GANGS AND TERRORISM

GANGS AND TERRORISM

Gang members frequently spend time in jail or
prison. In this captive environment, their gang
affiliations may aggravate their situations. This is
particularly true for those who are incarcerated for
the first time. Involvement in a gang may afford an
inmate protection. But it also can make him
susceptible to attacks from rival gang members.

A prison environment also provides the
atmosphere for terrorism recruitment. Antigovernment
extremists from both domestic and
international groups as well as racial and religious hate groups proselytize to inmates
inside correctional facilities. The same psychological characteristics that contributed to someone’s initial involvement in
a street gang may be exploited by recruiters
for hate groups and other extremist organizations behind prison walls.

The collusion between street gangs and state-sponsored terrorism was illustrated in the 1980s during the investigation into
Chicago’s El Rukn gang and representatives of the government of Libya. Several ranking El Rukns were imprisoned for weapons
violations and conspiring to commit violent acts in the United States on behalf of representatives of the Libyan government.

As the prison population rises, so do opportunities for extremists to recruit inmates to organizations that engage in terrorism
to accomplish their ideological goals.

Source: Will County IL State's Attorney Office