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NEW HAMPSHIRE BALKS AT HATE CRIME MURDER OF LAOTIAN AMERICAN
by Michael Liu
On August 13, a grand jury indicated Richard Labbe for second degree murder and hate crimes. He will be the first person charged under New Hampshire's hate crime law, which was passed in 1990. He faces a maximum of life imprisonment on the second degree murder charge. If Labbe is convicted for second-degree murder but is sentenced to less than the maximum time, the court may under the hate crime law reimpose a sentence of life in prison.
Richard Labbe of Newmarket, NH told neighbors that he hated Vietnamese. On July 14 he attacked Thung Phetakoune, 62, who had fought on the side of the Americans in Southeast Asia. Phetakoune died as a result of injuries from the attack. The police reported that Labbe said his attack on Phetakoune was "payback" for losing relatives in Vietnam.
Yet NH Attorney General Philip McLaughlin is hesistating to invoke the
New Hampshire hate crime statute against Labbe. Labbe, 35, is in Rockingham
County Jail on charges of second-degree assault and resisting arrest.
A grand jury may take up the case on upgraded charges when it meets in
early August.
Several local and national Asian American organizations have gotten involved
in the case, calling for applying the hate crime laws. The National Asian
Pacific American Legal Consortium (NAPALC) has sent a representative to
New Hampshire and is raising funds for Phetakoune's widow, Nou. The Asian
American Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York has also spoken
out.
Six New England area Asian Pacific American and Laotian American groups
sent a letter today to McLaughlin,
calling upon him to prosecute the killing of Thung Phetakoune as a murder
and a hate crime. The groups included the Asian American Resource Workshop
and its Safety Net Project; the Coalition for Asian Pacific American Youth;
the Lao Family Mutual Organization of Lowell; the Vietnamese American
Initiative for Development; the Asian Pacific American Agenda Coalition;
and the Harry H. Dow Memorial Legal Assistance Fund
New Hampshire Hate Crime 2 - Advocacy and Support
Thung Phetakoune
Richard Labbe
