White Supremacist Gang Gains Clout(CA, NV AZ)

[RedEarth]

BUENA PARK, Calif. (AP) - The white supremacist gang Public Enemy No. 1 began two decades ago as a group of teenage punk-rock fans from upper-middle class bedroom communities in Southern California.

Now, the violent gang that deals in drugs, guns and identity theft is gaining clout across the West after forging an alliance with the notorious Aryan Brotherhood, authorities say.

Police say the gang has compiled a "hit list" targeting five officers and a gang prosecutor - a sign of just how brazen Public Enemy has become. "They make police officers very, very nervous," said Cpl. Nate Booth, a gang detective with the Buena Park Police Department in Orange County.

In the past three years, its ranks have doubled to at least 400, but authorities suspect there could be hundreds of other members operating under the radar. They said heavy recruiting is taking place throughout California and Arizona, and members have been picked up by police in Nevada and Idaho. "They move around. We find them everywhere," said Lowell Smith of the Orange County Probation Department.

The gang traces its roots to the punk rock subculture in Long Beach in the 1980s. It soon shifted its base to nearby Orange County and in the 1990s began recruiting what police call "bored latchkey kids" - white teenagers from upper-middle class neighborhoods.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070305/D8NLM7300.html

[havocmom]

1. gangs ALWAYS thrive when there is a bush in the WH

Hopelessness breeds hate and violence.

[olddad56]

2. white supremacist gangs? Aren't those called republicans.

[nealmhughes]

6. Really, I just call them "I Smelta Farts," or "Fratrats," myself.

[DBoon]

3. very frightening possibility

What if the right wing starts using gangs like this as "enforcers", to start targeting political opponents?

All that it would take is the ability to shield these gangs from nosy local prosecutors.

:tinfoilhat:

[manic expression]

9. Well

skinheads (or "boneheads", since not all skinheads are neo-nazis) have been employed by the rest of the white supremacist movement as shock troops for awhile. It would be easy for "mainstream" conservatives to start doing the same, although I think that boneheads are skeptical toward that section of the right wing (as in they're not pro-genocide enough).

[muntrv]

4. Uh Bush? Patriot Act? You gonna use it on these thugs, as in terrorists?

[roamer65]

5. * will hire them when he declares martial law.

Pre-made SS troops for his Turd Reich.

[classysassy]

14. Terrorists

There are no white terrorist,only the A.A.A's,Asians,Arabs and African Americans.That seem to be the lie told by most republicans and other misguided Americans.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

7. I wonder if they get subsidies from Ann Coulter

Wouldn't surprise me.

[manic expression]

8. Typical

while white supremacists gain momentum and power, the authorities are busy suppressing every leftist they can get their cuffs on.

And if anyone doubts just how ridiculous this gets, a group I was working with (and myself) were detained by cops while we were trying to raise awareness about neo-nazis (we would've had our materials confiscated had we not hid them).

[manic expression]

10. Another thing is that Nevada and CA have supposedly been pretty bad

two anti-fascists were murdered in Las Vegas a few years ago. This has been growing for a bit and no one in power has done anything about it.

[Ignacio Upton]

11. Nazi punks? Sounds like an oxymoron

I've never understood why there are punk rock white supremacists?

[manic expression]

13. You might think so

but a considerable portion of the skinhead counterculture has somehow turned to radical right-wing politics. It happened in the 70's IIRC, and the movement basically split into two camps, fascist and anti-fascist (aka antifa); there's been conflict ever since.

[Ian David]

12. When you see any kind of gang-related graffiti...

cross-out the name of the gang and write, "NO!" and then write, "College Republicans, YES!"

[marmar]

15. Wonderful....

They might as well join in the nutty pot-au-feu that is America these days. :crazy:

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. Don't you just hate it when a stereotype breaks in the wrong direction?