by Wendi Medashefski
Luis Eduardo Ramirez Zavala, 25-year-old illegal alien from Mexico, was involved in a fight with several teenaged boys in Shenandoah, PA on July 12. While news reports vary based on the political tilt of the medium involved, there is a way to find out exactly what happened that fateful night.
According to most MSM accounts of the events that ended Ramirez Zavala’s life, six teenaged football-playing males attacked a Mexican man simply because he was of Hispanic origin. While this would be a horrible case of obvious hate, but it’s even more horrible that the real story is not being printed. The MSM’s lack of truth is prodding more hateful Caucasian-smearing rhetoric than already exists in Shenandoah and other places.
We have available the affidavits of probable cause filed against the accused teens. We also have an eyewitness account available online in audio and transcript form. It seems that a lot of pieces are missing from the version everyone has heard. Let’s take a look:
Arielle Garcia, 17-year-old married mother of a two-year-old child, (an obvious epitome of virtue) swears this was a racially-motivated beat-down. Let’s view her words for proof:
“He was at our house all day that afternoon. And it was around maybe 11:00, he asked us to take him uptown to drop him off, whatever, he was going to go home. So, we leave him at the Vine Street Park, and we drive away, Victor and I, and about two minutes later he called us and told us to come back, that people were beating him up. So we get back as fast as we could. And when we get there, he was—like the fight was over, like the boys were walking away, but they were still screaming like racial slurs, like “Go back to Mexico!”
And so, Victor and I ran up to Luis, and we said, “What happened?” But he [Luis] was so mad, he wasn’t really talking to us. And those kids kept yelling stuff, and he [Luis] went back, and the kids turned around, and the fight started again. So Victor, my husband, tried to like stop the fight. He tried to get the kids off of Luis, but kids were trying to fight my husband. So my husband got the kids off of him, and we couldn’t stop the fight between Luis and the—but next thing we know, Luis was on the floor. And so, me and Victor, we ran up to his side, and we were at his side. We were trying to wake him up, and the kids are still like kicking him and kicking him. And somebody—I don’t know who, but they kicked him like in the left side of his head so hard that that’s what killed him.”
But wait. I thought this was an obvious racial killing? In this eyewitness’s own words, the fight was over, but Ramirez Zavala went back and started a second fight. The adult, Luis, after a physical fight with several teenagers, was too mad to even speak to his friends, and then went back to the boys who were walking away to begin a second altercation, which resulted in his death. The boys had to “turn around” when the fight started again, and this time it was not just Luis, but another adult had joined the affray, Victor Garcia Cruz.
Let’s turn now to the affidavits of probable cause released by the District Attorney in Schuylkill County, DA Goodman.
The juveniles left the area where they had been drinking and went to a block party, where Brandon Piekarsky, 16, got into a verbal argument. According to a source who wishes to remain anonymous, the argument involved Luis Ramirez Zavala and the subject was the 15-year-old girl. (This would directly contradict the “eyewitness” statements of Garcia, who said Ramirez was at her house all afternoon until 11pm.)
About 11:15-11:30pm, Luis “Ramirez … and a 15-year-old female were traveling in a vehicle driven by Arielle Garcia and her husband Victor Garcia Cruz in Shenandoah. Ramirez and the 15-year-old girl, at their request, were dropped off at the Vine Street Park.” (Did Arielle Garcia FORGET the 15yo was in the car during her democracynow interview?)
The underage girl walked home, “spoke with her mother for a few minutes” and then walked back to the park. The accused boys were walking in the same direction, on the same street, on the opposite side of the road. Ramirez came out of the park to meet the girl, and the boys arrived at the same intersection at the same time. A verbal argument ensued, which led to the first physical altercation, started by Piekarsky, Colin Walsh, 17, an unnamed 17-year-old, and Derrick Donchak, 18.
The youngest person in this incident, Mr. Piekarsky, is supposedly the one who landed the deadly kick to Ramirez’s head. Some reports say that Ramirez underwent surgery for the head trauma, and that his condition worsened after the procedure, and he died shortly thereafter. It would be prudent to investigate the procedures used in this surgery, and whether it may have hastened or even been a major factor in Ramirez’s death. (Geisinger Danville has been in the news quite a bit lately regarding it’s inappropriate medical treatments, among other things.)
