Rash Of Racial Killings In Gangland

Los Angeles County Investigation Shows Latino Gang Bent On "Cleansing" Turf

(AP)  In a murderous quest aimed at "cleansing" their turf of snitches and rival gangsters, members of one of Los Angeles County's most vicious Latino gangs sometimes killed people just because of their race, an investigation found.

There were even instances in which Florencia 13 leaders ordered killings of black gangsters and then, when the intended victim couldn't be located, said "Well, shoot any black you see," Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca said.

"In certain cases some murders were just purely motivated on killing a black person," Baca said.

Authorities say there were 20 murders among more than 80 shootings documented during the gang's rampage in the hardscrabble Florence-Firestone neighborhood, exceptional even in an area where gang violence has been commonplace for decades. They do not specify the time frame or how many of the killings were racial.

Los Angeles has struggled with gang violence for years, especially during the wars in the late 1980s and early '90s between the Crips and the Bloods - both black gangs. Latino gangs have gained influence since then as the Hispanic population surged.

Evidence of Florencia 13, or F13, is easy to find in Florence-Firestone. Arrows spray-painted on the wall of a liquor store mark the gang's boundary and graffiti warns rivals to steer clear.

The gang's name comes from the neighborhood that is its stronghold and the 13th letter of the alphabet - M - representing the gang's ties to the Mexican Mafia.

Federal, state and local officials worked together to charge 102 men linked to F13 with racketeering, conspiracy to murder, weapons possession, drug dealing and other crimes. In terms of people charged, it is the largest-ever federal case involving a Southern California gang, prosecutors say. More than 80 of those indicted are in custody.

But eliminating the gang will not be easy. It has survived for decades and is believed to have about 2,000 members. Its reach extends to the neighboring states of Nevada and Arizona, and into prisons, where prosecutors say incarcerated gang leaders were able to order hits on black gangsters.

According to the indictment, F13's leader, Arturo Castellanos, sent word in 2004 from California's fortress-like Pelican Bay State Prison that he wanted his street soldiers to begin "cleansing" Florence-Firestone of black gangsters, notably the East Coast Crips, and snitches.

His followers eagerly obeyed, according to federal prosecutors.

In one case, F13 members came across a black man at a bus stop, shouted "Cheese toast!" and fired. "Cheese toast" is a derogatory name for East Coast Crips, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin S. Rosenberg said.

The victim, apparently targeted only because of his skin color, survived being shot several times, Rosenberg said.

F13 is not the only Latino gang linked to racial killings. Last year, four members of The Avenues, a gang from the Highland Park area east 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. And last January, authorities announced a crackdown on the 204th Street gang following the killing of a 14-year-old black girl.

The violence goes both ways, said Adam Torres, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department gang detective whose beat includes Florence-Firestone.

During a recent patrol on the east side of the neighborhood, he pointed to a cinderblock wall peppered with bullet holes. Torres said the Crips still control that area and any Hispanic there is at risk of being shot.

Despite the wave of violence, George Tita, a criminologist with the University of California, Irvine, said racially motivated gang killings are an exception. Latinos and blacks are far more likely to be murdered by one of their own.

"You don't see these major black-brown wars, either within the context of gangs or outside the context of gangs," Tita said.

Residents of Florence-Firestone are loath to discuss gangs, fearful they might end up as targets, but there are signs of change. Murders in the neighborhood dropped from 43 in 2005 to 19 in 2006, Baca said. For 2007, there were 19 murders as of Dec. 24.

[bhappy2-2]

kattyclayz- If ALL the states would adopt the attitude Arizona has, penalize the people who support these ILLEGAL ALIEN INVADERS we would see an end to the INVASION. I, personally, believe the fines should be much more severe. Start at $250,000.00 per ILLEGAL ALIEN INVADER these people hire, house or otherwise support for their first offense. Increase the fine to $500,000.00 for each ILLEGAL ALIEN INVADER for their second offense. Make the third offense punished by fining $1,000.000.00 per ILLEGAL ALIEN INVADER they provide with ANY type of aid or support and add 1 year in prison for each ILLEGAL ALIEN INVADER they have provided ANYTHING to. Confiscate ALL property, personal and business, and auction it off to the public to raise money to cover the costs of deportation. Make their third offense prison time retro-active to their first and second offenses. When the cost of using ILLEGAL ALIEN INVADERS for cheap labor exceeds the additional funds they save they will quit hiring them. If there is no work available the ILLEGAL ALIEN INVADERS will self-deport.

