A Latino street gang waged a racist campaign to eliminate the city's black residents through attempted murders and other crimes, according to federal racketeering indictments unsealed Thursday, reports MSNBC.
The Varrio Hawaiian Gardens Gang, the Latino gang accused of the racist campaign, is predominantly Latino and operates in Hawaiian Gardens, a city of about 15,000 in southeastern Los Angeles County. The gang engaged in attempted murder, kidnapping, firearms, narcotics and other charges.
"(Varrio Hawaiian Gardens) gang members take pride in their racism and often refer to the VHG Gang as the `Hate Gang.' 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 main indictment said
According to the MSNBC report,
"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 charged them with his attempted murder.
According to 2000 census data, the latest available, Hawaiian Gardens was roughly 73 percent Hispanic and 4 percent black. "
This wasn’t the first time there was hate crime racism from Latino gangs.
"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."
Said the MSNBC report.
This kind of outright hate and racism must not be tolerated in the Latino community, and Latino leaders will be a great help in speaking against this type of behavior.