Photos: José Sucuzhañay vigil in Brooklyn

I have been spending some time in the West Coast as of late which means that I was unable to attend yesterday's vigil in Bushwick in honor of José Sucuzhañay. Mr. Sucuzhañay passed away on Friday from traumatic injuries he sustained during what is being investigated as a hate crime that took place last weekend.

Some friends did attend the vigil and have graciously allowed me to share the following with Blabbeando readers.

Blogger Joe.My.God. took the photo above and reports that hundreds showed up for the vigil ("Hundreds Turn Out At Brooklyn Vigil For Jose Sucuzhanay, Murdered Victim Of Anti-Latino, Anti-Gay Hate Crime"). He writes:

Among those that spoke to the crowd were NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn, openly gay NY State Sen. Tom Duane, U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorney Charles Hynes, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and leaders from a broad array of LGBT, Latino, and immigrant activist groups. The message underscored over and over again, in both English and Spanish, was that hate speech has consequences - and that the murder of José Sucuzhañay was the inevitable and tragic result of the nonstop villainization of LGBT and immigrant communities by the right wing of this country.

Journalist Mike Lavers, a/k/a blogger Boy in Bushwick also covered the vigil ("Bushwick pays tribute to José Sucuzhañay") and says that City Councilwoman Diana Reyna [D-Bushwick], Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, and New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson were also in the crowd. Mike also has an array of photographs as well as some video on his blog (click on the link above) including the photo of City Council Speaker Christine Quinn above.

Finally, my good friend and journalist José Bayona, who amazingly does not blog, captured some great photos as well, including those below...
Related:

• Hundreds gather in Brooklyn to March against hate crimes (EDGE)
  

Previously:

• Human Rights Campaign stands up for straight immigrant in gay bashing (Dec. 14, 2008)
  
• José O. Sucuzhañay has passed away (Dec. 14, 2008)
  
• Two Sunday vigils in response to Buswick hate crime (Dec. 11, 2008)
• Bushwick attack: Were anti-gay slurs shouted by assailants? Does it make it less of a heinous crime if the answer is 'no'? (Dec. 11, 2008)
• More on Bushwick attack against Ecuadorean brothers (Dec. 8, 2008)
• Breaking: Anti-gay, anti-Latino slurs shouted at Ecuadorean men during beating in Brooklyn (Dec. 8, 2008)