2 LANCASTER TEENS CHARGED IN MACHETE ATTACK.Byline: Jeannette DeSantis Daily News Staff Writer Two Lancaster youths were charged with hate crimes Thursday in a machete attack on 16-year-old Marcus Cotton Marcus Cotton is a retired american football Linebacker. Professional career Cotton played in the National Football League between 1988 and 1991. College career He played college football and was all Pac 10 at the University of Southern California of Palmdale that occurred earlier this week as he walked home with his cousin. Two 16-year-old boys were each charged with one count of assault with a deadly weapon Assault with a Deadly Weapon is the term used to describe the act of threatening to harm one or more people by using a weapon (usually a firearm). Here, assault must be differentiated from battery as they are often confused. Assault is threatening to use force. with a hate crime allegation for the July 8 attack on Cotton and Angela McKenzie, 17, said officials with the District Attorney's Office. Deputies said the boys identified themselves as skinheads Noun 1. skinheads - a youth subculture that appeared first in England in the late 1960s as a working-class reaction to the hippies; hair was cropped close to the scalp; wore work-shirts and short jeans (supported by suspenders) and heavy red boots; involved in attacks . Prosecutors said they will ask that the two youths be charged as adults because of the nature of the offense. A third suspect arrested with the teens Monday, Danny Williams Danny Williams may refer to:
``There is insufficient evidence insufficient evidence n. a finding (decision) by a trial judge or an appeals court that the prosecution in a criminal case or a plaintiff in a lawsuit has not proved the case because the attorney did not present enough convincing evidence. to connect him to the crime,'' Spillane said. ``We are not excluding him as a suspect and the case is under active investigation.'' The attack took place as Cotton walked his cousin home from his family's Avenue J apartment Monday evening on Division Street, prosecutors said. The youths drove by them twice and yelled, ``White Power!'' before they jumped out of their older model Camaro and chased the pair down Gingham Avenue, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. prosecutors. The boys then allegedly pummeled and kicked Cotton, and slashed him with a machete when he fell to the ground, cutting him on his right arm, back and shoulders, according to the charges filed against the two youths. Prosecutors also charged that one of the youths spit on McKenzie's face and pushed her to the ground when she tried to help her cousin. McKenzie did not suffer any injuries. The youths are being held at San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. Juvenile Hall in Sylmar, where they are scheduled to be arraigned today. Authorities said they are investigating the incident along with other racially motivated attacks in the Antelope Valley to see if there is any connection. The racial incident has prompted an FBI inquiry into whether federal civil rights laws were violated, and it caused an uproar at the Palmdale City Council meeting Wednesday night. Faced with angry residents demanding action, the council agreed to change the city's graffiti-reporting hotline, 94-PRIDE, into a hate-crime hotline. Activists told the council that they were unhappy with the slow pace of enacting anti-hate crime measures recommended last year. Monday's attack was the latest in a string of serious hate crimes reported in Lancaster in the last 17 months, authorities said. In December, an African-American boy was stabbed in the back with a screwdriver at Antelope Valley High School Antelope Valley High School is located in Lancaster, California and is part of the Antelope Valley Union High School District. It was founded in 1912[1]. It is located in the Mojave Desert. . Three teen-age boys are awaiting trial in that incident. In February 1995, three reputed white supremacists fired at a parked car carrying four African-Americans, including a 1-year-old baby. A man was grazed in the neck by a bullet, and the infant was cut by flying glass. The three men are serving prison terms. That same month, two carloads of white youths chased a group of African-American students walking home from Hillview Middle School Hillview Middle School is a public middle school in Menlo Park, California, part of the Menlo Park City School District. It is notable as having been named a California Distinguished School seven times. . Both incidents were blamed by authorities on skinhead skinhead Member of an international youth subculture characterized by hair and dress styles evoking aggression and physical toughness. Typical skinhead style includes shaved heads, combat boots, tattoos, and prominent body piercings. gang members. Those incidents led to a report by the Los Angeles County Human Rights Commission, ``Skinheads in the Antelope Valley,'' which estimates that 40 to 100 potentially violent skinheads live in the area. The commission called for community forums and a hate-crime policy for public schools among other steps. |
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