Religion News Service • June 12, 2010
When seventh-grader Raymond Hosier was
suspended for wearing rosary beads to school late
last month, civil rights groups rushed to his
defense.
"Without question, the continuing action taken by
the school district in punishing Raymond for
wearing a rosary to school violates the
constitutional rights of our client," argued Jay
Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice.
After Sekulow filed a lawsuit, a federal judge issued
a temporary restraining order on June 1, telling
Oneida Middle School and the school district in
Schenectady, N.Y., to allow Hosier, 13, to wear the
rosary to class. A full hearing was held yesterday
(June 11).
Like school principals and superintendents in other
states, including Texas, California, Oregon, and
Virginia, Oneida officials say the no-rosary-beads
rule is necessary to "protect students from violence
and gangs."
They have a point, according to gang experts. After
schools began banning gang-related bandanas,
clothing, and hairstyles about a decade ago,
students have turned to rosaries as a subtle and
often First-Amendment-protected way to signal
gang allegiance.
"With the introduction of strict dress codes and the
use of uniforms in the school systems, these type of
indicators seem to be favored by the gangsters," the
San Antonio (Texas) Police Department says in a
handbook about gang awareness.
Gangsters not only wear certain colors -- reds for
Bloods, blues for Crips, for example -- they also
arrange the beads to signal their rank in the gang,
and teach young members to plead religious
freedom if they're hauled into the principal's office,
said Jared Lewis, a former police officer in California
who worked in public schools.
"You are often dealing with gang members who have
no inkling or cares about the religious significance
of the rosary beads," said Lewis, who now runs
Know Gangs, a training group for law enforcement
officials. "They are just trying to skirt around school
rules under the guise of a religious symbol."
No one is sure which gang started the trend of
wearing rosaries, said Robert Walker, a former head
of the gang identification unit for the South Carolina
Department of Corrections. Like a lot of gang fads,
he said, it likely started in California and migrated
east.
"One gang started it -- who it was, nobody knows.
Another gang saw it and thought it was cool, and
started using it, too," Walker said. "These things just
evolve."
Their adornment by violent gangs is an ironic twist
for beads whose use in prayer is praised by
Christians, including Pope Benedict XVI, as a means
to access contemplative calm. (The word "bead" is
derived from the Anglo-Saxon term for prayer,
"bede.")
Legend has it that the Virgin Mary presented St.
Dominic with the first rosary in the 13th century,
though some scholars doubt that story because
elements of the prayers predate and postdate
Dominic.
In Christian parlance, the "Rosary" refers to a
sequence of prayers and meditations on the life of
Jesus, though the word is often used outside the
church to refer to the circlet of beads as well.
Each of the beads (usually 55 or 155) represents a
prayer -- a Hail Mary, Our Father, or Glory Be -- and
is grouped in sets of 10 with a crucifix hanging
from a pendant.
The beads help mark which prayers have been
recited and guide the supplicant through the life of
Jesus.
Now cherished by many Christians, rosaries fell out
of favor among Protestants because the Roman
Catholic Church used them to promote indulgences
-- papal dispensation from time in purgatory.
After the Reformation, the beads became a defiant
emblem for Catholic monks and nuns to wear
outside their habits and a tactile tool for
missionaries to pass on the faith -- particularly in
Latin America.
Now, Latino gangsters are the most frequent -- and
creative -- wearers of rosaries, said Lewis.
The Latin Kings, for example, use colors to signal
members' rank in the hierarchy -- five black and five g
old beads for members; two gold beads for top
dogs. Assassins wear all black.
The Netas, an East Coast gang founded in Puerto
Rico, wear 78 red, white and blue beads to
symbolize the 78 towns in Puerto Rico. Prospective
members wear all white beads until they join the
gang.
Lewis said he sympathizes with principals who are
torn between respecting religious rights and
preventing gang wars in their schools.
"We live in a country where, obviously, people
should be able to do and say what they want," he
said.
"At the same time, if something happens on school
grounds, the school principal is going to be held
liable for not keeping students safe."
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
IT’S ALL ABOUT REVENGE
by Loren W. Christensen
The following article first appeared in "Police and Security News," July/August 2000
One of the few absolutes in the world of street gangs is that when there is a gang-involved drive-by shooting, street brawl, or school disturbance, there will be retaliation. When a Blood kills a Crip or vice versa, officers routinely step up their patrol in gang-infested areas and monitor the funeral in anticipation of a revenge shooting. It’s not an issue of will it happen? But rather when will it happen?
Say a gang member wanders into rival gang territory and gets confronted, challenged, or injured, and manages to retreat from the area. It doesn’t matter that he is the one who made the social faux pas by crossing into a rival’s turf. The fact that the rival gang struck out at him cannot be ignored. He has to return, but next time it will be with help and a collective objective - revenge. There must be payback; it’s the one thing all gangs agree upon.
In the gang world, no challenge, assault or diss (act of disrespect) can go unanswered since being a gang member is all about holding onto respect and reputation (rep). When a diss occurs to a gang by a rival, only revenge will satisfy the offended gang. To them, revenge shows the world (mostly themselves, really), that their rep is intact and is to be respected. Gang history teaches us that revenge will be in the form of a bloody beating, a bullet-spray drive-by or even a
bombing.
When the offense is to an individual gang member, there is an expectation within his gang that the offended member will automatically seek revenge to uphold the rep that has been given to him by his peers. In fact, the expectation is so great that if for whatever reason a member doesn’t strike back, he may have to face the rage of his own gang. “A banger’s gang will give him hell if he doesn’t get revenge when he’s been dissed,” says Detective Doug Justus, a veteran gang officer on the West Coast. “Often times they beat up their own member for not doing a payback.” Offend a member, and the gang’s reputation is also at stake.
Mandatory revenge is not indigenous to one particular gang. Over the past 15 years, revenge has destroyed countless young lives as gangs have grown and spread across the United States. Let’s take a brief look at how Southeast Asian, black, Hispanic, skinheads and white gangs view the all-important obligation of revenge.
SOUTHEAST ASIANS
Many Southeast Asian gangsters believe in what they call “the 100-year revenge,” which means that if they get wronged in some fashion, they will get revenge no matter how long it takes. “If we can’t get you,” they say, “we will get your children, and if we can’t get them, we will wait and get their children. We will get revenge, even if it takes 100 years.”
Pamela Sowers, a reporter in Seattle and an expert on Asian culture, says that revenge is everything to Southeast Asians. “The 100-year revenge is mentioned frequently in Asian literature, such as Outlaws of the Water Margin, an ancient Chinese novel about gangsters, or ‘men of honor’ as they were called many years ago, and as some still prefer to be addressed in Hong Kong. The concept also shows up in some Asian movies. I know that today, in the case of a major transgression against a gang leader, his followers will try to kill or harm every family member of the transgressor. That has happened in Seattle with the Cambodian gangsters.”
Detective Stu Winn, a veteran gang detective with the Portland (Oregon) Police Bureau, says that he mostly hears about the 100-year revenge from the older gangbangers. He related a story of how he first learned of it.
“I had a Laotian informant who told me that years ago when he was in grammar school, another kid beat him up pretty severely. He decided to get revenge, but not right away because he wanted to wait until the timing was just right. Two years later, he saw his opportunity when he noticed that the kid rode the same bus every day. The Laotian went home, got a knife and secreted it into his school books. He then watched the kid’s movements for a couple days and when the timing was finally right, he attacked him on the bus, stabbing him multiple times. The Laotian was in the fourth or fifth grade at the time.”
