Sharpton Leads Protest in N.Y. Neighborhood

The Rev. Al Sharpton led a protest Monday to condemn last week’s baseball bat attack on a black man. The rally came nearly 19 years after Sharpton visited the same area to protest a deadly racial attack.

Police arrested a 19-year-old man in the latest incident that left the 22-year-old victim with multiple skull fractures. An alleged accomplice also was arrested. Both men, who are white, have been charged with robbery and assault as a hate crime.

The attack occurred in the Queens neighborhood of Howard Beach blocks from where three black men were beaten in 1986 by a white mob after the victims’ car broke down. One of the men, Michael Griffith, 23, was hit and killed by a car as he fled. A week later, a protest march was marred by jeers and insults from the mostly white neighborhood.

On Monday, Sharpton and several dozen protesters issued a challenge to residents of Howard Beach to take part in a march against racism.

“We want Howard Beach residents to march,” Sharpton said. “We want to see if the community of Howard Beach will stand up and denounce racism.”

Police said Glenn Moore and two other black men were walking in Howard Beach early Wednesday when they were attacked by three men.

A lawyer for accused attacker Nicholas Minucci said Moore provoked the violence by holding a screwdriver to Minucci’s neck.