Seven months ago an accomplished chef and business owner was the target of racism when someone wrote the “N” word in white marker on the front window of his Caribbean restaurant.
Chef Gerald Oriol, owner of Caribbean Breeze at 233 Main St., kept the incident quiet, preferring to let police conduct an investigation into the April 8, 2022, incident.
On the night of Aug. 19, 2021, Torres, 40, was among a group of people police describe as in a near-riot state. On the pavement, covered by a tarp, was 67-year-old Beverly Avery, a Hispanic woman who was struck and killed by a motorist. (The identity of that driver still has not been released by police who only will say he is 22-years-old and from Bedford. Chief Allen D. Aldenberg said the results of the investigation are with the Hillsborough County Attorney’s Office who will decide how to proceed.)
For the past five or six years, Nashua Police Lt. Carlos Camacho has been teaching new officers about implicit bias, whether it’s an unconscious bias toward people of other races, genders, socioeconomic class or sexual orientation. As part of the training, he shows the officers how they tend to gravitate toward others they find commonality with, reveals the ways they perceive people who are different and encourages them to learn about those differences and find common ground with them.
