RSVP for Memphis Bongo Party
elfatvis
By Chris Conley
The Commercial Appeal
Police are stepping up their surveillance of the city's gang
operations, hoping to head off violence in retaliation for Wednesday
night's execution of a gang leader.
Thursday, as police investigated the ambush of George Hughlett, head of
LeMoyne Gardens Mafia, several gang experts said they aren't sure what
will happen now, but they say they're ``on alert'' for more violence.
Officials estimate that up to 12,000 people belong to dozens of gangs -
some large, like the Gangster Disciples - and others that are splinters
of larger groups. And they say the numbers appear to be growing.
Hughlett, 29, was the fourth gang boss here to fall prey to either the
legal system or the bullet in the last several months:
(sqBul) Charles `Country' Thompson, the head of the Traveling Vice
Lords, was convicted last year for ordering the assassination of a
deputy jailer who dared to discipline him in Shelby County Jail.
(sqBul) Marcus Boyd, the former head of Memphis's largest gang, the
Gangster Disciples, was recently charged in the execution of a
high-ranking GD from Chicago, Omar Stokes. Boyd and other gang members
are also facing federal conspiracy charges in the hit.
(sqBul) Lewis Grimes, the leader or ambassador of the Black Stones in
Memphis, is facing charges of murder in perpetration of a felony last
month for allegedly ordering four youths to "boost" clothing to
replenish $1,500 taken from the gang till. While fleeing from that
alleged theft, their stolen car slammed into officer Don Overton's
squad car, killing him.
Police say Wednesday night's shooting was part of the gang scenario,
and Hughlett's fate is something gang members sometimes come to expect.
``Every gang member knows he is going to die, go to prison, or be
injured for life . . . this was not the first gang member to
experience this,'' Memphis police Organized Crime Unit Sgt. Richard
Parker said. "It's the life they have chosen."
Gangs have mushroomed in Memphis in the past few years, growing
stronger, consolidating their power.
Furthermore, the gangs are spreading to suburban and unincorporated
areas of Shelby County, said Insp. Michael McEachran of the Shelby
County Sheriff's Department. He commands the sheriff's special
operations unit.
"Nobody is immune,'' he said.
However, gang experts say, steps are being taken to keep them from
becoming as cohesive and organized as they are in the larger cities.
The gangs here are typically offshoots of the Chicago gangs, the Vice
Lords and Gangster Disciples, and, as officials here have discovered,
the Black Stones, an outgrowth of the Black Stone Rangers of the 1960s.
"When the gangs come here, they mutate," said Parker. "They take on a
neighborhood flavor. They are not as consistent with the gang culture"
of the city of origin, he said. "They tend to make up rules as they go
along."
Memphis is also more spread out than many larger cities. Memphis does
not have the massive public housing projects that have spawned gangs in
other cities.
One exception would be Hughlett's LeMoyne Gardens Mafia, a tightly-knit
and very violent band that formed inside the now closed housing project.
The gang population has risen steadily despite the creation of a
special city police gang unit under Maj. Ronnie Booze.
"It was in the infant stages. Now it's up and walking,'' Parker said.
But experts are hoping the infant won't grow up.
There are indications, however, that Chicago gangs are feeling the
pressure from the police in that city and packing up for Memphis and
other places, organizing here in Memphis.
Parker said gang members pay regular dues to the gang, the amount
depending on how much their particular crime specialty, drugs for
example, generates. Drugs account for most of the gang revenue.
The Gangster Disciples, which are more organized than the others,
funnel millions to the hierarchy in Chicago. They and other gangs
regularly send recruiters and organizers here, with mixed results,
officials say.
Though Memphis was in denial about gangs for a long time, there appears
to be a new sense of cooperation and earnestness about combating gangs.
In 1993, an FBI task force set up here with little fanfare. The task
force conducted some major investigations, but never developed the kind
of RICO (Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations), top-to-bottom
investigations that have burned the gangs in Chicago and other cities.
They had several successful local prosecutions of gang members, notably
the Laotian Killer Boys, or Local Killer Boys, an Asian and white group
trafficking in firearms.
Several years ago, another task force of FBI, Shelby County Sheriff's
Department, U.S. Secret Service and Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms began
an aggressive anti-gang campaign. The District Attorney General's
Office has three full-time, experienced investigators and a prosecutor
dedicated to gang prosecutions.
They successfully prosecuted more than a dozen Gangster Disciples for
the murder of a wayward gang member named "Pokey" Shipp, and have won
convictions in other high-profile gang trials.
The murder of high-ranking Chicago Gangster Disciple Omar Stokes and
another gang member, Sid Towns, has resulted in murder charges against
three local Gangster Disciples. Federal authorities have taken up the
case, and earlier this month, five gang members were indicted on
federal charges of having Stokes and Towns killed as retaliation for
absconding with drug money.
The Black Stone Rangers, a gang believed nearly defunct in Chicago,
surfaced here last month following officer Overton's death. Two gang
members, two gang associates and the local head of the Black Stone
Rangers, were charged with murder in perpetration of a theft in
Overton's death.
The four youths were fleeing from police after they were discovered
stealing more than $5,000 in merchandise from a Raleigh mall, police
said. They were acting at the behest of the leader, Grimes, at the time
of the death, police said.
Memphis police have only recently joined in the multi-agency gang
effort.
"We are looking for things to get better,'' Booze said. Recently, the
task force made a sweep of Tom Lee Park, rounding up suspected gang
members. "We are looking to do more," Booze said. The various police
agencies share a common database of gang information.
The police use the Compstat mapping software to chart gang activity.
"We track every incident that is gang-related,'' Booze said. "We map
them out by where the reports are being generated. That's where we put
our resources."
Police Department incident reports and arrest tickets now include a box
for gang affiliation. But as the authorities become more informed about
gangs, the gangs are becoming more secretive and less obvious.
And it's not like in the movies of the '50s and '60s where gangs fight
over turf and macho. Now it's all about money and drugs.
"Where you have drugs you have gangs,'' said Booze. Gangs will move in
on a drug corner and either take over outright or force the dealer to
join their gang.
"They are changing tactics almost monthly,'' Booze said. "They try to
be as subtle and discreet as possible. They are opting not to get
tattoos and descriptive jewelry that would mark them."
"The gangs now are deploying their people to go mainstream,'' Booze
said. "They are harder to detect."
http://www.gomemphis.com/capages/12gangs.htm
Well, it looks like somebody's planning a bongo party. I wish I could
afford to live in niggertown, where every day is a holiday and every
meal is a feast.
http://www.lawstreet.com/lawguide/FECOLIM.html#fair
We are BARD! You will be resisted. Assimilation is futile.
--
No igual al conejo energizer, el conejo de la jungla no va a ningun
lugar rapido.
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Maurice Poirier
documentation, if you have any. Otherwise your allegations are worthless.
elfatvis <go...@comida.net> wrote in message
news:tcZW3.8221$L5.9...@c01read02-admin.service.talkway.com...
Byker
Maurice Poirier wrote in message <80i0q2$540$1...@bgtnsc02.worldnet.att.net>...
>How do you know these gangs are all made up of black people? Show some
>documentation, if you have any. Otherwise your allegations are worthless.
WHITE Crip/Blood homeboys in Memphis?
BWAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!! ROFLMAO!