Detroit Officials To Honor Vincent Chin, Chinese Man Beaten To Death In 1982

(CBS DETROIT) - Vincent Chin's murder case is still making headlines four decades after his death.

Back in 1982 the 27-year-old Chinese-American man was beat to death with a baseball bat by two white males.

The miscarriage of justice that followed and allowed his two white killers to be freed without spending a single night in jail because the judge then said these are not the kind of men you send to jail in a city like Detroit," said Helen Zia, Asian-American activist. "That was the spring-board for the modern Asian-American civil rights movement."

The case ended with manslaughter charges, and the two suspects were freed sparking outrage in the Asian community.
"They hunted him down and beat him with a bat, said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. The kind of case that should have been charged as first-degree murder. In fact, at the preliminary exam the 36th Court Judge said to the prosecutor, this case should have been charged as first-degree murder."

Monday officials from the city of Detroit announced partnership plans to honor Chin's 40th remembrance and rededication.

The announcement comes amid a climate of anti-Asian hate and violence.
Chin's commemoration will take place June 16 to 19, with an unveiling of a mural honoring his life in old Chinatown.

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