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Doug McIntyre of KABC radio in Los Angeles discussing the murder of Jamiel Shaw
790 KABC radio Los Angeles
June 10, 2008
Doug McIntyre started the conversation on Jamiel Shaw by discussing the LA Weekly article by Annette Stark entitled Fury Over Jamiel's Law: Should a movement to protect kids be named after an alleged gangbanger?. Stark wrote an article about the gang allegations of Jamiel Shaw, that went further than my May 9, 2008 article on the same subject. After my article hit the internet, Doug dismissed it and disrespectfully characterized it as the "short skirt defense" but Starks writes an article pushing the same point further than I did and Doug gives her credit because she called him and quoted him correctly. I guess I should have called Doug before I wrote about Jamiel since he is an advocate for gang-related murder victims only if the assailant is an illegal alien.
Stark contacted me, as she did Doug, but I asked her not to quote me or include me in her article, because I did not want to make it look as if I was making the media rounds with a political agenda to grind which I absolutely do not have. I declined all interviews that was exclusively about defending and explaining how and why Jamiel was claiming a gang, including Lynette Romero's story she did on the topic for KTLA, where the father told Romero that the hand signs of Jamiel were not gang related, rather they were Star Trek, Peace, and Mork & Mindy hand signs. The purpose of my article was to dismiss the ridiculous notion that Pedro Espinoza, an 18th Street gang member, murdered Jamiel Shaw over race. This is an important distinction, because falsely suggesting that such a high profile murder was committed because of race can worsen sentiments in communities where racial tensions are already percolating at the surface. Additionally, talking about race disregards the gang facts of this shooting that ultimately led to the murder. These are the issues that we attempt to steer youth away from, but because politics has reared its ugly head into this murder, the dangers of gang life that the victim was involved in has virtually gone unchecked by people like Doug.
Notes on radio clip:
We have many "perfect victims" in this City regarding gang violence that we can rally behind, but most of them are killed by home grown US criminals, and not an illegal alien, therefore Doug is not concerned. Let's remember that this entire conversation about Pedro Espinoza is not about gang violence, racial violence, innocent victims, or even about Jamiel Shaw - it about Mexican illegal immigration.
Illegal aliens account for such a small part of the Los Angeles gang population therefore rarely do we hear of shootings where an illegal alien gang member murders someone, therefore they have to cling on to the murder of Jamiel Shaw.
Doug states that there is not one shred of evidence that Jamiel was gang affiliated but several prosecution witnesses during the preliminary hearing stated just that. The evidence is there and much of it was introduced in court.
Having a criminal record or being in a database does not determine if someone is a gang member or not and never has. This statement reveals Doug's ignorance on the topic of gangs as he has no understanding how vaguely a gang member can be defined in this County. There are many gang members that have no criminal record, or in the gang database. In my experience in testifying in gang related cases I have receive several cases where the State charges individuals that have no previous gang history for committing a gang related crime. The number one way a person is identified as a gang member in Los Angeles is by "self admission" and according to LAPD Officer Winston Lee and retired Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Sergeant Richard Valdemar, Jamiel was gang related.
The gangs are not "vicious" as Doug states and here he is playing the "fear card" because the last I check, the County has 90,000 - 100,000 gang members, about 50,000 less than the County was reporting in 1999, and the gang related violence continues to drop every year, and it has dropped by more than 50 percent since the period of 1987 - 1994. What statistics is Doug looking at? That's called fear mongering, to get people nervous about illegal aliens.
Doug states that Special Order 40 is making the problem worse, but first what problem is he talking about? If he is referring to crime, it is as low as it can get, and if it continues to drop, we should be happy and proud of this beautiful City and dismiss people who attack it as some sort of third world lawless city spinning out of control. If he has EVIDENCE of how Special Order 40 is some how destroying our City, he should present it, but he does not suggest how many murders would be prevented or how much crime would be reduced. These are emotional arguments rooted in his and everyone else's xenophobic sentiments of Mexicans. The same fears Americans expressed about Chinese people over 100 years ago. The architect of SO40, and former law & order LAPD Chief Daryl Gates recently said, "I don't see any reason for an amendment to the order."
Jamiel Shaw was doing more than flashing gang signs on myspace and we are not just talking about "social ties to gangs." We often deplore and speak against any person that decides to fashion themselves after gangs because of the possible dangers and consequences, i.e. getting shot or possibly murdered. But Doug wants to give Jamiel Shaw a free pass for glorifying the gang life style. "It is irrelevant," as Doug states.
Cheryl Green was murdered by a Hispanic who was a US Citizen, so she can not be the poster child for Doug.
The quote from prosecutor Gary Hearnsberger, "it's amazing how so many people can make up their minds without knowing anything," is referring to people like Doug in my opinion, who know absolutely nothing about gangs and the evidence in this case, but is quick to criticize my assessment on gangs, which I am sworn in court to offer to juries and judges all the time.
Items that have been used in court to determine gang membership in Los Angeles Superior Court where criminal record does not exist.
 graffiti: if there is evidence that you wrote graffiti or if you have graffiti writings on your property
photos: anything depicting gang culture will be used to suggest gang membership
association: if one is not a criminal but has friends that are, you will be associated with the criminal's activities, sometimes inappropriately
self admission: if you are publicly claiming or make statements that are gang related that will
internet, web site: law enforcement uses the internet for clues and evidence all the time, and if your internet behavior reflects gang activity it will be documented
Alex Alonso
June 20, 2008
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