Thread: St. Charles man charged with hate crime

http://stcharlesjournal.stltoday.com/ar ... _1.ii1.txt

A St. Charles man has been accused of inviting his Hispanic neighbor onto his property so he could shoot him.

Police said Joseph R. Buehrle, 53, of the 500 block of Perry Street, began by displaying anti-immigration signs on his porch but the situation soon escalated when he started harassing his neighbor, Al Gonzalez.

Police said that on April 6, Gonzalez called police because Buehrle had been shouting obscenities and giving "the finger" to Gonzalez and his employees at Gonzalez's home-based business, DOTec Engineering, which has operated in the 600 block of Benton Avenue for more than two years.

Police said during the incident, Buehrle tried to spit on Gonzalez twice and said he was going to shoot Gonzalez because he was "an illegal."

He has been charged with third-degree felony assault by discrimination and has posted a $20,000 cash-only bond. He appeared in court Wednesday, and his next hearing is set for June 27. If convicted, Buehrle could face up to four years in prison.

Gonzalez, 50, is of Puerto Rican descent, but was born in Louisiana, making him a legal U.S. citizen.

He is the president of the Hispanic Leaders Group of Greater St. Louis and is a member of several other prominent Hispanic organizations in the region.

Buehrle's attorney, Jim Carmichael, acknowledged that his client displayed signs but said they did not attack a specific group of people. Carmichael said Buehrle never threatened Gonzalez.

"This is an issue of political nature, not a racial or ethnic issue," Carmichael said. "It's important to understand Mr. Buehrle has never approached Mr. Gonzalez."

Gonzalez said in the past he never confronted Buehrle or acknowledged his comments, but the situation became "aggressive" after a story about Buehrle's signs was published in October in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

"First he made general statements, and then he started making specific statements," Gonzalez said. "He used my name in one of his neon signs. I was mostly concerned about the nearby elementary school."

Gonzalez said it wasn't until April 6 that he tried to explain to Buehrle that he was a legal citizen and that he and several members of his family had been members of the U.S. Armed Forces.

"I tried to talk to him, but he just wanted to argue," he said. "He kept insulting me. I just wanted him to see I was a human being with a family and with children."

In past incidents, Buehrle had called police to his home complaining about "illegal Mexicans" and said he wanted them "kicked out of St. Charles," police said.

"I have never experience this level of hate," Gonzalez said.

Carmichael said Buehrle could have filed charges against Gonzalez but chose to act "adult" about the situation.

"We don't have a lot of ethnic intimidation or assaults involving race (in the city)," said Sgt. Donovan Kenton, spokesman for the St. Charles Police Department.

Kenton acknowledged that there is a growing Hispanic population in St. Charles, containing both legal and illegal immigrants, but that the situation is similar throughout the country.

Police said Buehrle did not display any weapons at the time of the alleged assault.

Buehrle is a former St. Charles city employee, working for the Public Works Department from August 1972 to June 2003.

charged with third-degree felony assault by discrimination and has posted a $20,000 cash-only bond. He appeared in court Wednesday, and his next hearing is set for June 27. If convicted, Buehrle could face up to four years in prison.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong because it is late here....

Am I reading this correctly that this man had to post 20k bond and faces 4 years in jail for allegedly shouting obscenities and spitting on someone on his own property? Is this one mans word against another saying that the guy threatened to shoot him?

Attempted to spit on him twice? What the hell is this?

W

Let's protect the Hispanics at all costs, because they just may be illegal, and we don't want anything to happen to the illegals.

Give me a constitutional break!