New York City’s radio station Hot 97 has fired longtime employee DJ Paddy Duke after the HBO documentary Storm Over Brooklyn revealed his involvement in the murder of Yusef Hawkins.
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According to HipHopDX, Pasquale “Paddy Duke” Raucci had ties to the group of white men who targeted and killed 16-year-old Yusef Hawkins in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn on August 23, 1989. Hawkins and his friends traveled from their East New York neighborhood to shop for a car when more than 30 men charged at them with weapons. One of the men, Joseph Fama, fatally shot Hawkins in the chest twice. The group’s leader, Keith Mondello assumed Hawkins was friends with his ex-girlfriend Gina Feliciano who lived in the neighborhood but this was proven to be untrue since Hawkins didn’t know anyone in the neighborhood.
Raucci along with the 30 men was arrested for their involvement in the teen’s murder but he was later acquitted of murder and manslaughter. A judge convicted him of three counts of unlawful imprisonment, four counts of menacing and one count of criminal possession of a weapon in 1991. Five years later, Raucci worked as a DJ at Hot 97 and later became an executive. The radio station revealed on Instagram that Raucci was immediately fired after learning about his past. It reads, “After watching HBO’s Storm over Brooklyn, HOT97 was shocked and took swift action. Paddy Duke is no longer employed by HOT97. The march for social justice continues.”
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Although Raucci was fired for his involvement in the 1989 murder, social media caught wind of his employment after the documentary premiered this week.
Paddy Duke has been at Hot since 1994, right as the converted to a hip hop format… a mere FIVE YEARS after Yusef Hawkins was murdered. It’s not like he joined the station ages later. This is CRAZY. https://t.co/FGEMTZCfar
— Naima Cochrane (@naima) August 23, 2020
For those unfamilair: Paddy Duke is a long time exec @ Hot 97. Storm Over Brooklyn, HBO’s doc about Yusef Hawkins’ murder in 1989 has revealed he’s Pasquale Raucci, one of the teens charged and acquitted of killing Hawkins. pic.twitter.com/oFDHotnSVA
— Naima Cochrane (@naima) August 23, 2020
Paddy Duke got away with killing Yusef Hawkins and went on with his life to become an exec at Hot97. If that isn’t a testament to the American way of life nothing is. And literally the only reason why they fired him is because HBO put the Summer Jam screen on him
— Scam Likely (@ToriReloaded) August 23, 2020
Yusef Hawkins. That’s Paddy Duke on the left at the trial pic.twitter.com/bPUDQRFokC
— Sophie Dollaz Fan Account (@flexhamed) August 23, 2020
I remember listening to Hot 97 back in the days & Angie would shout out Paddy Duke’s name all the time. I had no idea he was involved in Yusef Hawkins murder 🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️
— Brother Maad 👑🏁 (@MaadyNYC) August 22, 2020