On this date in 2020, New York-based radio station Hot 97 terminated one of its longtime employees after it was revealed that he played a role in the death of 16-year-old Yusuf Hawkins in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.
Pasquale Raucci, who is better known on the airwaves as “Paddy Duke,” was fired from Hot 97 after HBO documentary Storm Over Brooklyn unveiled that Raucci was a member of the white mob of teenagers who killed Hawkins while he was in the mostly Italian neighborhood seeking to purchase a car.
Raucci was shown in Storm Over Brooklyn, detailing his hiring at the station in 1994 and his close work with award-winning on-air personality Angie Martinez.
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After the release of the documentary, Hot 97 made a statement about the firing of Raucci, stating, “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.”
Duke was fired the day after the 31st anniversary of Hawkins’ murder.