Existing comment:
White Men Tried for Killing African American Teenager
A wall of bailiffs stand guard as the young men accused of participating in the shooting death of African American teenager Yusuf Hawkins on August 23, 1989, in Bensonhurst, New York, appear before Judge Thaddeus Owens in New York State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. Artist Marilyn Church identifies some of the defendants, who stand with their lawyers, including Joseph Fama, Pasquale Raucci, Joseph Serrano, James Patino, and Steven Curreri. Defendant Keith Mondello towers over the others. While Mondello served eight years in prison for his role, Fama received a much longer sentence and remains in a maximum-security prison in Dannemora, New York. Most of the defendants were acquitted or received community service sentences, an outcome that divided Brooklynites.
Marilyn Church. Bensonhurst Pre-Trial, ca. April 1990. Colored pencil, water-soluble crayon and porous point pen on ochre paper. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress (057.00.00)
LC-DIG-ppmsca-51119 © Marilyn Church |