Gateway residents call for stronger police presence
Shelly Leachman
Staff writer
The glass is still in the street, piled near a red curb that runs the length of an enclosed dirt strip dividing Plaza del Amo, near Harvard Boulevard, in the Harbor Gateway.
The long, dusty swath, where a tall metal sign reads "Dumping Prohibited" is littered with waste -- broken furniture, old clothes, crumpled cardboard boxes, yellowing newspapers and at least a dozen charred Christmas trees still nailed to their stands.
But it's that glass the neighbors can't stand to see, those tiny blue bits of a car window glimmering in the Sunday sun, remnants of the most recent attack in what area activists are calling a "racial war" between black and Latino gangs.
"Every week I'm getting woken up by gunfire. It's ridiculous. ... Something has to be done," said 14-year resident Linda McIntosh, a 44-year-old Latina who married a black man and has mixed-race children. "It's been bad for a long time but, unfortunately, now it's getting worse."
Early Saturday morning, a 34-year-old black father with no known gang connections was shot almost outside McIntosh's front door. The man had driven with his family to McIntosh's building to pick up a friend of his two daughters who also lives there. He survived.
The LAPD is not releasing the man's name and had no new information on the crime by Sunday evening. The suspected gunman, they say, is Latino.
Two Latino gang members were arrested in the Dec. 15 slaying of Cheryl Green, 14, a black student of Stephen White Middle School. Cheryl was killed a little more than a mile from where Saturday's shooting occurred.
"These are hate crimes that are happening," said Melvin Snell, director of the Los Angeles Humanity Advocacy Group. "It needs to stop. I don't have the answer, but I'm willing to see how we can come together to help stop the killing."
Snell joined activist Najee Ali, who barely one week ago announced the brokering of a cease fire with Latino gangs, to walk the violence-plagued region and talk to local residents.
"We are calling for peace and calm and no retaliation in this racial war," Ali said. "We must solve this gang crisis."
A good start, concurred McIntosh and many others, would be a stronger police presence in their neighborhood of fenced-in buildings and faded-out homes.
LAPD officers canvassed the area on Saturday, talking to residents and dispensing fliers about a gang crackdown announced Thursday by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and a cadre of high-level law enforcement officials. On Sunday, as a handful of news teams followed Ali's entourage and talked to locals themselves, patrol cars peppered the area and a silver-painted LAPD helicopter circled overhead.
"That's all because you guys are here," one female resident, who said she was too frightened of gangs to give her name, told reporters.
"I'd like to see them come by here at 2 a.m., when the graffiti is going up and gunshots are going off," said a male resident who has lived in the area 15 years and also declined to give his name. "The past six months it's been worse and worse. The pizza man won't even deliver here anymore."
Sharon Bragg, 43, isn't surprised. The black mother of three has been here nine years -- living in the same building as McIntosh, a good friend -- but she's stopped letting her kids play outside.
"If I could afford to move today, I'd be putting all our stuff in a U-Haul right now to get a better environment for my boys," she said.
As scared as residents here uniformly seem to be, one, a Latino teenager, said that for a long time he never felt afraid.
"No one ever really comes up to me or anything," said Jonathan, 13, a big kid with soft brown eyes and an even softer voice.
But things changed on Nov. 26. That's the day his oldest brother died.
Arturo Zaragoza, 22, was returning home from a party when he was shot outside his house and died in his own driveway. A small shrine of faded flowers and a single white candle still sits on a tiny table pushed against a chain-link fence around the family home.
"They never caught anyone," Jonathan said, his sneakered foot rolling a blue soccer ball around a faded front lawn.
Standing backside to the Zaragoza home, the glimmer of broken glass is just visible, maybe 20 feet from where the young black father was shot Saturday in front of his fiancee and kids.
How the crime affects that unnamed family remains to be seen. But for the Zaragozas, the "For Sale" sign outside their house says it all.
"We're moving out of state," Jonathan said, "back to Mexico."
"Because of this?" someone asked, after the teen talked about his brother's death.
Looking down at his soccer ball and slowly nodding his head, Jonathan softly said, "Yeah."
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/5283566.html
Gateway residents call for stronger police presence
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Christina Marie
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Harbor Gateway's commuter gangs
DON'T BE fooled by its name: The 204th Street gang, two of whose members have been arrested in connection with last month's racially motivated slaying of 14-year-old Cheryl Green, is what you could call a commuter gang.
