California mom charged in gang shooting
June 30, 2007
PALMDALE, Calif.--A mother faces firearms charges after she allegedly drove her son's friends to a rival gang member's house to take part in a shooting, authorities said.
Michelle Wright, 37, pleaded not guilty Thursday to three counts of assault with a firearm and one count of shooting a firearm at a dwelling, said Los Angeles County sheriff's Detective Robert Gillis on Friday. She was held on $250,000 bail.
Wright drove her son's two friends to a rival gang member's house in Palmdale early Tuesday, authorities said. One of the son's friends got out and fired at a bedroom window before the three drove away.
Two small children and a teen were in the room, but no one was injured.
Detectives acting on a tip arrested the woman's son and the gunman, Gillis said. Authorities recovered a shotgun they suspect was used in the shooting, he said.
Wright told authorities she drove her son's friends to do the shooting because she believed police were not doing enough to stop gang members from harassing her children, Gillis said.
Wright's son and the two other teens, whom authorities have accused of being members of a street gang, were charged and held in juvenile custody.
An attorney representing Wright could not be located, and her phone number was unlisted.
Palmdale is located in northern Los Angeles County.
Feds Bust MS-13 Gang Members for Ordering Murder From Prison Cells
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
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June 5: Attorney General Gonzales arrives at a press conference at the Department of Justice.
WASHINGTON— Three Salvadoran members of the deadly street gang MS-13 were indicted Tuesday on federal charges that they ordered U.S. gang members to carry out cold-blooded murders and other vicious crimes — directing it all from their prison cells in El Salvador.
Dany Fredy Ramos Mejia, Saul Antonios Turcio Angel and Rigoberto Del Transito Mejia Regaldo conspired in a racketeering plot with murder, robbery, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, according to the 30-count indictment.
The indictment says the three defendants and at least 13 others conspired to commit murder and other violent crimes with firearms, baseball bats, machetes, bottles, and knives.
The three are members of MS-13, La Mara Salvatrucha, a violent street gang of immigrants or descendants of immigrants with members in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico and the United States.
Two of the members allegedly directed other MS-13 members to commit crimes, including murdering two people in the United States, from 2001 to March 2007. They also are connected to eight murders in Maryland and a murder in Virginia, the Justice Department said.
In 2004, Mejia and Angel videotaped themselves and fellow gang members in El Salvador planning gang activities, according to the indictment. In 2005, Angel used a cell phone to call members of the Teclas Locos Salvatruchos clique in Maryland to discuss crimes. Later that day, gang members killed two people and wounded a juvenile.
The three defendants remain in an El Salvador prison for crimes allegedly committed in that country. They face a maximum sentence in a U.S. prison
All three defendants are currently incarcerated in El Salvador on charges for crimes allegedly committed in that country. If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum sentence in the U.S. of life in prison for conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales praised the indictments and thanked Salvadoran government officials for their assistance in the investigation.
"Together we are going to make the streets and the neighborhoods of all of the Americas safer for our children," Gonzales said at a press conference announcing the indictments.
Acting Director Michael J. Sullivan of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives said the indictment sends a message to gang members.
"MS-13 is a criminal organization that has terrorized our nation's neighborhoods and jeopardized community safety for far too long," Sullivan said. "This indictment sends a strong signal that anyone who joins the gang and participates in violent acts on its behalf will continue to be brought to justice, no matter where they may hide."
3rd teen arrested in Fla. gang rape
1 hour, 1 minute ago
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - A third teenager was arrested Thursday in the gang rape and assault of a mother and her 12-year-old son in a housing project, police said.
Fingerprints in the woman's house linked 15-year-old Jakaris Sansay Taylor to the June 18 attack, West Palm Beach police spokesman Ted White said.
Up to 10 masked teenagers raped and sodomized the woman and beat her son, police said. They also forced her at gunpoint to perform oral sex on the boy, she later told a TV station.
Taylor was arrested at his home in the housing project on charges of home invasion robbery with a firearm, wearing a mask while committing an offense, sexual battery and armed sexual battery with multiple perpetrators. He will be transferred to a juvenile detention center once investigators finish questioning him, police said.
Taylor's mother, Jacqueline Minor, declined to comment when reached by phone Thursday.
Two other teenagers, Avion Lawson, 14, and Nathan Walker, 16, were being held without bail in the assault and gang rape.
The state attorney's office will seek a grand jury indictment to ensure all defendants are charged as adults, spokesman Mike Edmondson said.
Posted on Fri, Jul. 20, 2007
By DEANNA BOYD
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH -- Gangsters take heed: Throwing gang signs could result in authorities throwing the book at you.
An 18-year-old Fort Worth man found himself in a world of trouble Wednesday night when he flashed gang signs at a passing car, only to find that its occupants were undercover gang officers.
The incident occurred about 10 p.m. as the two officers, in an unmarked car, passed a home in the 3800 block of North Terry Street -- a known hangout of a north side gang.
