first racial gang war --over 50 people killed- hundreds shot

[mayugastank]

http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.p ... pic=126444
First and foremost, this is not a hate thread. Im not trying to cause hatred between either groups, as I have many Hispanic friends.

This is just to educate on what happened in the city of Long Beach from 1990 to today. Not many people know what happened in Long Beach between the Asians (mainly Cambodians and Laotians) and the Hispanics (mainly Mexicans). It started as a gang war and branched out into a race war, where non gang members from both sides were targeted and killed or wounded. The mayor, the Police, the city council members, and each and every resident of Long Beach, knew that the Southeast Asian and Hispanic gangs were at war with each other, and were shooting and killing each other almost everyday. The police and the mayor did all they could to stop the violence, but nothing worked. The hayday of the conflict was 1990-1995. It was a dark and bloody history for the city of Long Beach, and for the SE Asians whom arrived to look for a better life. The conflict that went on in Long Beach was filled with racial hatred and animosity between the two groups that led to over 50 documented murders stemming from the conflict, and dozens of other murders that had hints of being racially motivated but could not be proven. Over 200 people were wounded on both sides, as the Cambodians/Laotians and the Mexicans were shooting at each other on an almost daily basis. Although things have calmed down since then, there still are racially motivated murders here and there (all commited by gang members on both sides), but not on the scale of the early 90's. The racial hate and animosity between the two groups still exist to this day.

My parents moved us out of Long Beach in 1988 (thank the lord) but Long Beach will still be my hometown, the town I was born in. I paid money for these archived articles on the newspaper website. So read them dammit! We can all learn from the past. These archived articles are from the Long Beach newspaper and offer a different perspective of the conflict. It offers an outsiders view of the feud. I only had enough money to purchase articles from 1991 to 1994, I will buy 1995 and on later when I have more money. These articles are also for myself to keep. Its my history. It's where I came from.

"If you dont know where you came from, you cant get to where you're trying to go"

Jin the MC

This post has been edited by DestinationxxUnknown: Jul 28 2007, 04:08 AM



DestinationxxUnk...

Jul 13 2007, 03:38 AM
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From: Southern California



Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA)

April 25, 1991

L.B. NEIGHBORHOOD A KILLING FIELD

Article Text:

