In court the last several weeks for participating in the killing of José Sucuzhañay, Hakim Scott was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 40 years in prison. Scott instigated the attack on the Ecuadoran Sucuzhañay brothers as they walked arm-in arm after a night of drinking. Shouting anti-gay and -Hispanic epithets, Scott smashed a bottle over the head of José, and chased his brother Romel. But it was Scott’s friend, Keith Phoenix, who delivered several blows to José head and body with a baseball bat. José later died of his wounds.

Notably, Scott escaped the classification of his attack as a hate crime, which carries a higher sentence. The Sucuzhañay family and politicians such as Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez and Council Speaker Christine Quinn are protesting the verdict at a rally organized by local organization Make the Road NY (MRNY). They will call for “improved public policy to prevent future hate crimes,” likely in the form of stronger hate crimes laws.

“Beating a man to death with a baseball bat and a broken bottle while screaming anti-immigrant and homophobic epithets is clearly a hate crime,” said MRNY spokesperson Ana Maria Archila in a press release Thursday.

The verdict is still out on Phoenix, who is charged with second-degree murder.