Satanist Hate Crime

"No Doubt We're In The Last Days" News
 
Ever since he was 12, Daniel Romano has cut a noticeable figure around Middle Village, a working class part of Queens. Mr. Romano, 20, who calls himself a Satanist,  stands out, with his  blue-tinted bouffant hairdo, his black clothing and fingernails, and the prominent crucifix, worn upside down.
 
Mr. Romano has long been teased for dressing like a "gothic kid" or simply a "goth," in a community with small homes, neat lawns and populated with many Roman Catholics.
 
But in recent weeks, two local teenagers began fixating on Mr. Romano, calling him names including "Satan worshiper,"  "baby sacrificer" and "hooker killer," the authorities say. On Sunday the verbal harassment turned into violence.
 
Mr. Romano, while walking on 72nd Street in Maspeth, was attacked by the two teenagers, the authorities say. Yesterday the Queens district attorney, Richard A. Brown, announced that the  young men, Paul C. Rotondi and Frank M. Scarpinito, both 18 and from Middle Village, would be charged with hate crimes, which carry harsher penalties and are usually leveled when an attack involves a victim's ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation.
 
In an interview last night at his apartment, which he shares with his mother, Mr. Romano said that he was raised Catholic but is now a Satanist. A hard rock musician, he attended Talent Unlimited High School in Manhattan and leads a band.
 
"My allegiance is to Satan and I hate Christianity, Judaism and Islam, but I don't hurt anyone," Mr. Romano said. "I take out my anger in mosh pits and S-and-M clubs. I think it's ironic that the Christians got violent with the Satanist."
 
His mother, Debbie Romano, 48, said, "I'm a Christian, but he went the other way; I don't understand his beliefs, but he doesn't hurt nobody."
 
(The New York Times, January 12, 2005).
 
[TBC: Mr. Romano admits that he hates Christianity, Judaism and Islam but works out his anger in mosh pits and sado-masochism clubs. Much could be said about a system that can only generate hatred. This hatred developed prior to any attacks upon his person. His assailants, however, have clearly given some credence to his comments that he finds it ironic that the Christians "got violent with the Satanist." As Matthew:5:44But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
See All... instructs us, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use  you, and persecute you... "]