Gang // Current

Jungle gang kill victims for their fat

A gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people and draining fat from the... more

CarolineS
added this
3 days ago
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0 comments

Cops still probing gang-related beating death

Derrion Albert was viciously beat in a gang-related incident and didn't survive. This... more

FishaHouse777
added this
1 month ago
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5 comments

Police Hunt £40m Jewellery Robbers

"Extremely dangerous" robbers steal almost £40m from a Mayfair jewellers in the... more

owenrm
added this
3 months ago
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1 comment

17 and Under Movie Review and Trailer

17 and Under (1998) tells the story of Juan Sanchez (Cesar Herrera); an underage gang... more

dbin78
added this
4 months ago
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0 comments

Zombie Truckers 3: Gas Fight

Which will win? Girl with poisonous gas or a gang of zombies? Bwahahaa... Clip from... more

kelving
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4 months ago
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0 comments

Leader of Manchester's Gooch gang sentenced to 39 years in prison.

The leader of a violent gang that terrorised the streets of Manchester was today... more

sylviaw
added this
8 months ago
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4 comments

Another man gunned down in Vancouver

Another sign that gun violence is out of control.

urlspotter
added this
10 months ago
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0 comments

The Minister of Death

In a bizarre macabre account of divine intervention, Erik Larson amazingly encounters... more

DonQ
added this
10 months ago
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69 comments

Beauty Queen Arrested

It was revealed that Mexican beauty queen naming Laura Zuniga had been arrested with... more

afridi
added this
11 months ago
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1 comment

Gang Sign Thespian

From deaf gangster to Hollywood gang-star, actor Gabriel Martinez shares his unique... more

BooksBrown
added this
11 months ago
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139 comments

Deputy Mayor Shot With a Crossbow

In a sort of bizarre time-warp style headline, SkyNews reports that the deputy mayor... more

purplefox
added this
12 months ago
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0 comments

Pink Panther jewel gang arrest

Two people suspected of being members of the "Pink Panther jewel gang" have been... more

ClareW
added this
1 year ago
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0 comments

Should police moonlight?

As gangsterism in our society increases, we may well run into more of these situations... more

urlspotter
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1 year ago
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0 comments

Lifeline Extended

This is a short documentary following an ex-gang member's struggle to turn his life... more

bmil5320
added this
1 year ago
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13 comments

Graffiti Art: California's Latest Export

San Francisco artist Josue Rojas helped townspeople paint a mural at the site of one of the most gruesome massacres in the recent history of Honduras. Now he wonders if California can export more than its gang culture to Central America; perhaps it can export its artistic culture too.

A mural is in progress. Outbursts of laughter and the rattle of spray cans resound against a wall. The sun reaches its highest point, beaming on the young artists below. Once again, we're painting –– the usual suspects: Estria, a group of kids and me.

I know this scene well, except in a very different context. Instead of being created at the exterior of a public school or rec center in Northern California, this mural is being created at the site of a massacre –– in a remote rind of San Pedro's Chamelecón –– at the very spot where three years earlier nearly 30 people lost their lives; infamous in Honduras and the rest of Central America as a place of death.
On the night of Dec. 23, 2004, in the place where we stood, 28 innocent men, women and children were gunned down as they rode the bus 35 home from Christmas shopping. The killing was attributed to "Maras" or gang members. A note was left behind at the site, in which responsibility was taken by local gangs though all the evidence (ballistic and otherwise) points towards paramilitary action.

This event was the catalyst; soon after, nothing in policy or public perception toward youth would be the same. Partly due to this event, in Central America public opinion has been irreconcilably swayed against anything remotely resembling gangs –– and consequently, the baby thrown out with the bathwater is any brand of misunderstood youth culture.

So you can see why I'm both happy and weirded-out by the sight of it –– graffiti as art in the place where one of the most gruesome massacres in recent Latin American history happened.

Sadly, whether in the public sector, clandestinely, or in jails, executions and extrajudicial killings are not uncommon. In Central America people are dying –– delinquents right alongside innocent young people. Estimates have placed the daily death toll in countries like El Salvador as high as it was during that country's long civil war.

In the Bay Area, we're familiar with violence and rising death counts. But not on this level. Not with this intensity or frequency.

As I see the kids' faces light up as they rattle the spray cans (many for the first time), my mind swims in irony as I remember a line in a book by Kurt Vonnegut I read: There is nothing intelligent to say about a massacre. Everybody is supposed to be dead.

Oakland, California, March 2008

In a warehouse on the border of Oakland and San Leandro used as a headquarters for businesses started by graffiti artists, Estria Miyashiro, master muralist and entrepreneur, takes a moment to give me some words. He stands in the corner of the warehouse in front of Oakland graffiti writer Vogue's aersosol rendition of Mike "Dream" Francisco (a local slain graffiti legend) as we speak.
San Francisco artist Josue Rojas helped townspeople paint a mural at the site of one... more