The friends of a Ukrainian family facing hate crime charges in Broward County, Florida, said there is concern the family could be deported back to their home country as Russia's war against Ukraine rages on.
Three members of the Makarenko family have been accused of "severely beating a man based on his sexual orientation" in August 2021. The 31-year-old man from Pompano Beach was "permanently blinded" and suffered additional "serious" injuries in the alleged incident, Broward County prosecutors said.
As the Makarenko family faces charges in the U.S., people in Ukraine continue battling the war with Russia that has been going on for about seven weeks. According to refugee data last updated on Tuesday by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 4.6 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia's invasion began on February 24.
In the U.S., the three members of the Makarenko family—identified by prosecutors as Inna, Yevhen and Oleh Makarenko—were arrested about one month ago on March 10. Friends of the arrested individuals said they are mother, father and son. Prosecutors did not provide additional identifying information about the man who was beaten but alleged the three individuals knew him before the beating occurred, according to The Associated Press.
On Tuesday, the Broward State Attorney's Office announced attempted first-degree murder, battery during a home burglary and kidnapping charges against all three individuals. Prosecutors said the charges were filed as hate crimes. Each charge has a maximum potential sentence of life in state prison, prosecutors said.
The state attorney's office recently launched its new Hate Crimes Unit on March 23. The purpose of the unit is to "combat hate crimes, raise public awareness of this issue, and help increase reporting of such crimes in our community," according to Broward County prosecutors.
Following the Makarenkos' arrests, two friends of the family launched a Change.org petition to "demand justice" for the individuals, whom they said are "innocent" and being "wrongly held in jail." The petition alleged authorities provided "no arrest warrant or evidence" against the Makarenkos.
"Mother, Father and Son are being falsely accused of severe crimes with multiple charges against them," the petition said. "These could result in a life-in-prison-sentence in the United States for every accused family member or Deportation back to Ukraine - where an excruciating war is happening right now."
The petition, which listed a 500-signature goal, had collected more than 360 signatures by Wednesday afternoon.
The Broward State Attorney's Office referred Newsweek to a Tuesday press release announcing the hate crime charges filed against the Makarenkos when reached on Wednesday for comment. Prosecutors declined to comment further, citing the pending nature of the case.
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Meghan Roos is a Newsweek reporter based in Southern California. Her focus is reporting on breaking news for Newsweek's Live ... Read more
