Civil Rights Groups Respond to Arrest of Hate Mail Perpetrator
June 17, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2005
PRESS RELEASE
Contact:
Daniel Huang, APALC, (213) 241-0237
Edina Lekovic, MPAC, (213) 383-3443
Civil Rights Groups Respond to Arrest of Hate Mail Perpetrator
LOS ANGELES, June 17, 2005– Asian Pacific American and Muslim community organizations today applauded the arrest of a downtown Los Angeles resident on Monday for allegedly sending dozens of threatening letters and hypodermic syringes with needles to members of the Asian, Jewish, and Muslim communities. On June 13, 2005, Stanley C. Jaroszenski, a 64-year-old Caucasian male, was taken into custody by law enforcement agents and charged in a 117-count federal indictment including 56 felony counts of mailing threatening communications and 61 misdemeanor counts of mailing injurious articles.
“Someone has been terrorizing innocent communities for years,” stated Stewart Kwoh, executive director and president of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center. “We are pleased that authorities believe they have made a breakthrough in this case.”
Earlier in the year, Jaroszenski, the accused, who often went by the name “Stan Jay,” allegedly sent mail to numerous Asian and Muslim residents, businesses and organizations that threatened to “Kill Chinese!” and “Kill Iranian Terrorists!” The hate mail also contained pages of anti-Chinese, anti-Korean, and anti-Muslim statements and pictures. After bringing public attention to the threats, the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, also a recipient of the hate mail, fielded calls from over fifteen hate mail recipients, including storeowners, private dental and medical offices, non-profit organizations, and a university campus in Alhambra. The mail frightened recipients and prompted the evacuation of a floor at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The Muslim Public Affairs Council has conducted personal interviews of more than a dozen Iranian stores, and collected more than 50 pieces of hate mail received by one store alone within the span of three months. One storeowner received a threatening document with the picture of a neighboring Iranian travel agent, and the words, “Iranian (Persian) Lawyers bring Muslim Terrorists to L.A. / U.S.A!” MPAC immediately forwarded the information to local law enforcement and provided the FBI with the documents.
“In this case, law enforcement’s attention to hate mail led directly to the prosecution of the alleged perpetrator,” said Sireen Sawaf, hate crimes prevention department coordinator of MPAC. “This underscores the importance of reporting all degrees of hate.”
After targeting the Asian and Muslim communities in February, Jaroszenski allegedly sent similar mail to dozens of Jewish community members, often accompanied by a hypodermic syringe and needle and the statement, “A good Jew is a dead Jew.” Jaroszenski also allegedly sent hate-filled letters to Rep. Linda T. Sanchez and LAPD Chief William J. Bratton, and several years ago he was arrested for sending schools letters with the word “Anthrax” scrawled on them.
“This case illustrates how when one group is targeted, we are all targeted,” said Salam Al-Marayati, executive director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. “We are encouraged by the fact that so many different groups in partnership with law enforcement are building a force of solidarity against hate.”
“Our hope is that this arrest will encourage hate crime reporting to law enforcement authorities,” stated Daniel Huang, hate crimes prevention project coordinator at APALC. “Victims need to know the system will protect them from criminals who target them because of their race, religion, national origin, gender, disability or sexual orientation.” Hate crimes continue to present a tremendous cost to both victims and society, with an average of 1,500-2,000 hate crimes reported each year in California.
Victims of hate mail and other hate crimes can report incidents to the APALC Hate Crime Prevention Project at (213) 977-7500 ext. 237 or hatecrimes@apalc.org and to MPAC at (213) 383-3443.