Of its 100 documented members, only about 20 live in the 12-block sliver of the Harbor Gateway district they claim as their own. Neither of the two men who agreed to speak for the gang — 32-year-old Jonathan O'Gorman (yes, his father is Irish) and 22-year-old Noe Torres (no, his father isn't) — live in the neighborhood. On Wednesday, the two men arrived on their "turf" in a work truck with the name of a large air-conditioning company painted on it.
What, you ask, are two grown men who have decent jobs and don't live in the area doing gangbanging? "It's kind of weird, huh?" Torres said. But minutes later, in response to similar questions, O'Gorman grabbed my notebook out of my hand and walked away. "Just because you move out doesn't mean you have to move on," he said, after cooling down and handing back my notes.
For several days last week I skulked around the working-class neighborhood, talking to as many people as I could. What I found is that most residents — of any background — try to keep their heads down, go about their business and get along with their neighbors.
During the day, you'll find mothers pushing strollers and children playing in frontyards. You'll see men fixing or cleaning their cars. Many, like 54-year-old Fausto Lopez, a maintenance man who's only been in this country a year, will tell you they have little idea of what's going on. "It's about the gangs," he said in Spanish.
Even some victims of 204th Street's intimidation told me that they get along with most of their Mexican neighbors. Rochaun Keyes, who has lived on 206th Street for three years and has had her house tagged with the words "nigger killer," makes a distinction between gang members and the rest of her Latino neighbors. She's hoping the police can take care of the problem because, unlike her black neighbor who fled the area out of fear of her safety, she doesn't intend to leave.
The same goes for Melinda Sims, who moved in next to her sister six weeks ago. Sims' front window and her side wall were spray-painted with the words "NK All Day." Her beef, she says, is not with all Mexicans but only the gangbangers who are tagging her house.
The 204th Street gang emerged in the early 1990s when a group of members split from the Tortilla Flats gang, whose boundaries lie in unincorporated county territory to the east. In addition to targeting blacks, 204th's members are still active rivals of T-Flats and Eastside Torrance, another predominantly Latino gang that operates several blocks to the south.
It's hard to overestimate how narrow and parochial gang identities can be. In the wake of incidents such as the Green slaying, we talk collectively about relations between large population groups — Latinos and blacks — or about the racial tensions among neighbors. But, at its core, what we seem to be dealing with is a pathological need on the part of hateful young men (and the women who love them) to define themselves by their enemies.
The LAPD calls 204th Street an "emotional gang." Unlike many bigger gangs, 204th's members are not driven by greed; drug dealing — methamphetamine and marijuana — is relatively minor, and the overall crime rate in the neighborhood is actually not that high. Officer Daniel Robbins, the Harbor Division gang cop who works the area, says that particularly for older members who grew up here and return on weekends to party, the gang is about clinging to "glory days." "This is like a high school football player returning to the stadium on Friday night under the lights," he said. And the alumni don't like what new residents have done to the playing field.
The neighborhood's infusion of blacks, a few of whom are members of gangs in other areas, has effectively cut into 204th's territory. But it's the much larger influx of recent immigrants from Mexico that has really changed the face of the neighborhood. Although they still claim 12 square blocks, 204th members generally don't parade openly south of 206th Street anymore, and they limit their visits to nighttime tagging raids.
Although it's easy for 204th members to identify rival Latino gangbangers — whom they may know from school or juvenile detention — they don't know who the black gangsters are. So their fear and hatred becomes generalized to all blacks, and their street warfare shifts from targeted hits on individuals from rival gangs to indiscriminate acts of violence against members of an entire racial group.
That's the definition of terrorism. All for a little glory
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/com ... commentary
January 21, 2007Most of the Latino gang members don't even live on their 'turf,' but instead visit to hang onto their glory days.
Gregory Rodriguez
DON'T BE fooled by its name: The 204th Street gang, two of whose members have been arrested in connection with last month's racially motivated slaying of 14-year-old Cheryl Green, is what you could call a commuter gang.
Of its 100 documented members, only about 20 live in the 12-block sliver of the Harbor Gateway district they claim as their own. Neither of the two men who agreed to speak for the gang — 32-year-old Jonathan O'Gorman (yes, his father is Irish) and 22-year-old Noe Torres (no, his father isn't) — live in the neighborhood. On Wednesday, the two men arrived on their "turf" in a work truck with the name of a large air-conditioning company painted on it.
What, you ask, are two grown men who have decent jobs and don't live in the area doing gangbanging? "It's kind of weird, huh?" Torres said. But minutes later, in response to similar questions, O'Gorman grabbed my notebook out of my hand and walked away. "Just because you move out doesn't mean you have to move on," he said, after cooling down and handing back my notes.