Winn says that his informant told him that revenge was important in his culture and that if it took 100 years to get it accomplished, then that’s what he would do. What happens after a hundred years? “The person is forgiven,” the Laotian said. The bottom line is that whether it’s one year or 100, Southeast Asian gangbangers take their revenge very seriously.
While some infractions may seem insignificant to us who are not gang involved, to those who are, those whose entire existence is all about the gang, even the smallest infraction necessitates swift retaliation.
Case in point: One bloody case began when a Southeast Asian gang member “looked hard” (glaring or frowning in a challenging way) at a rival Southeast Asian gangster as they passed each other in their high school hallway. At noon, the one who had received the look, walked to a nearby Asian grocery and bought a meat cleaver. He returned to the school, found the rival and promptly hacked the cleaver into his shoulder, removing a large wedge of flesh similar to what a logger chops out of a tree.
As the ambulance wailed their arrival, the suspect, no longer having a need for the meat cleaver, casually walked back to the market and got his money back.
BLACK GANGS
Almost from its inception, there has been an expectation in the black gang culture that revenge is an automatic response to being dissed in some fashion. The individual gangbanger who fails to take care of business when he has been wronged will find that life within his gang suddenly becomes intolerable. He will be hassled, teased, called a punk, not allowed to hang out and party with his homies and he may even be beaten for his inaction.
Sometimes a gang member is revenged simply because of his gang affiliation. For example, a Blood will say, “I know Crazy Boy is a Crip and I know that he carries a gun. I know where he is right now and I’m going to get him.”
The Blood finds Crazy Boy and fires a few rounds at him. As the Blood roars off in his car, he knows that he just opened a Pandora’s box because he dissed Crazy Boy in big way, and the unwritten rule, which everyone follows, says that Crazy Boy and his gang must retaliate.
“The Blood shot at me and nicked me,” Crazy Boy says, “Now I’m going to go and shoot him in the face.” This line of thinking has been the street dance between street gangs for many years.
Revenge is always extreme with street gangs. They never retaliate by throwing a rock through the rival’s window, but rather, “I’m going to go and break his head and then I’m going to shoot up his house and then I’m going to shoot into his group of friends. Hell, I’m going to go shoot him in the back of his head.”
Youth counselors say that when they talk to a gang member in a counseling session, the counselor asks how the conflict can be settled peacefully. Inevitably, the gangster says something like, “There is no way to do it with peace. Revenge is going to happen, maybe six months from now, maybe a year from now. But it’s definitely going to happen.”
Typically, gangs don’t plan out their revenge, which makes it difficult for law enforcement to act proactively. While the movies often depict gang members meeting in a room and discussing the details of their hit, the reality is that it’s situational with them. A member says that he just got dissed, so everyone jumps into a car and goes on a mission of payback. Or they might already be out in a car when they by chance run across a gang or gang member they want to hit.
The one absolute is that there is always going to be some kind of retaliation after a big incident, and generally it happens 10 days to a couple of weeks later.
SKINHEADS
Like other street gangs, skinheads seek revenge when they feel that they have been wronged. People who snitch on them and people who witness against them to the police are often fair game for retaliation. And since there is a continuous ongoing rivalry between racists and antiracist skins, there is virtually a built in revenge clause when one side in some way offends the other side. Revenge is important to them because they must uphold their reputation of being street warriors for their cause.
One ex-skinhead said that revenge is integral to what they are about. “We searched for revenge on a society that has walked away from traditional values and accepted, what we thought to be, degenerate values. Nazi skinheads are a group that does not compromise. We don’t accept the state that the world is in, but rather look to the thousands of years before us that created a utopian society of racial purity and genetic uniformity. Each act of violence or propaganda is an act of revenge on a group of people who are wallowing in self-pity and weak-minded behavior.”
It’s common for racist skinheads to assault mixed-race couples. In a way, these violent acts are a way of retaliating against a violation they see perpetrated by other whites. Race mixing they say, muddies the gene pool. This angers them, so they strike out against the white half of the relationship and, of course, they strike out at the minority half, too.
There are two basic skinhead factions: racists and antiracists. They hate each other and each believes that the other gives a bad name to skinheads. Acts of retaliation take the form of drive-by shootings, knifings, and street rumbles.
Today, skinhead violence is low, but there is still an intense hatred between the racists and antiracists. If one side is wronged in some fashion by the other side, it’s a guarantee that there will be an act of revenge. Although violence between opposing skinhead factions has at times been deadly, it hasn’t come near the level of ongoing violence perpetrated by other gangs.
Recent skinhead violence has been directed toward homosexuals and Jewish people and synagogues. Their strikes against homosexuals are acts of retaliation for a life style they consider an abomination. Their strikes against the Jews are in retaliation for what they perceive to be the Jewish controlled media, commerce and government, including law enforcement.
HISPANIC
A Hispanic gangbanger made this warning as casually as if he were saying he was going to the movies. “You snitch, you wrong us, and we will kill your mama or baby brother.” It doesn’t get more clear than that.
Retaliation at it’s deadliest can mean the murder of the rival gang member, usually in a drive-by shooting. Typically, the revenge seekers pull their car up next to a crowd on a street corner, door stoop, or park bench and sprays everything and everyone in sight. Miraculously, many of these types of shootings end with no one being hit. But that isn’t always the case.
As this article is being written, police in Glendale, California are stepping up patrol after an 18-year-old Armenian man was shot as he stood near a group of seven other people. According to witnesses, as a 1987 Honda Accord drove slowly by the crowd, a Hispanic man, one of three in the car, leaned out the window and fired. Police say the shooting was in retaliation for the beating and stabbing death of a Hispanic student by Armenian gang members a few days earlier.
At least in this shooting the motive was clear in the minds of the gang members, but that is not always the case. “I’ve seen bangers seek revenge even when it wasn’t clear to them what the rival did,” one veteran gang officer said. “They just know that it’s expected of them to do a payback. When I’ve asked them what caused the extreme hate, they couldn’t answer. The original insult may have happened years ago, but they still have the need to revenge. There is no value to human life unless the gang member is directly related to the victim or he is a homeboy.”
One Hispanic ex-gang member talked about the adrenaline rush he had after being shot at, and the urgent need he had to strike back. “I remember sitting in a fast-food place with one of my homeboys. As we were talking, these guys from a rival gang saw us in the restaurant, and they got out of their car and came up to the window and started shooting through the glass at us. They didn’t hit anyone, but I can still remember how I felt. I was alive and all I could think about was revenge. I came so close to dying that night, but all that was going through my mind was finding these fools and hurting them.”
Sometimes a gang will get revenge against a member who no longer wants to be in the gang. A longtime Hispanic gangbanger, who has since been sentenced to a dozen years in prison, said this. “One time a guy said to the Mexican Mafia that he didn’t want to be in the gang anymore. They didn’t say nothin’ to him then, but when he left the gang, the next day his wife is dead, two of his sisters are dead, and the three-month-old baby is dead.” The validity of this story is unknown.
