LOS ANGELES : Grocer in Harlins Killing Seeking OK for Korea Trip
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Soon Ja Du, the grocer convicted of voluntary manslaughter in the Latasha Harlins shooting, will be in Los Angeles Superior Court this morning , requesting permission to travel to her native Korea.
Du was placed on five years’ probation for shooting Harlins, a 15-year-old black girl, in the head after a confrontation over a bottle of orange juice in March, 1991. The sentence prompted cries of outrage and inflamed tensions between the city’s African-American and Korean communities.
In a letter to the district attorney’s office, the U.S. Justice Department has asked that Du remain in the country until the department completes an inquiry “to determine whether any federal statutes were violated in connection with this incident.”
Activists have asked the Justice Department to investigate the case, hoping that federal civil rights charges will be brought against Du.
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