It is with deep regret that I learned of the passing of Jose Sucuzhanay, a resident of Brooklyn and an Ecuadorean native, who was a victim of a brutal anti-gay, anti-Latino hate crime in the early morning hours of December 7th in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

These cowardly acts are outrageous and will not be tolerated. We will not let the behavior of these individuals who committed this horrible, senseless crime go unchecked. We stand in solidarity with the Sucuzhanay family and I am certain that whoever committed these crimes must and will be apprehended and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

This crime is not just an attack against one person, or one community but an unconscionable act on all New Yorkers. We will continue to stand against crimes of hate in our city and the destruction that comes along with it.