[michellem99-2009]

I won''t deny Seattle has Her PROBLEMS. I was born and raised back in Maine. There are things about this place that need change but they who are put in office won''t get off their asre and clean this up. I was told by the cops* the crimmal has rights yer can''t touch him/her or ye be hauled off to jail*. In the old days yer went to prisom/jail yer lived in that cell,yer ate yer meal there. Today they are pandered to ,gangs allowed,,I am from the olde school.

[robstrck]

These people are not illegals. As somebody who has been actively dealing with this problem, I can assure you that the vast majority are citizens born of immigrants. To conquer this problem, people need to get past their own racist attitudes. Ask any law enforcment officers working on this and they will tell you that white supremacist gangs are just as much a problem. Forming anti-gang task forces in the community is one way and getting families invovled in order to prevent their own children''''s involvment. The attitude has to be one that is proactive, and based on knowledge, and not based on fear mongering racist attitudes.

Posted by rudy654

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Yep, I read everyday about white supremacist gangs murdering blacks and latinos.

[libsluvsuvs]

Posted by mocaleo at 11:30 AM : Jan 01, 2008
+ report abuse

************

pick something to beleive in....why dont your choose you..

*these effing athiests following an ideology of just whinning about other religions..is that what atheism is??"

[libsluvsuvs]

Posted by MichelleM99 at 09:47 PM : Dec 31, 2007
+ report abuse

******************

the reason it is out of control is because we more worried about ''offending'' these pieces of shi*t than properly dealing with it. the first thing that needs to be done is STOP LISTENING TO THESE BLEEDING HEART LIBERALS. specially the ones from seattle washington

[Krazcarl]

Round them up put them in a camp with heavy labor make it uninteresting talk will do nothing, you want to fly colors be willing to do heavy labor for years,

[kattyclayz]

Everything that you said is all true bhappy2-2, but the problem is, there''s no way to take back our country without more or less breaking laws ourselves. Which of course, will lead to us, the actual tax paying, hard working Americans, in jail for violating an Illegal Alien''s rights, or getting sued for wrongful death if you would actually feel like you were being threatened. I am all for civil liberties. Please don''t get me wrong people, I believe in freedom. Unfortunately, there are just as many laws, if not more, protecting people that aren''t even supposed to be here as the innocent that they hurt. And as stated earlier, it''s so easy for ANY gang member to send out orders from jail. Why are we even giving freedoms to people who didn''t obey basic laws anyway? Back in the old days, they would have been in small cells with nothing more than a toilet and sink. Food served to them in the cell. What''s so unfair/wrong about that? If you can''t live by society''s rules, then you don''t deserve phone calls to "family" or visitors. Do without until your time is served is how we should run our prisons, not home away from homes. No TV''s, no weights to build up body mass. If they wanna keep in shape, they got cells where they can do sit ups or push ups, that''s all they deserve.

[payasyougo]

Gang members are a product of failed social programs and liberal meddling in the educational and criminal justice systems. Don''t blame the cops.
And you can''t build enough detention centers to treat what is a symptom of the problem if you don''t solve the problem itself.

Here is a 12-year plan to solve the problem:

You either contribute to society or you are gone. Write-off the current child criminal now - make the jail space available. Get schools back to reading/writing/arithmetic training. Remove that individuality ***. Allow discipline in the classrooms. Spend on teachers, not technology. Limit single mom welfare to two kids, take the third away and sterilize. Use DNA to hold the sperm donors responsible and sterilize.

This is not an overnight process. The goal of a hoodlum is to draw down those around them.

[michellem99-2009]

Yes crzmeat yer right..I was 19 just grad from high school. Aug 1974. Nixon was bad but he had honour to step down. Bush far worse F-. When they are running they say the will do this/that and when they get in there their tune changes...It is just talk..We will vote and really not a one is worth the vote. This gang thing is out of control. No one will fix it and send the illegals home.

[michellem99-2009]

Gaye5..Dear I have no idea ..IT IS NOT THE SAME AMERICA I GREW UP IN. Years ago it was better. I live in Seattle. There is tagging every where. It looks awful. Sagging pants/baggy clothes. Bullys. The break down of the family, drugs. Homelessness. Greed. Drive by shooting,rage. We did not have this years ago.