"We call on prosecutors not to compound this tragedy with another wrong."
(Los Angeles, April 14, 2008) — A coalition of 27 groups fighting for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights today is urging Ventura County prosecutors to try 14-year-old Brandon McInerney in juvenile court, and not as an adult. McInerney has been charged as an adult in the February 12 murder of his E.O. Green Middle School classmate, 15-year-old Lawrence King. Students say McInerney targeted King because the victim was openly gay and because he wore women's jewelry and makeup.
LGBT civil rights organizations, including Lambda Legal, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Transgender Law Center, have delivered a short statement to Ventura County District Attorney Gregory D. Totten, calling on him to try McInerney as a juvenile.
"We are saddened and outraged by the murder of junior high school student Lawrence King," the statement reads. "At the same time, we call on prosecutors not to compound this tragedy with another wrong – we call on them to treat the suspect as a juvenile, not as an adult.
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I must say that I agree 100% with this. Why should we punish this young man who is also a victim of the prejudice and intolerance that was indoctrinated into his brain and his vision of himself and the world around him. Charge him as a juvenile and help to remove the intolerance that has been forced upon him. (O.M.)
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