While some may read this as an anti-Mexican or anti-Hispanic piece, I would like to offer that I am simply trying to bring all facets of this case to light. The public has a right to make their own determination about the incidents, but all the facts are needed to make an informed decision.
There’s no doubt the kids need to be punished for their roles in this fight. They committed criminal acts and the law demands they pay their debt to society. However, the incidents that took place that night seem less and less of a racially-motivated gang fight and more like stupid kids who had been drinking getting caught up with two adults, one of whom could not control his own anger and started a second fight with a bunch of teenagers.
For comparison purposes I’ve included the links to the two sources used in my article.
Read the Democracy Now Interview here: Friend of Mexican Immigrant Beaten to Death in Pennsylvania
Now read the DA’s Affidavit of Probable Cause
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Anonymous
Mon 09/01/2008
I have been searching the internet to see if the block party scenario and the news that the 15-year-old was pregnant by Ramiez has turned up the trail. But so far I don’t see anything. Have I missed an article somewhere?
So far it sounds like Ramirez was a hothead and if the teens had kept their mouths shut and not mentioned ethnicity, this would not be in the news at all. These stupid young men made a bad choice to gang up on one or two others — since when did gang-jumping become acceptable behavior? I hope they are punished — I also hope the entire story comes out, whatever it is.
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Peter
Thu 08/14/2008
Other sources widely available on the internet and sources close to the situation have said the argument was between Piekarsky and Ramirez.
Can you provide links to these?
Please read my most recent update article on this story at https://papundits.wordpress.com/2008/08/14/shenandoah-update-theres-more-to-the-story/
This was not motivated by a hatred for Hispanics or Mexicans, there was something else going on.
If they wanted to share their story, wouldn’t it make more sense to go to major media to get the word out? If they had some credibility to their accounts, then a news group would jump on the story because it would be a scoop. Also since none of your information is able to be verified, it is hard to be able to read a story as factual.
Most Americans don’t invade a sovereign nation and try to make them believe we do have great family values. If Mexicans and other third-world invaders cannot assimilate into our society (as in not committing sex acts with anyone underage) then they need to not be in this country.
American history is a history of invading foreign land and imposing our will upon the people who once lived there. The only reason we can try to be proud is because we came out victorious. It began when Columbus “discovered” America (even though Columbus was clearly not the first person to discover America) and the missionaries that came after him began trying to convert the Natives.
Also, since you said that “Mexican and other third-world invaders cannot assimilate into our society,” you made it clear that you have a bias against non Europeans. If you didn’t, you would have simply said “other invaders” instead of specifying third world. You clearly suffer from European American ethnocentrism. You believe that European Americans have better social standards and morals than any other people. Also, since you chose the word assimilate, you made it clear that you do not value other people’s culture as well.
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Peter
Thu 08/14/2008
Garcia said that Ramirez was at her house all day until about 11pm. The affidavit says that Ramirez was involved in a verbal argument at a block party sometime between 9-11pm. Well, how could Ramirez have been in an argument at a block party if he was at the Garcia’s house at the same time?
The affidavit doesn’t say that Ramirez got into an argument at the block party. It says that “While at the block party, PIEKARSKY got in a verbal argument and all the youths there left at approximately 11:00PM.” After that, the teenagers ran into Ramirez.
Mexican is NOT a race, therefore it can’t be racially-motivated.
I’ll agree that being Mexican is not a race, it is an ethnicity. So perhaps I should have said they used ethnically charged language instead. Does that really make a significant difference in my argument? No, it does not. This incident was ETHNICALLY motivated.
Rather it was meant to bring attention to the “wondeful family values” of illegal aliens (as her husband is) by his being with her when she was only 15, and impregnating her at that time. That is called statutory rape in PA.. To be married at 17 is not exactly the American dream either.
I’ll also agree that the family values of Mexicans are different that those in the United States. But prior to the women’s rights movement, the average age that women were married was much younger than it is today. Also to compare, 50% of American marriages end in divorce. I wouldn’t exactly call that “wonderful family values” either.
To Larry:
I agree that people tend to jump to the conclusion that incidents like this must be a hate crime. If these teenagers had not used language that attacked Ramirez’s background this would simply be just another fight, but the teens said what they said. Is there any evidence that the teenagers knew that Ramirez was an illegal immigrant? I doubt it, but even if they did, it is still not acceptable.