With most Hispanic gangbangers, the absolute need to strike back, the duty to retaliate for being wronged in some fashion, is an unsatiated hunger. The banger may plan his revenge, or it may just happen when the opportunity presents itself, as is the case with most incidents of gang violence. The banger may get wronged in June, but the opportunity to strike back doesn’t present itself until December. Over the months, the anger festers just beneath the surface, so that when the banger is presented with the moment - say the rival shows up at the same Saturday night party, or is seen sitting in a parked car - his rage explodes and someone gets hurt.
MISCELLANEOUS WHITE GANGS
Miscellaneous white gangs are those who emulate the other more entrenched ones, usually black and Hispanic gangs. Many begin as taggers and progress - by committing crimes, especially retaliation crimes - until they fit the definition of a criminal gang. For example, Taggers A marks over Taggers B’s graffiti, and of course Tagger B must retaliate. At first, the retaliation may only involve painting over A’s markings, but after a few of these exchanges, the retaliation turns violent.
It’s common for taggers to evolve into full-blown gangs within just a few months. At that stage, they may continue spreading graffiti, though usually bigger issues will have taken its place.
Other miscellaneous gangs form the way as do most other gangs. Some begin because their members have a mutual interest in music or computers. Others form out of a need for protection. The Trenchcoat Mafia at Columbine highschool would be an example.
“Revenge is very important, almost as much as respect and reputation,” says one ex-gang member. “If a gangbanger feels someone is dissing him or has hurt someone he cares about, the gangbanger must seek revenge. If he doesn’t, then he is looked down on by his set as being weak. The shootings I’ve been involved in, I was just thinking about revenge. I wanted to make sure that the person who disrespected me was not able to do it again. I was out to make an example of one in order to warn many.”
Arguably, it’s human nature to want revenge, but gangs seldom make the effort to settle matters through conversation or conflict resolution. Instead, they strike back in the extreme. With easy access to high-powered weapons, it’s more natural for young gangbangers to express their burning rage and their need for revenge through bloody violence.
The following article first appeared in "Police and Security News," July/August 2000
One of the few absolutes in the world of street gangs is that when there is a gang-involved drive-by shooting, street brawl, or school disturbance, there will be retaliation. When a Blood kills a Crip or vice versa, officers routinely step up their patrol in gang-infested areas and monitor the funeral in anticipation of a revenge shooting. It’s not an issue of will it happen? But rather when will it happen?
Say a gang member wanders into rival gang territory and gets confronted, challenged, or injured, and manages to retreat from the area. It doesn’t matter that he is the one who made the social faux pas by crossing into a rival’s turf. The fact that the rival gang struck out at him cannot be ignored. He has to return, but next time it will be with help and a collective objective - revenge. There must be payback; it’s the one thing all gangs agree upon.
In the gang world, no challenge, assault or diss (act of disrespect) can go unanswered since being a gang member is all about holding onto respect and reputation (rep). When a diss occurs to a gang by a rival, only revenge will satisfy the offended gang. To them, revenge shows the world (mostly themselves, really), that their rep is intact and is to be respected. Gang history teaches us that revenge will be in the form of a bloody beating, a bullet-spray drive-by or even a
bombing.
When the offense is to an individual gang member, there is an expectation within his gang that the offended member will automatically seek revenge to uphold the rep that has been given to him by his peers. In fact, the expectation is so great that if for whatever reason a member doesn’t strike back, he may have to face the rage of his own gang. “A banger’s gang will give him hell if he doesn’t get revenge when he’s been dissed,” says Detective Doug Justus, a veteran gang officer on the West Coast. “Often times they beat up their own member for not doing a payback.” Offend a member, and the gang’s reputation is also at stake.
Mandatory revenge is not indigenous to one particular gang. Over the past 15 years, revenge has destroyed countless young lives as gangs have grown and spread across the United States. Let’s take a brief look at how Southeast Asian, black, Hispanic, skinheads and white gangs view the all-important obligation of revenge.
SOUTHEAST ASIANS
Many Southeast Asian gangsters believe in what they call “the 100-year revenge,” which means that if they get wronged in some fashion, they will get revenge no matter how long it takes. “If we can’t get you,” they say, “we will get your children, and if we can’t get them, we will wait and get their children. We will get revenge, even if it takes 100 years.”
Pamela Sowers, a reporter in Seattle and an expert on Asian culture, says that revenge is everything to Southeast Asians. “The 100-year revenge is mentioned frequently in Asian literature, such as Outlaws of the Water Margin, an ancient Chinese novel about gangsters, or ‘men of honor’ as they were called many years ago, and as some still prefer to be addressed in Hong Kong. The concept also shows up in some Asian movies. I know that today, in the case of a major transgression against a gang leader, his followers will try to kill or harm every family member of the transgressor. That has happened in Seattle with the Cambodian gangsters.”
Detective Stu Winn, a veteran gang detective with the Portland (Oregon) Police Bureau, says that he mostly hears about the 100-year revenge from the older gangbangers. He related a story of how he first learned of it.
“I had a Laotian informant who told me that years ago when he was in grammar school, another kid beat him up pretty severely. He decided to get revenge, but not right away because he wanted to wait until the timing was just right. Two years later, he saw his opportunity when he noticed that the kid rode the same bus every day. The Laotian went home, got a knife and secreted it into his school books. He then watched the kid’s movements for a couple days and when the timing was finally right, he attacked him on the bus, stabbing him multiple times. The Laotian was in the fourth or fifth grade at the time.”
Winn says that his informant told him that revenge was important in his culture and that if it took 100 years to get it accomplished, then that’s what he would do. What happens after a hundred years? “The person is forgiven,” the Laotian said. The bottom line is that whether it’s one year or 100, Southeast Asian gangbangers take their revenge very seriously.
While some infractions may seem insignificant to us who are not gang involved, to those who are, those whose entire existence is all about the gang, even the smallest infraction necessitates swift retaliation.
Case in point: One bloody case began when a Southeast Asian gang member “looked hard” (glaring or frowning in a challenging way) at a rival Southeast Asian gangster as they passed each other in their high school hallway. At noon, the one who had received the look, walked to a nearby Asian grocery and bought a meat cleaver. He returned to the school, found the rival and promptly hacked the cleaver into his shoulder, removing a large wedge of flesh similar to what a logger chops out of a tree.
As the ambulance wailed their arrival, the suspect, no longer having a need for the meat cleaver, casually walked back to the market and got his money back.
BLACK GANGS
Almost from its inception, there has been an expectation in the black gang culture that revenge is an automatic response to being dissed in some fashion. The individual gangbanger who fails to take care of business when he has been wronged will find that life within his gang suddenly becomes intolerable. He will be hassled, teased, called a punk, not allowed to hang out and party with his homies and he may even be beaten for his inaction.
Sometimes a gang member is revenged simply because of his gang affiliation. For example, a Blood will say, “I know Crazy Boy is a Crip and I know that he carries a gun. I know where he is right now and I’m going to get him.”
The Blood finds Crazy Boy and fires a few rounds at him. As the Blood roars off in his car, he knows that he just opened a Pandora’s box because he dissed Crazy Boy in big way, and the unwritten rule, which everyone follows, says that Crazy Boy and his gang must retaliate.
“The Blood shot at me and nicked me,” Crazy Boy says, “Now I’m going to go and shoot him in the face.” This line of thinking has been the street dance between street gangs for many years.
