6 Mass. boys accused of beating sleeping immigrant

BOSTON — Six boys were charged with severely beating a Guatemalan immigrant with bricks, bottles and rocks as he slept near railroad tracks, an attack that civil rights groups decried Tuesday as “hateful.”

Derrek Shulman, New England regional director of the Anti-Defamation League, said the July beating of Damian Merida was an example of how immigrants are singled out for attacks.

Police say six boys, ages 11 to 14, beat the 30-year-old Merida in July in Lynn, a city 10 miles northeast of Boston. Merida was hospitalized at Massachusetts General Hospital for a month with serious head injuries. Merida’s brother said the attack caused brain damage.

In a statement, police said the Lynn boys targeted Merida because of his ethnicity. Police also said they were looking into the assault of another Guatemalan immigrant and “the possibility that the attack was not the first perpetrated by these youths.”

The boys, who have not been named, have pleaded not delinquent to charges of civil rights violations, attempted murder and assault with intent to maim. All but one were released and ordered to wear electronic monitoring bracelets. A 14-year-old remains in state Youth Services custody.

Three teenagers and an 11-year-old were suspended indefinitely from their middle schools last week.

Diego Portillo, president of the Boston-based Latino Professional Network, said the boy’s young ages make the alleged crime more shocking.

“Incidents like this are sad reminders that hate continues to exist and spread to our youth,” he said.

Pretrial hearings will be held Oct. 1 in Essex District Juvenile Court.

Family friend Nancy Pye, of Swampscott, told the Daily Item of Lynn that Merida was an illegal immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for the last 15 years.

Family members said Merida had been distraught that a former girlfriend was now married and recently had a child. They told the paper that Merida had been drinking a lot around the time of the attack.

Merida is now at Tewksbury State Hospital for rehabilitation treatment.

Lynn police and immigrant activists say other Guatemalan immigrants have recently reported being attacked in Lynn. However, they say most immigrants won’t report the beatings or cooperate with police because they are undocumented.