Questioning the people we choose to mourn
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George Kraus
Published: April 15, 2008
On Sept. 15, 2007, Robert Briscoe, a caucasian male, murdered Victor Moreno Orosco, a Hispanic male. Mr. Orosco was shot three times — in the chest, back, and arm. On April 2, 2007 Robert Briscoe was convicted of first degree murder.
The bland, matter-of-fact report which appeared in the Potomac News was the last we will ever hear of Victor Orosco, a monotone obituary to a half-led life that ended on the streets of Manassas.
The news report described the motive as robbery and hinted that the assailant may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol or both. I wonder, at the moment of the first trigger pull, whether the assailant may have had other impulses guiding his actions, latent impulses awakened and sanctioned by the county’s anti-immigrant program. I think it passing strange that any time a Hispanic spits on the streets in Prince William County we can count on some emotion-choked Manassas matron to decry the invasion of the immigrant hordes, while the murder of Victor Orosco elicits nothing, nada — deafening silence.
Imagine if the circumstances had been reversed and Victor Orosco had instead murdered Robert Briscoe. Imagine the heartfelt encomiums from the dais of the board of supervisors, the candlelight vigils, the vivid denunciations of the scourge of illegal immigration.
In fact “illegal immigration” is code for Hispanic racism and Corey Stewart is prepared to cash in on every malign tribal instinct in our grab bag of atavistic urges in his unprincipled lust for political fame and public advancement. For it is Prince William County’s dirty little secret that in the perverted calculus of Corey Stewart’s vaulting ambition, there will be no tears for Victor Orosco.
GEORGE KRAUS
Dumfries
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( Sam B ) on April 21, 2008 at 4:48 pm
My apologies, jmojoreynolds, for not being more clear in my comment. I by no means doubt that hate crimes are being committed in PWC and elsewhere against Hispanics. Any suggestion that a crime was motivated by hate should definitely be thoroughly investigated. What I meant was that the particular crime mentioned by the letter writer, heinous though it was, did not appear to be motivated by hate in the Potomac News’ report of the murder’s conviction. It is entirely possible, however, that there was evidence of a hate crime in this case that the paper did not report (or that it did but I missed it). My argument was not that hate crimes do not occur but rather that making accusations of such based on speculation without evidence cheapens the effort to prosecute hate when it really is involved in a crime.
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Posted by ( jmojoreynolds ) on April 18, 2008 at 3:42 pm
Sam B, There actually was a murder in Woodbridge that turned out to be racially motivated. The two men said at the trial that they woke up that morning and thought to themselves “I want to get a Mexican” I really don’t understand why this was not investigated as a hate crime. The fellow (Serafin—-) was returning from Murumsco plaza and was shot. It really was not about the robbery. It happened last year.
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Posted by ( Sam B ) on April 17, 2008 at 9:43 am
Cobra, I do not consider you a racist for supporting a BOS resolution to enforce immigration laws. However, after reading that appallingly tasteless rhyme about a murder victim who was in this country WITH A WORK PERMIT, I wonder if the salesmen at Macy’s get confused when you go to the bed-sheet section and ask for a size 43-long.
To be fair, while I believe that racism motivates some (but not all) supporters of the aforementioned resolution, I think it is quite a stretch to speculate without evidence that a murderer was motivated by “latent impulses awakened and sanctioned by the county’s anti-immigrant program.“ More moderate members of your camp have good arguments Mr. Kraus, but extreme rhetoric like this letter risks damaging their credibility.
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Posted by ( jVA ) on April 17, 2008 at 9:19 am
“Illegal immigrant apologist”... blah blah blah… No matter how many times you post this phrase Cobra, its lame.
I don’t support illegal immigration at all, but its not hard to understand them. If my children were living in poverty in Mexico, and Tyson’s Food and Wal-Mart were luring me with higher wages, I’d sneak across the border too. And so would you, “Cobra”.
I can also understand the Manassas residents getting angry that their town turned into little Central America overnight.
But I’ll apologize for neither.
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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on April 16, 2008 at 9:29 pm
How’d I get in this mix cobra?????
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Posted by ( phdee ) on April 16, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Cobra, found an internet site that provides a “fact” for you biased and bigoted views, huh? It’s like getting Stewart to give a talk on racial equality. Murder is murder, no matter who does it. Why are you getting so worked up about this letter? The writer correctly points out that the anti crowd really makes a big issue out of it when a hispanic kills a citizen, but the same crowd stays silent when a citizen kills a hispanic. This is what you and the anti crowd bring out from the public by your tirades and behavior. Thew same reaction goes for the resolution. I fail to see why you don’t understand that.
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Posted by ( cobra ) on April 16, 2008 at 3:52 pm
You want to shed a tear George then go to the following website and see the list of American Citizens who have been murdered by illegal immigrants, the majority from beloved Mexico. I’ll shed a tear for Mr. Orosco as I state the following; Ash’s to Ash’s, Dust to Dust, if you had stayed in your own country you would still be with us. How mean of us to now separate the Briscoe Family for the actions of Mr. Briscoe.
Check it out George. www.immigrationshumancost.org.
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Posted by ( cobra ) on April 16, 2008 at 3:40 pm
My tears will be for the Briscoe family who will now be separated. What a mean thing to do by separating a criminal from his family. Hopefully Ray Williams, Phdee, JVA and all the other illegal immigrant apologist will support the Briscoe family in their time of need just as they do the criminal illegal alien. Don’t hold your breath. We got our own code word and it is called Traitor.
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Posted by ( T Dawg ) on April 16, 2008 at 12:05 pm
my gosh phdee get a hold of yourself ... you’re losing it ... calm down ... breathe deeply and slowly ... it will be alright ... those nice young men in their nice white coats was only a song
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Posted by ( phdee ) on April 16, 2008 at 11:17 am
I see the state has passed some mental health laws. Are you guys going for aasistance. If there is a databasse of “potentials”, be sure to sign up. You guys really need some help.
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