Revenge is always extreme with street gangs. They never retaliate by throwing a rock through the rival’s window, but rather, “I’m going to go and break his head and then I’m going to shoot up his house and then I’m going to shoot into his group of friends. Hell, I’m going to go shoot him in the back of his head.”
Youth counselors say that when they talk to a gang member in a counseling session, the counselor asks how the conflict can be settled peacefully. Inevitably, the gangster says something like, “There is no way to do it with peace. Revenge is going to happen, maybe six months from now, maybe a year from now. But it’s definitely going to happen.”
Typically, gangs don’t plan out their revenge, which makes it difficult for law enforcement to act proactively. While the movies often depict gang members meeting in a room and discussing the details of their hit, the reality is that it’s situational with them. A member says that he just got dissed, so everyone jumps into a car and goes on a mission of payback. Or they might already be out in a car when they by chance run across a gang or gang member they want to hit.
The one absolute is that there is always going to be some kind of retaliation after a big incident, and generally it happens 10 days to a couple of weeks later.
SKINHEADS
Like other street gangs, skinheads seek revenge when they feel that they have been wronged. People who snitch on them and people who witness against them to the police are often fair game for retaliation. And since there is a continuous ongoing rivalry between racists and antiracist skins, there is virtually a built in revenge clause when one side in some way offends the other side. Revenge is important to them because they must uphold their reputation of being street warriors for their cause.
One ex-skinhead said that revenge is integral to what they are about. “We searched for revenge on a society that has walked away from traditional values and accepted, what we thought to be, degenerate values. Nazi skinheads are a group that does not compromise. We don’t accept the state that the world is in, but rather look to the thousands of years before us that created a utopian society of racial purity and genetic uniformity. Each act of violence or propaganda is an act of revenge on a group of people who are wallowing in self-pity and weak-minded behavior.”
It’s common for racist skinheads to assault mixed-race couples. In a way, these violent acts are a way of retaliating against a violation they see perpetrated by other whites. Race mixing they say, muddies the gene pool. This angers them, so they strike out against the white half of the relationship and, of course, they strike out at the minority half, too.
There are two basic skinhead factions: racists and antiracists. They hate each other and each believes that the other gives a bad name to skinheads. Acts of retaliation take the form of drive-by shootings, knifings, and street rumbles.
Today, skinhead violence is low, but there is still an intense hatred between the racists and antiracists. If one side is wronged in some fashion by the other side, it’s a guarantee that there will be an act of revenge. Although violence between opposing skinhead factions has at times been deadly, it hasn’t come near the level of ongoing violence perpetrated by other gangs.
Recent skinhead violence has been directed toward homosexuals and Jewish people and synagogues. Their strikes against homosexuals are acts of retaliation for a life style they consider an abomination. Their strikes against the Jews are in retaliation for what they perceive to be the Jewish controlled media, commerce and government, including law enforcement.
HISPANIC
A Hispanic gangbanger made this warning as casually as if he were saying he was going to the movies. “You snitch, you wrong us, and we will kill your mama or baby brother.” It doesn’t get more clear than that.
Retaliation at it’s deadliest can mean the murder of the rival gang member, usually in a drive-by shooting. Typically, the revenge seekers pull their car up next to a crowd on a street corner, door stoop, or park bench and sprays everything and everyone in sight. Miraculously, many of these types of shootings end with no one being hit. But that isn’t always the case.
As this article is being written, police in Glendale, California are stepping up patrol after an 18-year-old Armenian man was shot as he stood near a group of seven other people. According to witnesses, as a 1987 Honda Accord drove slowly by the crowd, a Hispanic man, one of three in the car, leaned out the window and fired. Police say the shooting was in retaliation for the beating and stabbing death of a Hispanic student by Armenian gang members a few days earlier.
At least in this shooting the motive was clear in the minds of the gang members, but that is not always the case. “I’ve seen bangers seek revenge even when it wasn’t clear to them what the rival did,” one veteran gang officer said. “They just know that it’s expected of them to do a payback. When I’ve asked them what caused the extreme hate, they couldn’t answer. The original insult may have happened years ago, but they still have the need to revenge. There is no value to human life unless the gang member is directly related to the victim or he is a homeboy.”
One Hispanic ex-gang member talked about the adrenaline rush he had after being shot at, and the urgent need he had to strike back. “I remember sitting in a fast-food place with one of my homeboys. As we were talking, these guys from a rival gang saw us in the restaurant, and they got out of their car and came up to the window and started shooting through the glass at us. They didn’t hit anyone, but I can still remember how I felt. I was alive and all I could think about was revenge. I came so close to dying that night, but all that was going through my mind was finding these fools and hurting them.”
Sometimes a gang will get revenge against a member who no longer wants to be in the gang. A longtime Hispanic gangbanger, who has since been sentenced to a dozen years in prison, said this. “One time a guy said to the Mexican Mafia that he didn’t want to be in the gang anymore. They didn’t say nothin’ to him then, but when he left the gang, the next day his wife is dead, two of his sisters are dead, and the three-month-old baby is dead.” The validity of this story is unknown.
With most Hispanic gangbangers, the absolute need to strike back, the duty to retaliate for being wronged in some fashion, is an unsatiated hunger. The banger may plan his revenge, or it may just happen when the opportunity presents itself, as is the case with most incidents of gang violence. The banger may get wronged in June, but the opportunity to strike back doesn’t present itself until December. Over the months, the anger festers just beneath the surface, so that when the banger is presented with the moment - say the rival shows up at the same Saturday night party, or is seen sitting in a parked car - his rage explodes and someone gets hurt.
MISCELLANEOUS WHITE GANGS
Miscellaneous white gangs are those who emulate the other more entrenched ones, usually black and Hispanic gangs. Many begin as taggers and progress - by committing crimes, especially retaliation crimes - until they fit the definition of a criminal gang. For example, Taggers A marks over Taggers B’s graffiti, and of course Tagger B must retaliate. At first, the retaliation may only involve painting over A’s markings, but after a few of these exchanges, the retaliation turns violent.
It’s common for taggers to evolve into full-blown gangs within just a few months. At that stage, they may continue spreading graffiti, though usually bigger issues will have taken its place.
Other miscellaneous gangs form the way as do most other gangs. Some begin because their members have a mutual interest in music or computers. Others form out of a need for protection. The Trenchcoat Mafia at Columbine highschool would be an example.
“Revenge is very important, almost as much as respect and reputation,” says one ex-gang member. “If a gangbanger feels someone is dissing him or has hurt someone he cares about, the gangbanger must seek revenge. If he doesn’t, then he is looked down on by his set as being weak. The shootings I’ve been involved in, I was just thinking about revenge. I wanted to make sure that the person who disrespected me was not able to do it again. I was out to make an example of one in order to warn many.”
Arguably, it’s human nature to want revenge, but gangs seldom make the effort to settle matters through conversation or conflict resolution. Instead, they strike back in the extreme. With easy access to high-powered weapons, it’s more natural for young gangbangers to express their burning rage and their need for revenge through bloody violence.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Gangs in New York talk Twitter: Use tweets to trash-talk rivals, plan fights
Gangs in New York talk Twitter: Use tweets to trash-talk rivals, plan fights
BY Simone Weichselbaum (NY Daily News)
November 29, 2009
The city’s street gangs are becoming tweet gangs.