An 18-year-old Latino was shot three times in the head as he rode his bicycle April 6. He died on the street.
Two days later, a 17-year-old Cambodian was shot while he watched television in his living room. He died in his mother's arms.
In this gang war, the turf has become a killing field.
``It's just pay back, pay back, pay back,'' says Dr. Arthur Kraft, a Long Beach Unified School District psychologist who has met with both gangs.
Claiming nine lives and causing more than 50 injuries during the past year and a half, the war between Latino and Cambodian gangs has escalated in recent months. Last week, Cambodian and Latino leaders demonstrated at City Hall, demanding better police protection. Today, they're scheduled to meet with police.
Police say they've launched their own offensive, and during the past two weeks, they've made several arrests, including a suspect in the bicycle killing. Days have gone by without a shooting.
``We've realized some success, but we cannot let our guard down,'' Cmdr. Dale Brown says.
Why are Latinos and Cambodians killing each other?
The opening salvo may have been fired in October 1989, when a member of the Cambodian Tiny Rascal Gang killed a Latino from the East Side Longos, police say. But the tension had been building for 10 years, ever since Cambodian immigrants began moving into Latino neighborhoods along Anaheim Street between Long Beach Boulevard and Redondo Avenue.
Resentment and fear
``The Latino kids felt they were there first,'' says Kraft, who began meeting with gang members at Wilson and Millikan high schools in October 1989 after consoling the distraught girlfriend of a Latino who was killed.
Latinos also resented symbols of their new neighbors' wealth, such as cars and businesses, Kraft says. They were convinced the government was giving the Cambodians grants, although there was no evidence of that.
Feeling intimidated and scared, Cambodian youths began joining gangs for self-defense, says Nil Hul, executive director of the Cambodian Association of America. Violence was nothing new to teen-agers who grew up in a war-torn country.
Race may have exacerbated the conflict, although Kraft points out that newcomers are universally looked down upon by old-timers, even when they're members of the same ethnic group.
``This is a simple turf war between kids,'' Brown says. ``This is their neighborhood, and now there are strangers in their neighborhood. They're uncomfortable living together, because they don't know each other yet.''
Each group blames the other for the escalation of the war, Kraft says.
``They think the other gang is being outrageously aggressive, and they're just protecting themselves,'' he says.
Relatives also victims
Each new killing is a payback for a previous incident. For example, the girl Kraft consoled lost her boyfriend in a retaliatory shooting.
``A year ago, when rival gang members were unable to find him, they grabbed her, held her down and broke her kneecap,'' he says. ``When her boyfriend found out, he shot one of the perpetrators in the leg. Now he himself had been paid back.''
Although Cambodians also moved into African-American neighborhoods, there has been little gang rivalry there, says Norm Sorenson, a detective with the Police Department's gang violence suppression unit. In fact, in an attempt to get along with black gangs, some Cambodians call themselves Crips.
Sorenson said that because black gangs are more interested in selling drugs than defending turf, Cambodian gangs aren't a threat to them.
About 800 youths belong to Cambodian gangs, which include the Tiny Rascal Gang, Asian Boys and Exotic Foreign Creation Coterie. Latino gangs, such as the East Side and West Side Longos, have as many as 2,500 members, police say. Most are boys and young men between the ages of 9 and 25.
Gang members told Kraft they joined for protection. In fact, some were afraid they'd be beaten up if they didn't join a gang. They also said gangs provide family, power and excitement.
Gang members aren't the only victims of violence. Their relatives suffer, too. One Latina told Kraft her windows were broken five times because her brother is ``into a lot of gang things.''
``When they hear `throw it' from outside, she yells, `Mom, hit the floor,''' Kraft says. ``She and her mother drop down, a glass bottle with alcohol and a burning wick sails through the window and explodes, then she and her mother clean up the mess and go about their business.''
Unity to end the war
Cambodian gang members often turn on their own people because the victims are afraid to go to the police, a fear that has hampered police investigations. Residential robberies and extortion demands have plagued the Cambodian community for the past year.
Innocent bystanders also are caught in gang crossfire. The Cambodian who was gunned down in his living room earlier this month wasn't a known gang member.
The friction between gangs hasn't polarized the entire neighborhood.
``This is a feud between two youth gangs, and that's all they are - kids doing very stupid things, retaliating against each other in intolerable ways,'' says Cmdr. Brown.
Leaders of the Latino and Cambodian communities made it clear at last week's demonstration they are united in their desire to end the gang war.
``Communication lines cannot be broken,'' said Dan Torres of the League of United Latin American Citizens. ``We can't go opposite ways across the street and glare at each other.''
``We must all co-exist in peace and harmony,'' said Dr. Haing Ngor, who starred in the movie ``The Killing Fields.''
After meeting with police today, community leaders plan to develop a joint strategy and present it to the City Council within the next few weeks.
After talking to gang members for several months, Kraft came up with some ideas of his own. For example, he'd like elementary school students to study other cultural backgrounds.
``The more people get to know each other, the more fighting will diminish,'' he says. ``A basic underlying reason for fighting is fear, fear of whatever is different. Difference threatens security, and that is the root of prejudice.''
Gangs at war: The bloody battle for turf
The conflict: An ongoing war between Cambodian and Latino gangs has resulted in death and violence in Long Beach. The violence prompted Cambodian and Latino leaders last week to demonstrate at City Hall and demand better police protection.
The battleground: The violence appears to be concentrated in neighborhoods along Anaheim Street between Long Beach Boulevard and Redondo Avenue.
The combatants: The battles involve as many as 800 Cambodian gang members and nearly 2,500 Latino gang members - many between 9 and 25 years old.
At issue: Police believe the war comes down to a struggle for control of neighborhood turf between two groups who resent or fear each other.
The human cost: Nine dead, more than 50 injured.

This post has been edited by DestinationxxUnknown: Jul 28 2007, 03:54 AM



DestinationxxUnk...

