Man Not Guilty in Racial Beating
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CINCINNATI — A Detroit auto worker was found innocent today of federal civil rights charges stemming from the 1982 beating death of a Chinese-American man.
In a case that was closely scrutinized by Asian-American groups, a federal jury acquitted Ronald Ebens of civil rights charges in the baseball-bat beating death of Vincent Chin. The prosecution claimed that Ebens blamed Japan for the plight of the American auto industry and attacked Chin at a Highland Park, Mich., nightclub because of his race, believing that he was Japanese. The defense admitted that Ebens killed Chin but said Ebens was drunk and provoked.
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