Manhattan’s young thugs have turned to Twitter, and the cops who track them are fast behind, the Daily News has learned.
It’s old-school crime meets new technology: attacks being plotted – and thwarted – 140 characters at a time.
One investigator recently warned parents and teens that the bastion of OMG and LOL has been infiltrated by violent crews waging turf wars.
A boy shot in the leg weeks earlier on Lenox Ave. may have been targeted because of a battle the Original Young Gangsters crew started on Twitter.
“It’s horrible,” NYPD Lt. Kevin O’Connor of Manhattan North’s gang intelligence unit told a forum in Harlem.
A basic search of the social-networking site for OYG or Jeff Mob, the gang based in the Jefferson Houses in East Harlem, yields shout-outs and throwdowns.
“I knoe bitches from oyg that would dead mob yah s–t in harlem,” one girl wrote in a series of tweets aimed at drawing out a rival for a fight.
Investigators are monitoring the traffic in hopes of sweeping up gangbangers before the bloodshed – and searching Twitter after attacks for clues.
“It is another tool … just like old phone records,” a police source said. “We can go through them [messages] to track these guys.”
Harlem pastor Vernon Williams, who runs Perfect Peace Ministry Youth Outreach, said his staff uses Twitter, MySpace and instant messaging to keep track of 4,000 at-risk teens.
A week ago, Twitter helped the volunteers stop a street war after they saw the Get Money Boys, based in the St. Nicholas Houses on W. 127 St., exchanging threats with Goodfellas and The New Dons, based just a few blocks north.
“They were threatening to go and hurt two people,” said Williams, 51, who sent staff out to find the tweeters.
An NYPD spokesman and the Manhattan district attorney’s office declined comment on the phenomenon, and Twitter did not respond to e-mails.
Gang members who grew up in the digital age are blasé about their tweeting.
One 15-year-old in the 28 Gunnaz gang said it’s just like any other “form of communication,” except that the world can listen in on the conversation.
That feature can actually fuel disputes. A heated exchange between rivals on the service can turn into a full-fledged beef when others get wind, he said.
A 15-year-old nicknamed Lil V, who belongs to The New Dons, says Twitter is useful for “settin’ up the fights” and making plans.
He seemed aware that the cops or anyone else could follow them – and said the gang takes precautions, using lingo gangsters from an earlier era wouldn’t even understand.
“We got our own page,” Lil V said. “Our page is private.”
BY Simone Weichselbaum (NY Daily News)
November 29, 2009
The city’s street gangs are becoming tweet gangs.
Manhattan’s young thugs have turned to Twitter, and the cops who track them are fast behind, the Daily News has learned.
It’s old-school crime meets new technology: attacks being plotted – and thwarted – 140 characters at a time.
One investigator recently warned parents and teens that the bastion of OMG and LOL has been infiltrated by violent crews waging turf wars.
A boy shot in the leg weeks earlier on Lenox Ave. may have been targeted because of a battle the Original Young Gangsters crew started on Twitter.
“It’s horrible,” NYPD Lt. Kevin O’Connor of Manhattan North’s gang intelligence unit told a forum in Harlem.
A basic search of the social-networking site for OYG or Jeff Mob, the gang based in the Jefferson Houses in East Harlem, yields shout-outs and throwdowns.
“I knoe bitches from oyg that would dead mob yah s–t in harlem,” one girl wrote in a series of tweets aimed at drawing out a rival for a fight.
Investigators are monitoring the traffic in hopes of sweeping up gangbangers before the bloodshed – and searching Twitter after attacks for clues.
“It is another tool … just like old phone records,” a police source said. “We can go through them [messages] to track these guys.”
Harlem pastor Vernon Williams, who runs Perfect Peace Ministry Youth Outreach, said his staff uses Twitter, MySpace and instant messaging to keep track of 4,000 at-risk teens.
A week ago, Twitter helped the volunteers stop a street war after they saw the Get Money Boys, based in the St. Nicholas Houses on W. 127 St., exchanging threats with Goodfellas and The New Dons, based just a few blocks north.
“They were threatening to go and hurt two people,” said Williams, 51, who sent staff out to find the tweeters.
An NYPD spokesman and the Manhattan district attorney’s office declined comment on the phenomenon, and Twitter did not respond to e-mails.
Gang members who grew up in the digital age are blasé about their tweeting.
One 15-year-old in the 28 Gunnaz gang said it’s just like any other “form of communication,” except that the world can listen in on the conversation.
That feature can actually fuel disputes. A heated exchange between rivals on the service can turn into a full-fledged beef when others get wind, he said.
A 15-year-old nicknamed Lil V, who belongs to The New Dons, says Twitter is useful for “settin’ up the fights” and making plans.
He seemed aware that the cops or anyone else could follow them – and said the gang takes precautions, using lingo gangsters from an earlier era wouldn’t even understand.
“We got our own page,” Lil V said. “Our page is private.”
Use of Twitter, Facebook rising among California gang members
Use of Twitter, Facebook rising among California gang members
By THOMAS WATKINS
The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 2, 2010; 2:24 PM
LOS ANGELES — When a gang member was released from jail soon after his arrest for selling methamphetamine, friends and associates assumed he had cut a deal with authorities and become a police informant.
They sent a warning on Twitter that went like this: We have a snitch in our midst.
Unbeknownst to them, that tweet and the traffic it generated were being closely followed by investigators, who had been tracking the San Francisco Bay Area gang for months. Officials sat back and watched as others joined the conversation and left behind incriminating information.
Law enforcement officials say gangs are making greater use of Twitter and Facebook, where they sometimes post information that helps agents identify gang associates and learn more about their organizations.
“You find out about people you never would have known about before,” said Dean Johnston with the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, which helps police investigate gangs. “You build this little tree of people.”
In the case involving the suspected informant, tweets alerted investigators to three other gang members who were ultimately arrested on drug charges.
Tech-savvy gangsters have long been at home in chatrooms and on Web sites like MySpace, but they appear to be gravitating toward Twitter and Facebook, where they can make threats, boast about crimes, share intelligence on rivals and network with people across the country.
“We are seeing a lot more of it,” Johnston said. “They will even go out and brag about doing shootings.”
In another California case involving a different gang, much of the information gathered by investigators came from members’ Facebook accounts. Authorities expect to make arrests in the coming months.
“Once you get into a Facebook group, it’s relatively easy,” Johnston said. “You have a rolling commentary.”
And gang members sometimes turn the tables, asking contacts across their extended networks for help identifying undercover police officers.
It’s hard to know exactly how many gang members are turning to Twitter and Facebook. Many police agencies are reluctant to discuss the phenomenon for fear of revealing their investigative techniques.
Capt. Walt Myer, director of the Riverside County regional gang task force, said gang activity often “mirrors general society. When any kind of new technology comes along, they are going to use it.”
Tapping into tweets and status updates can be easy. Agents pose as pretty girls and send flirtatious friend requests. Confidential informants sometimes let police peer into their accounts.
Authorities can also seek help from the Web sites. Representatives from Twitter and Facebook say they regularly cooperate with police and supply information on account holders when presented with a search warrant. Neither company would discuss specifics.
Gang use of Twitter and Facebook still lags behind use of the much-older MySpace, which remains gang members’ online venue of choice.
The Crips, Bloods, Florencia 13, MS-13 and other gangs have long used MySpace to display potentially incriminating photos and videos of people holding guns and making hand gestures. They also post messages about rivals.