For several days last week I skulked around the working-class neighborhood, talking to as many people as I could. What I found is that most residents — of any background — try to keep their heads down, go about their business and get along with their neighbors.
During the day, you'll find mothers pushing strollers and children playing in frontyards. You'll see men fixing or cleaning their cars. Many, like 54-year-old Fausto Lopez, a maintenance man who's only been in this country a year, will tell you they have little idea of what's going on. "It's about the gangs," he said in Spanish.
Even some victims of 204th Street's intimidation told me that they get along with most of their Mexican neighbors. Rochaun Keyes, who has lived on 206th Street for three years and has had her house tagged with the words "nigger killer," makes a distinction between gang members and the rest of her Latino neighbors. She's hoping the police can take care of the problem because, unlike her black neighbor who fled the area out of fear of her safety, she doesn't intend to leave.
The same goes for Melinda Sims, who moved in next to her sister six weeks ago. Sims' front window and her side wall were spray-painted with the words "NK All Day." Her beef, she says, is not with all Mexicans but only the gangbangers who are tagging her house.
The 204th Street gang emerged in the early 1990s when a group of members split from the Tortilla Flats gang, whose boundaries lie in unincorporated county territory to the east. In addition to targeting blacks, 204th's members are still active rivals of T-Flats and Eastside Torrance, another predominantly Latino gang that operates several blocks to the south.
It's hard to overestimate how narrow and parochial gang identities can be. In the wake of incidents such as the Green slaying, we talk collectively about relations between large population groups — Latinos and blacks — or about the racial tensions among neighbors. But, at its core, what we seem to be dealing with is a pathological need on the part of hateful young men (and the women who love them) to define themselves by their enemies.
The LAPD calls 204th Street an "emotional gang." Unlike many bigger gangs, 204th's members are not driven by greed; drug dealing — methamphetamine and marijuana — is relatively minor, and the overall crime rate in the neighborhood is actually not that high. Officer Daniel Robbins, the Harbor Division gang cop who works the area, says that particularly for older members who grew up here and return on weekends to party, the gang is about clinging to "glory days." "This is like a high school football player returning to the stadium on Friday night under the lights," he said. And the alumni don't like what new residents have done to the playing field.
The neighborhood's infusion of blacks, a few of whom are members of gangs in other areas, has effectively cut into 204th's territory. But it's the much larger influx of recent immigrants from Mexico that has really changed the face of the neighborhood. Although they still claim 12 square blocks, 204th members generally don't parade openly south of 206th Street anymore, and they limit their visits to nighttime tagging raids.
Although it's easy for 204th members to identify rival Latino gangbangers — whom they may know from school or juvenile detention — they don't know who the black gangsters are. So their fear and hatred becomes generalized to all blacks, and their street warfare shifts from targeted hits on individuals from rival gangs to indiscriminate acts of violence against members of an entire racial group.
That's the definition of terrorism. All for a little glory
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/com ... commentary
What needs to happen is the LAPD needs to do is flush out and deport all these illegals who are over here who aint doing jack shit in thsi town.
Those Hispanic women popping out future gang members like its a sport. These Mexican gang members are just mad because they aint got no talent and gangs is all they have.
I hope the LAPD, the Sheriffs, etc. smoke out East LA and the San Fernando Valley and kill them dead or lock them up for good. Hopefully while they are in jail somebody kills them or they commit suicide.
Its good for the world if they die because thats one less Mexican loser gang member that one has to worry about.
Those Hispanic women popping out future gang members like its a sport. These Mexican gang members are just mad because they aint got no talent and gangs is all they have.
I hope the LAPD, the Sheriffs, etc. smoke out East LA and the San Fernando Valley and kill them dead or lock them up for good. Hopefully while they are in jail somebody kills them or they commit suicide.
Its good for the world if they die because thats one less Mexican loser gang member that one has to worry about.
The LAPD calls 204th Street an "emotional gang."
for older members who grew up here and return on weekends to party, the gang is about clinging to "glory days..they limit their visits to nighttime tagging raids.
they don't know who the black gangsters are.
fuckn idiots, if they dont know, hit them up!
So their fear and hatred becomes generalized to all blacks, and their street warfare shifts from targeted hits on individuals from rival gangs to indiscriminate acts of violence against members of an entire racial group.
these dudes are weirdos!
cease fire?
whos suppose to sign it and agree to it if in aint no black gangs over there
racial war???
a war is back and forth aggression between two gangs...
its only one gang smashing on a civilian population!
the Harbor Area is weak!
for older members who grew up here and return on weekends to party, the gang is about clinging to "glory days..they limit their visits to nighttime tagging raids.
they don't know who the black gangsters are.
fuckn idiots, if they dont know, hit them up!
