Vigil marks 20 years since Hawkins murder

(AP) - Exactly 20 years after a white mob surroundedand attacked a black teenager in Bensonhurst, his mother says shestill lives with the death of Yusuf Hawkins every day. The Rev. Al Sharpton joined

News 12 Staff

Aug 24, 2009, 2:53 AM

Updated 5,451 days ago

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(AP) - Exactly 20 years after a white mob surroundedand attacked a black teenager in Bensonhurst, his mother says shestill lives with the death of Yusuf Hawkins every day.
The Rev. Al Sharpton joined the slain teenager's family Sundayafternoon to lead a vigil at the cemetery where Hawkins is buried.
Hawkins and three black friends went to the mostly whiteBrooklyn neighborhood on Aug. 23, 1989, to look at a used car thatwas for sale. About 30 whites, armed with at least one gun, batsand golf clubs, chased the four and surrounded them. Hawkins wasshot twice in the chest.
After the killing, racial tensions in the city flared, and blackdemonstrators marching in the neighborhood were confronted by angrywhites yelling obscenities.
Four men were convicted. The gunman is up for parole in 2022.


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