Last week, officials in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles, announced the arrest of 50 people in a crackdown of a Latino gang they say was engaged in drug sales and hate crimes against black residents. Prosecutors say some of the evidence was pulled from MySpace and YouTube, including rap videos taunting police with violent messages.
While some members are wising up to the police attention such postings can bring, gang information remains publicly viewable online.
Dozens of Facebook accounts are dedicated to the deadly MS-13 gang, with followers from around the globe. At one site, a video displays pictures of dead members of the rival 18th Street gang, and some users have left disrespectful comments.
The toughest part about tracking someone on Twitter is finding the alias or screen name they are posting under. And many tweets are nonsensical or pointless, so cutting through the clutter can be difficult.
“It’s tricky,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy David Anguiano. “If you find out what they go by, you are good to go.”
Anguiano tracks the online activity of graffiti vandals – the so-called tagging crews that sometimes morph into gangs. They post tweets saying they are heading out to spray paint and sometimes post links to photographs of their work.
Often, they cannot resist bragging about their handiwork, and the electronic trail they leave is frequently used as evidence.
“They talk about it too much,” Anguiano said. “You want the fame so you’ve got to go out there and talk about it. That’s when your mouth gets you in trouble.”
By THOMAS WATKINS
The Associated Press
Tuesday, February 2, 2010; 2:24 PM
LOS ANGELES — When a gang member was released from jail soon after his arrest for selling methamphetamine, friends and associates assumed he had cut a deal with authorities and become a police informant.
They sent a warning on Twitter that went like this: We have a snitch in our midst.
Unbeknownst to them, that tweet and the traffic it generated were being closely followed by investigators, who had been tracking the San Francisco Bay Area gang for months. Officials sat back and watched as others joined the conversation and left behind incriminating information.
Law enforcement officials say gangs are making greater use of Twitter and Facebook, where they sometimes post information that helps agents identify gang associates and learn more about their organizations.
“You find out about people you never would have known about before,” said Dean Johnston with the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement, which helps police investigate gangs. “You build this little tree of people.”
In the case involving the suspected informant, tweets alerted investigators to three other gang members who were ultimately arrested on drug charges.
Tech-savvy gangsters have long been at home in chatrooms and on Web sites like MySpace, but they appear to be gravitating toward Twitter and Facebook, where they can make threats, boast about crimes, share intelligence on rivals and network with people across the country.
“We are seeing a lot more of it,” Johnston said. “They will even go out and brag about doing shootings.”
In another California case involving a different gang, much of the information gathered by investigators came from members’ Facebook accounts. Authorities expect to make arrests in the coming months.
“Once you get into a Facebook group, it’s relatively easy,” Johnston said. “You have a rolling commentary.”
And gang members sometimes turn the tables, asking contacts across their extended networks for help identifying undercover police officers.
It’s hard to know exactly how many gang members are turning to Twitter and Facebook. Many police agencies are reluctant to discuss the phenomenon for fear of revealing their investigative techniques.
Capt. Walt Myer, director of the Riverside County regional gang task force, said gang activity often “mirrors general society. When any kind of new technology comes along, they are going to use it.”
Tapping into tweets and status updates can be easy. Agents pose as pretty girls and send flirtatious friend requests. Confidential informants sometimes let police peer into their accounts.
Authorities can also seek help from the Web sites. Representatives from Twitter and Facebook say they regularly cooperate with police and supply information on account holders when presented with a search warrant. Neither company would discuss specifics.
Gang use of Twitter and Facebook still lags behind use of the much-older MySpace, which remains gang members’ online venue of choice.
The Crips, Bloods, Florencia 13, MS-13 and other gangs have long used MySpace to display potentially incriminating photos and videos of people holding guns and making hand gestures. They also post messages about rivals.
Last week, officials in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles, announced the arrest of 50 people in a crackdown of a Latino gang they say was engaged in drug sales and hate crimes against black residents. Prosecutors say some of the evidence was pulled from MySpace and YouTube, including rap videos taunting police with violent messages.
While some members are wising up to the police attention such postings can bring, gang information remains publicly viewable online.
Dozens of Facebook accounts are dedicated to the deadly MS-13 gang, with followers from around the globe. At one site, a video displays pictures of dead members of the rival 18th Street gang, and some users have left disrespectful comments.
The toughest part about tracking someone on Twitter is finding the alias or screen name they are posting under. And many tweets are nonsensical or pointless, so cutting through the clutter can be difficult.
“It’s tricky,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy David Anguiano. “If you find out what they go by, you are good to go.”
Anguiano tracks the online activity of graffiti vandals – the so-called tagging crews that sometimes morph into gangs. They post tweets saying they are heading out to spray paint and sometimes post links to photographs of their work.
Often, they cannot resist bragging about their handiwork, and the electronic trail they leave is frequently used as evidence.
“They talk about it too much,” Anguiano said. “You want the fame so you’ve got to go out there and talk about it. That’s when your mouth gets you in trouble.”
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
DEA Targets Riverside Street Gang with Alleged Ties to Mexican Mafia
January 27, 2010
Contact: SA Sarah Pullen
Public Information Officer
(213) 621-6827
DEA Targets Riverside Street Gang with Alleged Ties to Mexican Mafia“Operation Promise” Results in Federal Charges for 20 Members and Associates of Eastside Rivas
JAN 27 –RIVERSIDE, CA (JAN 27) – DEA and other law enforcement authorities announced the arrest of six defendants linked to a Riverside street gang that is alleged to act under the control of the Mexican Mafia and engage in the trafficking of methamphetamine. The six defendants are among 20 charged in three criminal complaints filed yesterday afternoon in United States District Court and unsealed this morning. Nine of the defendants charged in the federal cases are already in state custody, in some cases on related charges, and five of the defendants are currently being sought by authorities.
The federal criminal cases are part of a coordinated crackdown on the Eastside Rivas (ESR), a 20-year-old street gang with about 500 members that claims territory on the east side of the City of Riverside. The federal investigation, which started in November 2008, led to the criminal complaints that were unsealed today and allege numerous methamphetamine transactions, as well as tactics that ESR uses to maintain power and to cooperate with the Mexican Mafia, to which ESR pays monetary tribute referred to as “taxes” or “rent.”
“Our communities deserve to exist without fear and intimidation inflicted by violent drug gangs,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Landrum. “Today’s arrests should significantly impact the violent drug related activity that has wreaked havoc throughout the eastside of Riverside. This effort, as part of Operation Promise, is a promise to our citizen’s of the continued commitment of law enforcement at the federal, state and local levels to keep our streets safe.”
Out of the three criminal complaints filed in federal court, two charge single defendants – one with drug trafficking, one with being a felon in possession of a firearm – and the third complaint charges 18 defendants. The main complaint outlines the structure, rules and activities of ESR, noting that:
ESR frequently engages in “cruising,” where ESR members arm themselves with an array of deadly weapons and travel in groups to rival gang territory to attack rival gangsters;
ESR rules require that members of the gang attack individuals who intentionally or inadvertently enter ESR territory, whether they are rival gang members, customers stores or restaurants, or simply traveling through ESR territory;
ESR members use MySpace.com to communicate about gang business, and they use rap music videos and recordings to deliver a messages of violence and intimidation;
ESR is hostile to the presence of African-Americans in ESR territory, even if they are not affiliated with a gang; and
ESR relies on the possession of firearms to defend and maintain its turf, to attack or defend themselves from rival gang members, and to create an atmosphere of fear in which victims and witnesses will be reluctant to testify against gang members out of fear of retaliation.
