Thread: Gang task force disbanded as MS-13 strikes again outside Washington

Gang task force disbanded as MS-13 strikes again outside Washington


Story by Anna Giaritelli • Yesterday 6:14 PM

January 26, 2023

Agang task force group in northern Virginia that targeted MS-13, the largest gang in the area, was shuttered at the start of the year, leaving a potentially dangerous void in its absence.





Gang task force disbanded as MS-13 strikes again outside Washington© Provided by Washington Examiner


The Northern Virginia Regional Gang Task Force’s most recent executive director, Jay Lanham, told the Washington Examiner on Thursday that the 20-year task force had been suddenly disbanded Jan. 1, a dissolution he blamed on anti-police sentiment.

“The task force dissolved as of January 1,” Lanham wrote in an email. “Certainly I'm disappointed, but I also understand the challenges facing law enforcement these days, especially with staffing. With the demonizing of law enforcement over the last few years, agencies are struggling with hiring and filling voids with those who have retired or left. And funding has always been a struggle.”

There was no formal announcement, Lanham said, after the task force's steering committee chose to dissolve it in 2022. The steering committee comprised more than a dozen county and city law enforcement representatives from northern Virginia.

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The shutdown of the task force comes in the midst of a homicide investigation involving an MS-13 gang member in the small town of Aberdeen, Maryland.

A 20-year-old autistic resident, Kayla Hamilton, was raped and strangled to death in July 2022. Local police have identified a 17-year-old Hispanic male from El Salvador who belongs to MS-13 as the primary suspect in the incident.

MS-13, short for Mara Salvatrucha, is known for extreme violence. In 2012, the Treasury Department declared it a transnational criminal organization for smuggling people, drugs, and guns between Central America and the United States.

MS-13 was “by far the largest gang in Northern Virginia,” Lanham said in 2019.

The regional task force was formed in 2003 through help from former Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), who acquired earmarked grants to fund the endeavor as the gang was becoming a growing concern right outside the nation's capital.

The influx of federal money ceased in 2012, and cities and counties were forced to pitch in to cover the watered-down version of the task force.

Former President Donald Trump had brought MS-13 back into the national spotlight during his time in office, with more than 160 mentions in 2017 and 2018.

The task force’s absence leaves a hole at the local level of gang prevention efforts.

“It will most definitely create a void from a regional focus at the local level,” Lanham wrote in an email Thursday. “Agencies will continue to address gang issues, but currently, only Fairfax County and Prince William County have full time Gang Units dedicated to gang investigations.

The Intervention/Prevention/Education group will continue to exist and stayed focused on their mission. It is hard to say if the void will contribute to a greater gang foothold. Federal Agencies will continue their focus on gangs, but they are not as focused on local gang crime."

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

In a 2019 investigation, the Washington Examiner exposed that immigrants who fled Central American countries to get away from transnational criminal organizations such as MS-13 came to the United States only to find the exact same gangs terrorizing northern Virginia communities. Historically, head-to-toe tattoos have made members easy to identify — and the more tattoos, the higher the rank of the member.

Members show loyalty to the gang by committing horrific crimes against nongang members.


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime...adfc32b4354ea0