Thread: LA: Huge sweeps: Latino gangs that allegedly attacked blacks

So far, it is only about one gang.

SoCal gang members indicted in racist shootings

By THOMAS WATKINS – 1 hour ago

LOS ANGELES (AP) — About 150 members and associates of a predominantly Latino street gang have been indicted in the shootings of black victims and other crimes, authorities said Thursday.

Federal and local agencies were conducting a series of arrests targeting members and associates of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens street gang, U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Thom Mrozek said.

A series of federal racketeering indictments due to be unsealed later Thursday will detail the attacks on several black victims and specify firearms, narcotics and other charges related to the attacks, Mrozek said. Further details were not released.

The indictments mark at least the second time in less than two years that federal authorities have accused Latino gang members of attacking black residents because of their race. Local officials have tried to downplay racial tensions.

The investigation of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens gang was triggered in June 2005 by the murder of Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Luis Gerardo "Jerry" Ortiz. Jose Luis Orozco, a member of the gang, was sentenced to death in 2007 for the killing.

Ortiz, 35, died as he searched for Orozco, who had shot and wounded a man while he did yard work. Orozco was later found guilty of attempted murder in that case.

The gang primarily operates in Hawaiian Gardens, a city of about 15,000 residents 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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SoCal gang members indicted in racist shootings

By THOMAS WATKINS, Associated Press Writer

Thursday, May 21, 2009

05-21) 11:45 PDT Los Angeles, CA (AP) --

Federal racketeering indictments unsealed Thursday charge that a Latino street gang has waged a racist campaign to eliminate black people from a Southern California city through attempted murders and other crimes.

Five indictments charged a total of 147 members and associates of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens gang, and federal and local agencies arrested 63 of them by early Thursday, U.S. Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien told a press conference.

O'Brien asserted it was "the largest gang takedown in United States history," but he did not immediately elaborate.

The indictments detail attempted murder, kidnapping, firearms, narcotics and other charges related to attacks by the gang, which primarily operates in Hawaiian Gardens, a city of about 15,000 people in southeastern Los Angeles County.

"(Varrio Hawaiian Gardens) gang members take pride in their racism and often refer to the VHG Gang as the 'Hate Gang,'" the main indictment states. "VHG gang members have expressed a desire to rid the city of Hawaiian Gardens of all African-Americans and have engaged in a systematic effort to achieve that result by perpetrating crimes against African-Americans."

The indictment alleges a string of attacks on black residents, including a shooting into a home with eight people inside. The indictment does not say if anyone was hit.

In another instance, two gang members allegedly chased a black man, yelled a racist epithet at him and then beat him with a garden rake. The same man was later repeatedly stabbed by two gang members, according to the indictment, which charges them with his attempted murder.

In the 2000 Census, the latest data available, Hawaiian Gardens was roughly 73 percent Hispanic and 4 percent black. The city was incorporated in 1964 and, according to local lore, was named after a bamboo snack shack built in 1927.

The indictments mark at least the second time in less than two years that federal authorities have alleged that Latino gang members in Southern California attacked black residents because of their race. In 2007, agents arrested dozens of members of the Florencia 13 gang in South Los Angeles and said the gang had, in some instances, killed black people purely because of the color of their skin.

The extent to which race is driving the area's gang conflicts last year sparked an argument between the region's two top cops, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca and Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton. Baca said racial bias was a significant factor in gang crime while Bratton, pointing to statistics showing cross-racial crime to be rare, downplayed any tension.

The investigation of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens gang has been under way for almost four years since the June 2005 murder of Los Angeles County sheriff's Deputy Luis Gerardo "Jerry" Ortiz. Jose Luis Orozco, a member of the gang, was sentenced to death in 2007 for the killing.

Ortiz, 35, died as he searched for Orozco, who had shot and wounded a man while he did yard work. Orozco was later found guilty of attempted murder in that case.

"Following the murder of Deputy Ortiz, the Sheriff's Department sought federal and local assistance to help destroy the Hawaiian Gardens gang," the U.S. attorney said.

Florencia 13 and Varrio Hawaiian Gardens aren't the only Latino gangs linked to racial attacks. In 2007, four members of The Avenues, a gang from the Highland Park area northeast of downtown Los Angeles, were convicted of hate crimes for killing a black man in what prosecutors called a campaign to drive blacks from that neighborhood. Authorities have also announced a crackdown on the 204th Street gang following the killing of a 14-year-old black girl.

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, an author and racial commentator, said racial bias among gang members is high in transitioning neighborhoods where black residents are moving out and Latinos are moving in.

"There is a deep-seated animosity between some Latino gangs and African-Americans," he said. "There is no way around it, it is driven by racial animus."

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Hawaiian Gardens gang named in racketeering indictment [Updated]

11:54 AM | May 21, 2009

Federal authorities today unveiled a sweeping racketeering indictment accusing a southern Los Angeles County street gang of a litany of crimes, including killing a sheriff’s deputy and committing hate crimes against African Americans in order to rid them from their turf.

The indictment, along with several related ones, charges more than 100 members of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens gang with murder, attempted murder, drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, extortion, kidnapping and witness intimidation. U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien, speaking at a news conference this morning, touted it as the “largest gang takedown in United States history.â€

Does the SLPC name them as a hate group?

this information needs to be given to the Shaw family in their case against the illegal who killed their son and then confront the mayor and police chief both who said there is no such thing happening in LA

Originally Posted by jean

Does the SLPC name them as a hate group?

no only white and black groups are used by that rag organization
oh and groups opposed to illegal immigration

There are a lot of illegal alien gang attacks on blacks in many cities.

Latino 'hate gang' busted in L.A.

In what's being called the “largest gang takedown in United States history,â€

The southern California news showed all of the guns they took from this gang. They had a lot of guns.

This happening now is political cover for the Jamiel Shaw Wrongful Death Lawsuit. Once the lawsuit is concluded it will be back to business as usual.



Relatives of a slain 17-year-old boy have sued the county for wrongful death.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court by Jamiel and Anita Shaw, the parents of the late Jamiel Shaw II. The deceased teen's brother, Thomas Shaw, also is a plaintiff.

The family members name as defendants the county, Sheriff Lee Baca and their son's alleged killer, Pedro Espinoza.

The relatives also are alleging negligence, violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act and deprivation of civil rights. They are seeking unspecified damages.

Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for Baca, said he had not seen the lawsuit and declined to comment.

Shaw, a Los Angeles High School football player, was shot and killed in March 2008, allegedly by Espinoza, an alleged gang member who was in the country illegally.

According to the lawsuit, deputies negligently released Espinoza from jail on March 1, 2008, despite knowing he was "a dangerous felon and an immigration violator."

Shaw was shot at 8:30 p.m. a day later in the 2100 block of 5th Avenue while talking with his girlfriend on the phone two doors from his home.

The lawsuit also alleges that Espinoza, a Latino, targeted Shaw because he is black.

The 20-year-old Espinoza, who is charged with murder, is scheduled to be arraigned June 30.

"Jamiel's Law" would have given Los Angeles police officers the right to arrest undocumented gang members before they commit crimes. However, supporters of the measure did not obtain enough signatures to place the measure
on the May city election ballot.

Since 1979, the Los Angeles Police Department has operated under Special Order 40, which prevents officers from initiating contact with suspects for the sole purpose of inquiring about their immigration status. The policy was
implemented so undocumented residents could report crimes and cooperate with police without fear of being deported.

http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local ... wsuit.html