The investigation into ESR was conducted by special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, investigators with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office and the Riverside Police Department, and special agents with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
“Law enforcement at the local and federal levels have once again joined to disrupt a criminal organization responsible for igniting the violence which has a paralyzing effect on the law-abiding citizens of Riverside, and which devastates otherwise peaceful communities,” commented Steven Martinez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles. “The crimes alleged in this case have serious consequences and, if convicted, ESR gang members will spend a good part of their lives behind bars.”
Those named in the main criminal complaint are:
Salvador Orozco Hernandez, Jr. (aka “Toro” and “Tio”), 45, of Bloomington, a Mexican Mafia member currently in state prison on attempted murder charges, who is accused of issuing directives to senior ESR members on topics including “tax” collections and drug distribution in ESR territory;
Robert Zavala Carrillo (aka “Pato”), 37, of Moreno Valley, accused of being the de facto leader of the ESR gang and the president of an ESR clique, who is a fugitive;
Christopher Nevarez (aka “Flako), 38, of Riverside, the alleged liason between the ESR and the Mexican Mafia, who is currently in state custody on a parole violation;
Ronnie Marquez (aka “Shadow”), 41, of Riverside, allegedly a senior member of ESR who is in custody awaiting trial on drug and weapons offense;
Ignacio Chavez (aka “Kartune”), 32, of Riverside, a senior member of ESR who is in custody awaiting trial on charges of attempted murder and drug trafficking;
Mark Gil (aka “Papa” and “Little G”), 35, of Moreno Valley, a senior member of ESR, who is a fugitive;
Andrew Pacheco Moreno (aka “Drew”), 37, of Fontana, who was arrested this morning;
Daniel Henry Padron (aka “Danny Boy” and “Sneaky”), 33, of Riverside, who is currently incarcerated after being convicted of drug trafficking;
Jose Arredondo (aka “Tony”), 40, of Hemet, who is currently incarcerated after being convicted of drug trafficking;
Johnny Gomez, 44, of Riverside, who was arrested this morning;
Nateno Moreno (aka “Shorty”), 32, of Riverside, who was arrested this morning;
Vanessa Garcia (aka “Pookie” and “Erica”), 22, of Riverside, who is in custody on a parole violation;
Allexxis Olonna Smith, 24, of Riverside, who is currently incarcerated after being convicted of carjacking;
Chris James Garcia (aka “Chuco”), 42, of Riverside, who was arrested this morning;
Rudy Tovar (aka “Dinky”), 30, of Riverside, who is currently incarcerated after being convicted on drug trafficking charges;
Paul Cortez (aka “Wiskers”), 22, of Riverside, who was arrested this morning;
Allan Patrick Staley (aka “Paya”), 37, of Riverside, who is a fugitive; and
Deanna Wagner, 33, of Riverside, who is a fugitive.
The other two defendants charged are: David Martinez, 37, who was arrested this morning after being charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; and Ronnie Granado, 42, a fugitive, who is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
“Federal law enforcement authorities have partnered with local enforcement to take gang members off the streets of communities across Southern California,” said Acting United States Attorney George S. Cardona. “As this action targeting Eastside Rivas demonstrates, we will continue to work with local authorities to go after the worst street gangs that traffic in narcotics and terrorize neighborhoods with their violence.”
The six defendants arrested today are expect to make their initial court appearances this afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside. As for the nine defendants currently in state custody, the United States Attorney’s Office expects to file writs to have them brought into federal custody.
A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.
If convicted, each of the 19 defendants charged with narcotics violations face a maximum statutory sentence of life without parole in federal prison. If convicted of the weapons violation, Granado faces up to 10 years in prison.
Contact: SA Sarah Pullen
Public Information Officer
(213) 621-6827
DEA Targets Riverside Street Gang with Alleged Ties to Mexican Mafia“Operation Promise” Results in Federal Charges for 20 Members and Associates of Eastside Rivas
JAN 27 –RIVERSIDE, CA (JAN 27) – DEA and other law enforcement authorities announced the arrest of six defendants linked to a Riverside street gang that is alleged to act under the control of the Mexican Mafia and engage in the trafficking of methamphetamine. The six defendants are among 20 charged in three criminal complaints filed yesterday afternoon in United States District Court and unsealed this morning. Nine of the defendants charged in the federal cases are already in state custody, in some cases on related charges, and five of the defendants are currently being sought by authorities.
The federal criminal cases are part of a coordinated crackdown on the Eastside Rivas (ESR), a 20-year-old street gang with about 500 members that claims territory on the east side of the City of Riverside. The federal investigation, which started in November 2008, led to the criminal complaints that were unsealed today and allege numerous methamphetamine transactions, as well as tactics that ESR uses to maintain power and to cooperate with the Mexican Mafia, to which ESR pays monetary tribute referred to as “taxes” or “rent.”
“Our communities deserve to exist without fear and intimidation inflicted by violent drug gangs,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Timothy J. Landrum. “Today’s arrests should significantly impact the violent drug related activity that has wreaked havoc throughout the eastside of Riverside. This effort, as part of Operation Promise, is a promise to our citizen’s of the continued commitment of law enforcement at the federal, state and local levels to keep our streets safe.”
Out of the three criminal complaints filed in federal court, two charge single defendants – one with drug trafficking, one with being a felon in possession of a firearm – and the third complaint charges 18 defendants. The main complaint outlines the structure, rules and activities of ESR, noting that:
ESR frequently engages in “cruising,” where ESR members arm themselves with an array of deadly weapons and travel in groups to rival gang territory to attack rival gangsters;
ESR rules require that members of the gang attack individuals who intentionally or inadvertently enter ESR territory, whether they are rival gang members, customers stores or restaurants, or simply traveling through ESR territory;
ESR members use MySpace.com to communicate about gang business, and they use rap music videos and recordings to deliver a messages of violence and intimidation;
ESR is hostile to the presence of African-Americans in ESR territory, even if they are not affiliated with a gang; and
ESR relies on the possession of firearms to defend and maintain its turf, to attack or defend themselves from rival gang members, and to create an atmosphere of fear in which victims and witnesses will be reluctant to testify against gang members out of fear of retaliation.
The investigation into ESR was conducted by special agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, investigators with the Riverside County District Attorney's Office and the Riverside Police Department, and special agents with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
“Law enforcement at the local and federal levels have once again joined to disrupt a criminal organization responsible for igniting the violence which has a paralyzing effect on the law-abiding citizens of Riverside, and which devastates otherwise peaceful communities,” commented Steven Martinez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles. “The crimes alleged in this case have serious consequences and, if convicted, ESR gang members will spend a good part of their lives behind bars.”
