NEW YORK Dec. 21: New York police hunted today for a gang of whites who assaulted three blacks in what city Mayor Edward Koch called a crime of racial bigotry.
Police said one of the blacks Michael Griffith 23 was struck by a car and Killed yesterday as he tried to flee the gang of 12 whites.
The driver of the car was not believed to have any connection with the gang and was not charged police said.
“All crimes are terrible but crimes involving racial bigotry are the absolute worst” Mayor Koch
Told a news conference.
“This incident can only be talked about as rivaling the kind of lynching party that took place in the Deep South” Koch said. “This is the No. I case in the city”.
Griffith and two companions were severely beaten after their car broke down in a mainly white middleclass district of the Borough of Queens police said.
Police Commissioner Benjamin Ward assigned 50 officers to hunt the attackers. A reward of 10000 dollars has been offered for information leading to arrests.
Article extracted from this publication >> December 26, 1986
