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U.S. Attorney's Office holding Civil Rights forums in the Valley

Posted: 07/06/2010

By: Jodie Hesiner

PHOENIX - The Valley is invited to the first community Civil Rights Forum being hosted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Tuesday.

Manny Tarango, Community Outreach Coordinator with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona says the state’s new immigration law did not prompt the meeting. But with the law going into effect in just weeks you can expect it to be a hot topic.

Tarango says they hope the meetings will help to educate citizens about what their Civil Rights are and where they can go if they need help.

He says it is designed to inform people about reporting allegations of police misconduct and about the signs of a hate crime and what to do if you’ve witnessed one or have been a victim.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, the FBI, local officials and members of the faith community will all be in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting.

Tarango says the Obama administrations creation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act was the catalyst for these meetings. The act makes it a federal crime to cause injury to another person with a weapon because of their race, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation or ethnicity.

The first forum takes place Tuesday at South Mountain High School. Doors open at 5:30pm, the meeting begins at 6pm.



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