Howard Beach racial attack

Michael Griffith (March 2, 1963 – December 20, 1986) was a 23-year-old black man who was killed on December 20, 1986, in Howard Beach, in Queens, New York City, in a racially motivated attack.[1] Griffith and two other black men were set upon by a group of white youths outside a pizza parlor. Two of the victims, including Griffith, were severely beaten. Griffith fled onto a highway where he was fatally struck by a passing motorist.

Three local teenagers, Jon Lester, Scott Kern, and Jason Ladone, were convicted of manslaughter for the death of Griffith. A fourth assailant, Michael Pirone, was acquitted. Griffith's death heightened racial tensions in New York City[2] and was the second of three highly publicized, racially motivated killings of black men by white mobs in New York City in the 1980s.[3] The other victims were Willie Turks in 1982[3][4][5][6][7] and Yusef Hawkins in 1989.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Roberts was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Murphy 2016 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b "The Tumultuous 80s And Bensonhurst". Macaulay Honors College. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  4. ^ Basler, Barbara (June 23, 1982). "Black man is killed by mob in Brooklyn: Attack called racial". The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  5. ^ "Two indicted in slaying of transit worker". UPI. June 25, 1982. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  6. ^ "Manslaughter conviction in racial mob slaying". UPI. March 9, 1983. Retrieved October 5, 2022.
  7. ^ Buder, Leonard (June 13, 1984). "6th man surrenders in slaying of a black man in 1982". The New York Times. Retrieved October 5, 2022.