Boston, MA,  May 9, 2007 -- Responding to news reports of an alleged hate crime against a Newburyport family who immigrated to the United States from Brazil, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) New England Region expressed outrage at the alleged hateful attack and applauded the strong response by Newburyport Police and the Newburyport community.
 
ADL New England Regional Director Andrew H. Tarsy, and Regional Board Chair James L. Rudolph issued the following statement:

We are outraged that this hateful act has been committed against a Newburyport family. It is a sad reminder that hate remains very much a part of our world.  This is a time to reaffirm our commitment to being a community that stands up and speaks out against hate.  
 
ADL applauds the Newburyport Police Department for taking this incident seriously. This assault exemplifies a trend that immigrants – and those perceived to be immigrants - are increasingly the targets of hate and bias.  The defendants' alleged anti-immigrant slurs and vicious attack must be condemned in the strongest terms by people of all backgrounds and nationalities.

According to news reports, police arrested Christopher P. Farnell on May 4.  The Newburyport Police Department said Farnell was drunk and allegedly abusive toward his neighbors, a family of Brazilian immigrants.

Police say that by the time officers arrived at the scene, Farnell had already broken the window of his neighbors' car and the window of their apartment, and was hurling xenophobic statements at them.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.