So their fear and hatred becomes generalized to all blacks, and their street warfare shifts from targeted hits on individuals from rival gangs to indiscriminate acts of violence against members of an entire racial group.
these dudes are weirdos!
cease fire?
whos suppose to sign it and agree to it if in aint no black gangs over there
racial war???
a war is back and forth aggression between two gangs...
its only one gang smashing on a civilian population!
the Harbor Area is weak!
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Common Sense
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It's not just about the Mexican gang banger. It's all of them. Right now the heat is on the Latino's. Let's not forget the Blacks and Asians out there doing the same style of dirt.junta wrote:Its good for the world if they die because thats one less Mexican loser gang member that one has to worry about.
This particular group of fools, obviously don't keep up with current events. They are going to be made examples of, by the prosecuting attorney of los angeles county, in reference to the Avenues case in Highland Park. These boy's are racking up "Life Sentences" points and don't even know it. These fools are going to get hammered hard. Stay tuned for later results.
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oldsschool666
IGNORANT RACIST FOOL DONT BELIEVE THE MEDIA IDIOTjunta wrote:What needs to happen is the LAPD needs to do is flush out and deport all these illegals who are over here who aint doing jack shit in thsi town.
Those Hispanic women popping out future gang members like its a sport. These Mexican gang members are just mad because they aint got no talent and gangs is all they have.
I hope the LAPD, the Sheriffs, etc. smoke out East LA and the San Fernando Valley and kill them dead or lock them up for good. Hopefully while they are in jail somebody kills them or they commit suicide.
Its good for the world if they die because thats one less Mexican loser gang member that one has to worry about.
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oldsschool666
SAME GOES TO YOU DUMBCHIT!batman wrote:The LAPD calls 204th Street an "emotional gang."
for older members who grew up here and return on weekends to party, the gang is about clinging to "glory days..they limit their visits to nighttime tagging raids.
they don't know who the black gangsters are.
fuckn idiots, if they dont know, hit them up!
So their fear and hatred becomes generalized to all blacks, and their street warfare shifts from targeted hits on individuals from rival gangs to indiscriminate acts of violence against members of an entire racial group.
these dudes are weirdos!
cease fire?
whos suppose to sign it and agree to it if in aint no black gangs over there
racial war???
a war is back and forth aggression between two gangs...
its only one gang smashing on a civilian population!
the Harbor Area is weak!
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HARBOR GATEWAY
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Common Sense
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Common Sense
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rocstar wrote:Fuc what the media is saying, the community is saying innocent civilians are being preyed on. Is the media spraying Nigger Killa on Black peoples homes? If that fag ass gang want to be known for something why dont they bang on some bangers.
I have been saying that shit for years and finally somebody says the same thing. Those Harbor Gateway losers go running away like some bitches when the cops, media, or a real gang niggas drop into that area.
Niggas need to blast on these essays because the cops aint doing shit. Arm yourselves MY Black People Now! I know I will.
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HARBOR GATEWAY
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see...i aint saying that this dilema isn't going on..but the media just makes it look as if its a thing that happens weekly or daily....i know some mexican that hates black people..and i asked em for the reason..and he said that they act like if theyre all hard, never gave em respect, and even tried starting some shit when he was alone.......,,but the people that did this shit didn't even bang...they were normal young black people....and so now that he's older he hates all black people...but i think that you should hate the person that did this to you...not a race.....
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vico-sal@hotmail.com
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they did bang on bangers the 208th street crips-they put in so much work o-n them that they took them out the gamerocstar wrote:Fuc what the media is saying, the community is saying innocent civilians are being preyed on. Is the media spraying Nigger Killa on Black peoples homes? If that fag ass gang want to be known for something why dont they bang on some bangers.
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vico-sal@hotmail.com
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dam you really think 204s run from the black gangs??didnt you read about the 208th street crips who got taken out by them boys from 204??/they did about 90 shooting in a 2 yr period-in that neighborhood. teh 208th street crips had to move on -and they faded outta existence the 204z still there thoughjunta wrote:rocstar wrote:Fuc what the media is saying, the community is saying innocent civilians are being preyed on. Is the media spraying Nigger Killa on Black peoples homes? If that fag ass gang want to be known for something why dont they bang on some bangers.
I have been saying that shit for years and finally somebody says the same thing. Those Harbor Gateway losers go running away like some women when the cops, media, or a real gang niggas drop into that area.
Niggas need to blast on these essays because the cops aint doing shit. Arm yourselves MY Black People Now! I know I will.