Marcelo Lucero anniversary remembered

Community advocates will hold remembrance events this week to call for unity and continued work against prejudice on the third anniversary of the hate killing of immigrant Marcelo Lucero.

Lucero was killed Nov. 8, 2008, when a mob of teens attacked him in Patchogue.

The Long Island Organizing Network, a Riverhead advocacy group, will hold an action meeting Tuesda at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood to discuss, among other subjects, the need for a permanent hate crimes task force and for passage of anti-bullying legislation in the county.

The meeting, slated to start at 7 p.m. in the campus’ theater located off Crooked Hill Road, seeks to foster “acceptance, understanding and respect, not just for Latinos but for every gender and race,” said lead network organizer Lisa Perry.

Lucero’s brother, Joselo Lucero, and other advocates will also hold an interfaith vigil, starting at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 6, at the St. Frances DeSales Parish Hall, located at 220 South Ocean Avenue in Patchogue.

“We want people of all faiths to come and for the event to take place every year, so that together we can create awareness that hate is not acceptable,” Lucero said. “We are not tolerating that conduct on Long Island.”