Jul 13 2007, 03:40 AM
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Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA)

April 25, 1991

CASUALTIES OF WAR

In the past year-and-a-half a war between Latino and Cambodian gangs has claimed nine lives and caused more than 50 injuries. Here are some of the victims of the violence:
April 8: Dung Chao, 17, died in his mother's arms after he was shot while watching television at 10:15 p.m. in his apartment in the 1300 block of Walnut Avenue. Three others were wounded. Although none of the residents are known gang members, police say they may have been gunned down by two Latino gang members.
April 6: Ramon Gonzalez, 18, was ambushed from behind, shot three times in the head and killed while riding his bicycle at 5 p.m. in the 1300 block of 10th Street. On April 12, police arrested a 16-year-old reputed Cambodian gang member in connection with the slaying.
March 31: Chang Heng, 29, was shot and killed while playing a Cambodian form of lawn bowling at 7:30 p.m. behind an apartment building at 10th Street and Orange Avenue. Two others were wounded. They may have been mistaken for a Cambodian gang member who reportedly lives in the apartment building.
Feb. 5, 1990: Benjamin Gutierrez, 18, was shot three times and killed at 12:30 p.m. after being confronted by two men while walking in the 2400 block of 11th Street. Two alleged gang members - Bun Vann amd Kroung Songkra, both 20 - were charged with the murder last September.
Copyright © 1991 Press-Telegram

This post has been edited by DestinationxxUnknown: Jul 28 2007, 04:02 AM

[mayugastank]

This is an all out race war--that claimed 50 lives --hundreds shot -almost a 1000 attempted murders --all in the name of racial superiority and hate.The victims included women being purposely shot --old men (78 year old cambodian man ) being assassinated in broad daylight, shooting of people in mass-numbers ---6 shot in one setting , kidnappings -the shooter in the previous case was kidnapped and shot and left for dead prior to himself committing a triple murder. Murders in broad daylight, children aged 12 and 13 being caught for killings...on and on and on, the articles i posted are just a sampling of what transpired in Long Beach during the 90s.The movie Freedom Writers touched on what happened but really didnt touch on the viciousness -of what actually occurred. The link I provided has many many more articles on the subject -anyone interested should click on that link .

[YearZero]

Good post.

[mayugastank]

Good post.

here is an article I picked up about a guy named HALF _DEAD from suicidals in LONG BEACH. He was kidnapped by (2) East Side Longos ,Huero from East Side Longo,doing 15 years for the crime and Cyco from East Side Longo doing 30 years for the crime . The kidnappers drove him around and shot him multiple times -they tried to use butcher knives to dismember him .The store owner where they tried to purchase the knives got suspicious and called the cops . The 2 would get caught but not till after committing a string of shootings -attempted murders, and another murder of a 60 year old camboadian man . In all they were suspects in 11+ murders and attempted murders of asian men in Long Beach. If this isnt a straight skin head move I dont know what is?? why did it take so long for them to get caught ? This article just goes to show that violence heaps violence. The kidnappee would eventually become a murderer himself committing Long Beachs most Ghastly and Biggest MASSACRE.

[mayugastank]

Good post.

HALF DEAD FROM SUIS


Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA)

June 10, 1996

LONG BEACH SHOOTING GANG MURDER TRIAL
TWO YEARS LATER, L.B. GANG KILLINGS TO UNFOLD IN COURT

Article Text:

The massacre two years ago was possibly the deadliest racial confrontation in the city's history. A cold, calculated ambush, it culminated one of Long Beach's saddest chapters.
During the previous five years, three dozen young men -- many of them innocent bystanders -- were killed in the warfare between Latino and Southeast Asian gangs. Many others were wounded, scarred or maimed for life. It was a senseless war that began over turf but evolved into a fury of ethnic cleansing.
Yet, despite the intensity of the combat, the general public for years seemed almost apathetic. Perhaps it was due to the misconception that everyone involved was a gang member. (The police identified only one-fourth of the victims as hard-core gang members.) Perhaps it was because many of the victims were Latino or Southeast Asian immigrants. Or perhaps it was because most of the shootings took place along the so-called Anaheim Corridor in one of the poorest parts of Long Beach.
For whatever reason, that changed on the night of May 15, 1994. On that date, six young men and teen-agers -- Latinos from Los Angeles -- were shot, three of them fatally. Today the two youths suspected of killing them go on trial.
Two years ago, the victims were getting ready to drive home from a party in Long Beach near Lewis Avenue and 12th Street.
Little did they know as they climbed into their blue Toyota Corolla that five days earlier, two Southeast Asian teen-agers -- one 13, one 19 -- were gunned down on another Long Beach street, probably by Latino gangbangers. Nor could they have known that two days later, two Latinos were wounded but survived a payback shooting.
In any case, on that night, two Asian youths -- draped in the black garb of grim reapers -- appeared out of the dark and approached the Toyota, one on each side. Aiming a gun directly at the driver's forehead, one asked, ``Do you want me to shoot you in the head?''
Without waiting for an answer, he pulled the trigger.
As the driver, 23-year-old Justino Rodriguez, slumped over the steering wheel, the two assailants began firing indiscriminately with 9 mm pistols. Their bullets hit everyone in the car. Four of the six youths staggered from the vehicle, but in the end, only three would live. Besides Rodriguez, Juan Luis Figueroa, 14, and Hector Alvarez, 17, died. Figueroa's 19-year-old brother was among the wounded.
None of the victims was a gang member.
Five dead in five days
As the gunmen disappeared into the night, many people in Long Beach woke up. The carnage -- five dead in as many days -- was the straw that finally broke the camel's back.
A cry went out: ``Enough is enough!''
All available police resources were focused on the area, and the Police Department's gang detail was greatly expanded. The City Council took up the issue, demanding the hiring of more Asian officers. City Manager Jim Hankla ordered police to take whatever steps they deemed necessary to secure the peace and find the gunmen. He also directed a top deputy to launch an all-out effort to get the warring gangs to sit down at a peace table. The city's Human Relations Commission began a series of hearings to get to the heart of the matter.
Behind the scenes, former gang members talked to their brethren.
Sadly, the summer of '94 would see more shootings and more dead youngsters. But the intensity of that awful week in May was a climax, the high tide of the violent surge. Afterward, tensions waned. In July, the Press-Telegram profiled the 36 victims of the gang war in a special project titled ``A Plea for Peace,'' and by the end of the summer, the leading gangs announced they had agreed to a cease-fire.
Since then, although fighting sometimes erupts between the adversaries, the truce has held. In the words of one former gang member who helped forge the agreement: ``It's one man's word against another's. You can take that to the bank.''
Now the focus has shifted to the two young Cambodians who are set to go to trial today for the May 15, 1994, slayings. Each faces three counts of murder and three of attempted murder. If found guilty, they could spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
Long Beach police arrested the two cousins within weeks of the crime. Both allegedly belonged to the TRG -- the city's most feared Asian gang -- when the shooting occurred.
Once a victim himself
One is Kamsao Dengon, now 19, a Poly High School dropout. During a pretrial hearing last week, Dengon seems nervous, quick to speak, as he sits in court clad in a distinctive blue and white jailhouse jumpsuit. His cheeks are acne-scarred. His rough inmate haircut fades into a short tail in back.
He is the one who allegedly shot the driver.
Two years before the crime, Dengon was himself an innocent victim. When he was only 15, he was kidnapped by two young Latinos, probably gang members. They shot him, then drove around displaying him to their friends as a sort of living trophy.
Dengon managed to save his life by causing the car they were in to crash, police said. The kidnappers fled. Officers found him abandoned in the car, critically wounded.
His cousin and co-defendant is Bunlom Hom, also a Poly dropout.
Hom, 18, looks even younger. The hair above his lip and on his chin could easily be described as peach fuzz. Looking at his smile, it is difficult to imagine him brandishing a lethal weapon or blazing away into a crowded car.
Shortly after Hom was arrested, former classmates at Poly described him as more of a follower than a leader. In class, he was quiet, they said. But with his gangster friends, it was a different story, and he would open up.
``They were like a family to him, where he would go to hide and get away from his problems,'' said one boy.
This is not the first trial. That occurred in April, but lasted only a few days before a mistrial was called. After two witnesses testified, it became clear that certain evidence had not been made available to the defendants, as required. For example, the defense was unaware of artist renderings that could play a role in identifying the killers.
``At the truncated first trial, of the witnesses who testified, it appeared that neither could identify Mr. Hom as a perpetrator,'' said Deputy Public Defender Stanley Perlo, who is representing Hom.
So today the process begins to select a new judge and jury. They will decide the fate of two teenagers accused of firing the shots heard round the world of Long Beach.
Caption:
On May 15, 1994, six Latino teens were shot, three
killed, in their car at the corner of Lewis Avenue and 12th Street in
Long Beach. The trial of their accused assailants begins today.
File photo