Those named in the main criminal complaint are:
Salvador Orozco Hernandez, Jr. (aka “Toro” and “Tio”), 45, of Bloomington, a Mexican Mafia member currently in state prison on attempted murder charges, who is accused of issuing directives to senior ESR members on topics including “tax” collections and drug distribution in ESR territory;
Robert Zavala Carrillo (aka “Pato”), 37, of Moreno Valley, accused of being the de facto leader of the ESR gang and the president of an ESR clique, who is a fugitive;
Christopher Nevarez (aka “Flako), 38, of Riverside, the alleged liason between the ESR and the Mexican Mafia, who is currently in state custody on a parole violation;
Ronnie Marquez (aka “Shadow”), 41, of Riverside, allegedly a senior member of ESR who is in custody awaiting trial on drug and weapons offense;
Ignacio Chavez (aka “Kartune”), 32, of Riverside, a senior member of ESR who is in custody awaiting trial on charges of attempted murder and drug trafficking;
Mark Gil (aka “Papa” and “Little G”), 35, of Moreno Valley, a senior member of ESR, who is a fugitive;
Andrew Pacheco Moreno (aka “Drew”), 37, of Fontana, who was arrested this morning;
Daniel Henry Padron (aka “Danny Boy” and “Sneaky”), 33, of Riverside, who is currently incarcerated after being convicted of drug trafficking;
Jose Arredondo (aka “Tony”), 40, of Hemet, who is currently incarcerated after being convicted of drug trafficking;
Johnny Gomez, 44, of Riverside, who was arrested this morning;
Nateno Moreno (aka “Shorty”), 32, of Riverside, who was arrested this morning;
Vanessa Garcia (aka “Pookie” and “Erica”), 22, of Riverside, who is in custody on a parole violation;
Allexxis Olonna Smith, 24, of Riverside, who is currently incarcerated after being convicted of carjacking;
Chris James Garcia (aka “Chuco”), 42, of Riverside, who was arrested this morning;
Rudy Tovar (aka “Dinky”), 30, of Riverside, who is currently incarcerated after being convicted on drug trafficking charges;
Paul Cortez (aka “Wiskers”), 22, of Riverside, who was arrested this morning;
Allan Patrick Staley (aka “Paya”), 37, of Riverside, who is a fugitive; and
Deanna Wagner, 33, of Riverside, who is a fugitive.
The other two defendants charged are: David Martinez, 37, who was arrested this morning after being charged with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; and Ronnie Granado, 42, a fugitive, who is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
“Federal law enforcement authorities have partnered with local enforcement to take gang members off the streets of communities across Southern California,” said Acting United States Attorney George S. Cardona. “As this action targeting Eastside Rivas demonstrates, we will continue to work with local authorities to go after the worst street gangs that traffic in narcotics and terrorize neighborhoods with their violence.”
The six defendants arrested today are expect to make their initial court appearances this afternoon in United States District Court in Riverside. As for the nine defendants currently in state custody, the United States Attorney’s Office expects to file writs to have them brought into federal custody.
A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty.
If convicted, each of the 19 defendants charged with narcotics violations face a maximum statutory sentence of life without parole in federal prison. If convicted of the weapons violation, Granado faces up to 10 years in prison.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
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
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
Sunday, December 13, 2009
"Fluffy Bunny Crew" One of Three Street Gangs Busted by DPS
By James King in Crime BlotterFri., Dec. 11 2009 @ 2:37PM
Department of Public Safety - Phoenix, AZ
In the past, criminal street gangs have used names that strike fear in the hearts of their rivals. The Bloods, the Crips, the Jets, the Sharks -- all have an intimidating connotation.
As for Scottsdale's latest group of thugs -- busted today as part of the Department of Public Safety's "Operation Triple Threat"-- not so much.
The "Fluffy Bunny Crew" is one of three criminal street gangs busted as part of the DPS' latest gangster roundup, but don't let the wimpy name fool you -- according to DPS officials, these are some pretty bad dudes.
DPS spokesman Steve Harrison tells New Times the gang is called the "Fluffy Bunnies" so that after they beat the crap out of somebody and that person has to tell their friends they got their asses kicked by a couple of "fluffy bunnies."
Gang assaults and home invasions aside -- at least these guys have a sense of humor.
The "Fluffy Bunnies" were part of a larger organization made up of what DPS officials are calling "party crews" coming out of Valley high schools.
Harrison says three "party crews," which came out of Sandra Day O'Connor, Cactus Shadow, and North Canyon high schools, progressed from three groups of party-crashers into a single, organized street-gang -- responsible for drug-dealing, home invasions, and robbery.
Harrison says the three "party crews" began as rivals but came together under the auspices of white supremacy. He says the gang isn't technically considered a white-supremacist organization but that white supremest ideals are what brought the three crews together.
DPS has been watching the gang for more than a year and has seen it go from committing smaller crimes, like serving booze to minors, to more serious offenses, like armed-robbery, kidnapping, and countless assaults.
Harrison says gang members are involved in dealing drugs and have been busted with guns, including an assault rifle and a sawed-off shotgun.
Over the past two days, DPS officers, in collaboration with several other law-enforcement agencies, have taken 22 gang members into custody and have warrants for three additional suspects.
Search warrants have uncovered the recovery of stolen property, 1,017 tablets of Soma, 200 tablets of Xanax, 90 tablets of Valium, and 70 Neo-Pircodan, as well as a collection of weapons and body armor.
Along with the "Fluffy Bunnies," members of the "Dirty White Boyz" were also busted in the sweep.
With pussy names like these, they might as well start a boy band.
Department of Public Safety - Phoenix, AZ
In the past, criminal street gangs have used names that strike fear in the hearts of their rivals. The Bloods, the Crips, the Jets, the Sharks -- all have an intimidating connotation.
As for Scottsdale's latest group of thugs -- busted today as part of the Department of Public Safety's "Operation Triple Threat"-- not so much.
The "Fluffy Bunny Crew" is one of three criminal street gangs busted as part of the DPS' latest gangster roundup, but don't let the wimpy name fool you -- according to DPS officials, these are some pretty bad dudes.
DPS spokesman Steve Harrison tells New Times the gang is called the "Fluffy Bunnies" so that after they beat the crap out of somebody and that person has to tell their friends they got their asses kicked by a couple of "fluffy bunnies."
Gang assaults and home invasions aside -- at least these guys have a sense of humor.
The "Fluffy Bunnies" were part of a larger organization made up of what DPS officials are calling "party crews" coming out of Valley high schools.
Harrison says three "party crews," which came out of Sandra Day O'Connor, Cactus Shadow, and North Canyon high schools, progressed from three groups of party-crashers into a single, organized street-gang -- responsible for drug-dealing, home invasions, and robbery.
Harrison says the three "party crews" began as rivals but came together under the auspices of white supremacy. He says the gang isn't technically considered a white-supremacist organization but that white supremest ideals are what brought the three crews together.
DPS has been watching the gang for more than a year and has seen it go from committing smaller crimes, like serving booze to minors, to more serious offenses, like armed-robbery, kidnapping, and countless assaults.
Harrison says gang members are involved in dealing drugs and have been busted with guns, including an assault rifle and a sawed-off shotgun.
Over the past two days, DPS officers, in collaboration with several other law-enforcement agencies, have taken 22 gang members into custody and have warrants for three additional suspects.
Search warrants have uncovered the recovery of stolen property, 1,017 tablets of Soma, 200 tablets of Xanax, 90 tablets of Valium, and 70 Neo-Pircodan, as well as a collection of weapons and body armor.
Along with the "Fluffy Bunnies," members of the "Dirty White Boyz" were also busted in the sweep.
With pussy names like these, they might as well start a boy band.
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