Sharpton leads march to protest bat attack

updated 8:01 p.m. ET July 4, 2005

NEW YORK - The Rev. Al Sharpton led a protest Monday to decry last week’s baseball bat attack on a black man. The rally came nearly 19 years after Sharpton visited the same area to protest a deadly racial attack.

Police have arrested a 19-year-old man in the latest incident that left the 22-year-old victim with multiple skull fractures. An alleged accomplice also was arrested. Both men, who are white, have been charged with robbery and assault as a hate crime.

The attack happened just blocks from where three black men were beaten in 1986 by a white mob after the victims’ car broke down. One of the men, 23-year-old Michael Griffith, was killed by a car as he fled. A week afterward, a protest march was marred by jeers and insults from the mostly white neighborhood.

On Monday, Sharpton and several dozen other protesters challenged community members to take part in an anti-racism march.

“We want Howard Beach residents to march,” Sharpton said. “We want to see if the community of Howard Beach will stand up and denounce racism.”

Police said Glenn Moore and two other black men were walking in Howard Beach early Wednesday when they were attacked by three men. One of Moore’s friends said he intended to steal a car, but Moore was not aware of the plan, officials said.

A lawyer for accused attacker Nicholas Minucci said Moore provoked the violence by holding a screwdriver to Minucci’s neck. Police and prosecutors said that account was not credible.

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