Free Republic

<p>A federal hate-crimes indictment highlights differences in response between Barack Obama and previous presidents when racists target blacks with violence.</p> <p>The Feb. 8 Department of Justice press release says that members of the Compton 155 gang, whose members call themselves “nigger killers” (the release spells it out N***** Killers) or “NKs,” use “violence and threats of violence in an effort to drive African-Americans out of their ‘territory’ on the west side of Compton.” Further, “[t]o instill fear in African-Americans, members of the gang tag their gang moniker and ‘NK’ throughout their ‘territory.’”</p>

Some find El Monte police officer's side business -- selling clothing with gang symbols -- dismaying June 20, 2009 When El Monte Police Officer George Fierro was seen on video kicking a prone, heavily tattooed gang member in the head at the end of a televised high-speed chase, he received some criticism but also a good amount of praise. Then the 15-year police veteran's side business made the news, and no one advocated giving him a medal for that. When he's not fighting crime and chasing gang members, Fierro sells a line of clothing. Hiscompany's website is known "for its...

While hundreds of Mexican soldiers are deserting the army to join drug trafficking gangs, California is facing the opposite problem: A growing number of gang members here have infiltrated the U.S. Armed Forces in order to receive military training. The numbers speak for themselves: In 2003 there were just 16 incidents of gang members in the U.S. Armed Forces, while in 2006 the total was 10,309, according to the study, "Gang-Related Activity in the U.S. Armed Forces Increasing," released in 2007 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Twenty-two official entities, including the Los Angeles Police Department, participated in the...

Mexican drug cartels operating in cities in the U.S. are buying up legitimate businesses to launder money and using some of the proceeds to win local mayoral and city council seats for politicians who can shape the policies and personnel decisions of their police forces, according to Rep. Tom Tancredo "The Tijuana-based Felix drug cartel and the Juarez-based Fuentes cartel began buying legitimate business in small towns in Los Angeles County in the early 1990s," "They purchased restaurants, used-car lots, auto-body shops and other small businesses. One of their purposes was to use these businesses for money-laundering operations. Once established...

A member of the Texas Mexican Mafia testified today that the gang's collection of a street tax from drug dealers was for protection. Ricardo "Cookie Monster" Saenz, who pleaded guilty in the case last year as part of a plea deal, was the first of several informants expected to testify at the trial against four alleged members of the "family," as he put it. Saenz rarely looked toward the defense table. That was likely because he apparently violated the gang's cardinal sin -- he cooperated with law enforcement. But the bespectacled Saenz, whose many tattoos peeked from his orange jail...