilson case. There's tons more of course, but I'm not giving it away anymore. Late last year I wrote a post to the effect that no hate crime exists until the big media says it does, even though I'd given them the story months and months before the indictment was a gleam in US Attorney Tom O'Brien's eye.

Right now, several reporters are falling over themselves trying to be the first out of the gate with the Wilson murder and the other city and county race homicides. Too late, kids. Inthehat was there first. Strange how they were offered it over a year ago and passed.

It'll be interesting to see who gets there first, how thorough the reporting and what spin they'll put on it. Let's see if we can guess who the stories will quote shall we? My top picks are, GREGORY BOYLE, JAMES DIEGO VIGIL, BLINKY RODRIGUEZ, WES MCBRIDE and MALCOLM KLEIN. Since he wrote STREET WARS, TOM HAYDEN has tried to make himself a go-to guy in this field but he's a very long shot. There probably won't be a quote from Tom O'Brien. USAs are bound by law to be silent on pending cases. Thom Mrozek will probably get quoted. There will be quotes from the IOs and at least three LAC DAs who have prosecuted brown-on-black hate crimes in the recent past. I can point to a few others in RIVERSIDE, ORANGE and SAN DIEGO but we'll let the intrepid reporters find those DAs on their own. The reporters may or may not be able to get hold of a couple of COMPTON PD cops. COMPTON PD was disbanded years ago and I had hell's own time tracking down those IOs. They have some chilling stories to tell. COMPTON VARRIO TORTILLA FLATS figures prominently in two homicides. That one was a freebie clue in the hate crime scavenger hunt. No charge.

More on this as the race develops.