In
February, 2010, to earn money for expenses at New York
University, nineteen year old
Scott
Hoon Kang, an honor student and recent graduate of Atlanta’s
North Gwinnett
High School, took a temporary
teaching
position in the Republic
of Korea. While
visiting Japan with
two fellow teachers during a school
break, Scott and his friends went out on the town in Tokyo on the
evening of August 24th. Late
that night, Scott was brutally murdered. Footage from an elevator
security
camera showed Scott being threatened, physically restrained, then
beaten by a
suspect, subsequently identified by the Japanese police, along with an
accomplice. Neither has been apprehended.
Beaten
into
a coma and never regaining consciousness, Scott died, with his parents
at his
side, on August 30th, 2010. Scott was an American citizen of Korean
descent.
Despite
the
video evidence to the contrary, Japanese police contend that Scott died
from an
accidental fall down the stairs. In
addition to the video, forensic evidence, such as Scott’s severe
brain damage,
is not consistent with a fall. While there
is no cause to question the motives of the police investigating this
case, the
similar Lindsay Hawker
murder case from 2007 demonstrates how contentious the
murder of foreign tourists in Japan
can become.
Scott
was among
the top thirty students in his high school graduation class, won a
college ROTC
scholarship, and planned to pursue a legal career in government. Here
are some photos of this promising young man. Scott is
survived
by his parents and younger sister.
The
attached email petition, to be delivered to
authorities at the United
States
Embassy in Tokyo, is intended to urge
the U.S.
government
to press the Japanese law enforcement authorities to continue a
thorough,
objective investigation of Scott's death. Scott's family, friends,
church and,
we believe, Scott himself are pleading for justice to be served.
Accompanied
by representatives of the America’s
Most Wanted television program, Scott's father recently returned to
Japan and Korea
to seek information related
to the investigation of his son's death. Adding to a father’s
grief, there are
many unanswered questions and, we feel, premature conclusions connected
with
this case. In the pursuit of justice, on
November 6th, America's
Most Wanted will air a segment dealing with the Kang family’s
quest for truth.
Scott's
family and friends appreciate your forwarding this email petition to
the
American authorities in Japan.
Scott can no longer speak for himself. It is left to us, the living, to
speak
up for him, to insure that our government defends the interests of its
citizens
abroad, and to secure justice for Scott Kang.
