Free Republic

PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY – A recent study by the Department of Sociology at Princeton found that up to 98% of middle class white adults flash or “throw” gang signs when they are being photographed. The three year study also reveals that 99.9% of those throwing the gang signs have never been in a gang, haven’t the slightest idea what the sign they are throwing means and do not listen to rap music. “It is a perplexing phenomenon for sure,” Professor Allen Clydesdale told the Daily Rash. “It was quite surprising to meet a thirty-year-old physical therapist from Beardstown, Missouri, who...

Chicago's City Clerk said Wednesday afternoon she will be using a new design for the next round of city vehicle stickers. Susana Mendoza says the original design drawn by a 15-year-old could include gang symbols. "The experts have felt that yes indeed it could potentially be perceived as symbollizing gang relations and, frankly, I, as clerk, cannot ask Chicagoans to put a sticker on their car if there's even remotely the possibility of that being misinterpreted." The stickers were supposed to be printed next week. Meantime, a spokeswoman for the special needs school where the artist is a freshman says...

Note: The following text is a quote: North Carolina MS-13 Gang Member Convicted of Racketeering Charges Related to Murder; First MS-13 Member Sentenced to Death Defendant Shot and Killed Two Brothers in December 2007 in Guilford County, N.C. WASHINGTON—A 12-person federal jury in Charlotte, N.C., today voted unanimously to impose the death penalty against Alejandro Enrique Ramirez Umana, aka “Wizard,” 25. Umana was convicted by the same jury on April 19, 2010, for the murders of Ruben Garcia Salinas and his brother, Manuel Garcia Salinas, on Dec. 8, 2007, in Guilford County, N.C. The jury also found that Umana was...

Hand signals captured on videotape are once again being scrutinized around the NFL. Only this time, it's not the New England Patriots studying them for a competitive advantage, but league officials in search of a more sinister message. The NFL, concerned that some players might celebrate by flashing the hand signals of street gangs, has hired experts to examine game tapes and identify the gestures. "There have been some suspected things we've seen," said Milt Ahlerich, the league's vice president of security. "When we see it, we quietly jump on it immediately, directly with the team and the player or...

What Paul Pierce's hand gesture - and his $25,000 fine - say about the fast-evolving world of gang signs THE SEQUENCE, NEAR the end of the Boston Celtics' Game 3 playoff loss last Saturday, has been endlessly replayed over the past week: Celtics captain Paul Pierce, after being taunted by Atlanta Hawks rookie Al Horford, walks grimly toward the Hawks' bench during a timeout. As he does so, he raises his right hand and makes what looks like a tipped-over OK sign - palm down, forefinger and thumb joined in a ring, the rest of the fingers extending away from...