Following a fatal auto accident in which he played no part, Yankel Rosenbaum, a 29-year-old Australian student, was surrounded by a crowd of angry blacks in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. As the crowd chanted "Kill the Jew! Kill the Jew!" Rosenbaum, a Hassid, was stabbed and mortally wounded. A police officer arriving at the scene arrested Lemrick Nelson, Jr. Nelson was brought to the dying Rosenbaum, who identified him as his assailant. The bloody murder weapon was found in Nelson's pocket and he confessed to police that he had indeed committed the crime. Nelson was later acquitted by a jury of six blacks, four Hispanics, and two whites.

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