Also, do you think these teens would have done the same thing if the victim was a Polish illegal immigrant? (highly unlikely, since they were previously attending a Polish block party) We tend to assume that all illegal immigrants are from Mexico, but there are illegal immigrants coming from countries all over the world.
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Wendi Medashefski
Tue 08/12/2008
Hi Larry. You make a valid point. Whether the boys were angered by Ramirez’s hispanic background, or Ramirez’s behavior, or the underage girlfriend, it has been labeled a hate crime. Some of the words that were spoken lend some evidence to the real motivations behind this fight and subsequent death. Americans are very tired of illegal aliens trying to take over our country and subvert our laws.
Thanks for your thoughts.
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Larry
Tue 08/12/2008
I would just like to point out one thing, not necessarily about the article but about the entire racial mindset. It seems that it is always the prevalent theory that when something like this happens, it has to be racially motivated. That is the first thing the liberals start yelling about, how it is a race or hate crime. Could it be that normal Americans are simply tired of the illegals coming over here and trying to make this their country in waiting? Maybe we all need to think about that for a while.
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Peter
Wed 08/06/2008
Why was my comment deleted? Because I effectively poked holes in your article? For someone claiming to bring light to the situation you censored serious flaws in your argument.
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Peter
Tue 08/05/2008
According to the DA’s affidavit, the fight broke out because the teens verbally attacked Ramirez with racially charged language. When he responds “whats your problem,” the teens begin to initiate the attack. How then is this incident not racially motivated?
I also don’t understand how you attempt to discredit Arielle Garcia by saying things such as (an obvious epitome of virtue), (Did Arielle Garcia FORGET the 15yo was in the car during her democracynow interview?), and (This would directly contradict the “eyewitness” statements of Garcia, who said Ramirez was at her house all afternoon until 11pm.), yet you still use her statements to support your argument that Ramirez started the second fight.
According to a source who wishes to remain anonymous, the argument involved Luis Ramirez Zavala and the subject was the 15-year-old girl. (This would directly contradict the “eyewitness” statements of Garcia, who said Ramirez was at her house all afternoon until 11pm.)
I do not understand how this would contradict Garcia’s statement.
About 11:15-11:30pm, Luis “Ramirez … and a 15-year-old female were traveling in a vehicle driven by Arielle Garcia and her husband Victor Garcia Cruz in Shenandoah. Ramirez and the 15-year-old girl, at their request, were dropped off at the Vine Street Park.”
According to the DA report, they were driving around from 11:15-11:30pm which is obviously after 11pm, not at all contradicting Garcia’s statement that Ramirez was home till 11pm.
You make the claim that you are only trying to “bring all facets of this case to life,” but your article is clearly persuasive in nature. And its arguments has its own holes.
What is clear about this crime is that racially charged language was used. This language incited a fight which resulted in the death of a man.
To Justice1:
In your response, you make it seem that Ramirez deserved what happened to him because he committed the crime of coming to the United States illegally. Since when does illegal immigration trump the act of murder? Also, you ask what man fights with juveniles. But I ask, what man would sit and do nothing while he is being attacked regardless of who the attacker is? How are the three boys not to blame for beating a man to death? You cannot blame the government for allowing Ramirez into the country to be killed before you blame the actual killers. If you were a parent of these children, wouldn’t it be better to teach them that their actions were horrendous rather than trying to file a lawsuit against the government? What purpose would that lawsuit serve except to justify their actions? It would simply acknowledge that they are not to blame for a murder they committed.
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Wendi
Sun 08/03/2008
Justice1, thanks for posting. Lots of people agree with you, at least somewhat. I doubt a class action suit would go anywhere, even if a judge decided the case had enough merit to declare it a class action — it would be held up in court for many, many years. But I like your style of thinking, outside the box, that is.
Keep checking back for updates and other stories here on PA Pundits.
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Justice1
Sat 08/02/2008
First and foremost, this man committed a crime when he crossed the border. Second of all, what male of 25 years of age goes and fights with juveniles? Thirdly, none of this story seems to tell the truth. You have his so-called fiancee with three different stories. i also understand that she is not going to be charged with aiding and abetting and harboring a fugitive from justice. If anyone here is to blame, it is not the three boys. I understand what they did was wrong and they should be punished. But also I understand that our federal government is not doing their job. If I were the parent of one of these boys, I’d file a class action lawsuit against the US government.
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