The officers called for officers in marked units to detain the teen for disorderly conduct/gesture, said Lt. Dean Sullivan, a police spokesman.
But that wasn't the teen's only mistake, police said.
As officers patted the teen down, they found a bottle of what appeared to be Xanax inside his pocket. The teen could not explain why he had the pills, Sullivan said.
Then, when officers asked for his identification, the teen told them it was in his bedroom and led them into the home. There, on a table, officers spotted a clear plastic baggie with what they believed was cocaine inside, Sullivan said.
Based on the discovery, narcotics officers were called and obtained a search warrant for the home. They uncovered a cache of weapons, including an Uzi, an AR-15, a .44-caliber Magnum pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun and other handguns. Officers also found approximately 3.6 kilos of suspected cocaine, a pound of what appeared to be marijuana and about $65,000 in cash, Sullivan said.
"In addition to that, there were six wrappings from kilos of cocaine that they had already apparently opened and sold, we presume, or distributed," Lt. Robert Rangel said.
The 18-year-old, identified as Alex R. Perez Jr., and his 17-year-old brother, Paul A. Perez, were arrested on suspicion of drug and weapons violations.
Agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are assisting in the investigation.
Authorities will seek federal charges against the 18-year-old and state charges against his brother.
"It was a bad career move and lousy timing for the gang member," Rangel said.
Deanna Boyd, 817-390-7655
Hundreds Protest Music with Disparaging Lyrics
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Hundreds of people march through the streets of Manhattan yesterday in a protest march lead by the reverend Al Sharpton.
"We're not talking about free speech," Sharpton told the crowd Thursday. "We're talking about three words."
The three words Sharpton is referring to are the same as those used by Don Imus when he described a predominantly black women's basketball team as "nappy headed hos."
Sharpton as been leading the charge against former radio shock jock Don Imus who was fired over the remarks. The controversy around Imus's firing still rages with Imus filing a lawsuit..
Chanting "Decency now!" the protesters followed a path that led them past the New York headquarters of four of the largest music labels: Sony, Warner, Universal and Time Warner.
Sharpton said that "You can't have standards for some, and when it comes to women and African-Americans, you don't have standards," he said.
Not everyone agrees with Sharpton. Rapper Snoop Dogg says the lyrics rappers use are drawn from the harsh backgrounds and neighbourhoods from which rappers often hail.
Rappers are not talking about "collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports," Snoop Dogg told MTV last month, in reference to Imus.
This is a story that is not going away anytime soon, nor should it. There is much at stake here and much that needs to be discussed in the open air. Will that actually happen or is what we see more likely to be a polarization of issues with opposing camps digging in and firing their salvos at the opposition?
REV. AL SHARPTON: Taking it To the Streets
Posted Apr 30th 2007 12:10PM by Karu F. Daniels
Filed under: Entertainment Newswire
By Karu F. Daniels, AOL Black Voices
Who knew that two weeks after Don Imus's ouster and Oprah Winfrey's big "Town Hall" meeting, the saga demonizing hip-hop culture would continue.
Last week "Hip-Hop CEO" Russell Simmons asked the industry to ban "The N-Word," "The B-Word" and "The H-Word."
This week, Reverend Al Sharpton is staging a "March of Decency."
On May 3, the former presidential candidate and formidable civil rights activist will co-lead a march from Sony Music's United States headquarters on Madison Avenue and continue to Time Warner's Columbus Circle headquarters.
Universal Music Group's Broadway offices are also a part of the marching trail.
"I think it is important that we make a strong appeal as consumers to demand standards that will not offend us or dehumanize us based on race, gender or any other category," Sharpton said. "This march will be lead by Tamika Mallory, Councilwoman Darlene Mealy and other women, but we encourage that it be attended and supported by all and I am proud to be a part of it."
According to Sharpton's longtime spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger, the children of late "Godfather of Soul" James Brown will also march. May 3 would've been the music pioneer's 74th birthday.
Through its new Decency Initiative, the Sharpton-helmed National Action Network will call for record companies implement a code of conduct for artist in their lyrics. The primary focus of the march is to protest sexism, racism, and homophobia in music and the image that is perpetuated in the recording industry that glamorizes misogyny, Noerdlinger explained.
Taking the RapAre Civil Rights Leaders Frontin’ for Hip Hop Gangstas?
by Peter Noel
January 10 - 16, 2001
Source of the problem? Critics accuse hip hop magazine of promoting thug culture.
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Hip hop troublemakers such as reputed gunslinging duo Sean "Puffy" Combs and Jamal "Shyne" Barrow are scampering to the civil rights movement for political cover as their gangsta personas and alleged criminal conduct come under increasing attack. But a bitter behind-the-scenes feud over this "shameful alliance"—which for several months has pitted a hard-edged anti-gangsta rap crusader against prominent black leaders and music industry bigs—could erupt around Combs's and Barrow's upcoming trial in Manhattan. Barrow is charged with attempted murder and Combs with illegal gun possession.