Transnational Gang Recruited Members in Massachusetts Schools, Prosecutor Says
Plus, how many Gazans would choose to leave?
Back in December, when the New York Times ran a top-of-the-front page Sunday story by a technology reporter headlined “Phones Fueling Violent Scenes at U.S. Schools,” I wrote, “If the Times editors sent an immigration reporter, or a gangs-drugs-guns-and-crime reporter, the editors might have wound up with a different story.”
I wrote, “the idea that the fights at Revere High are mainly a story about cellphones rather than about drugs or adolescent hormones or criminal immigrant gangs or, for that matter, my own go-to explanation for social ills, declining religious-service attendance, seems like a Times reporter and editors’ fantasy rather than a thesis that is well supported by evidence.”
That item now deserves an update.
On February 19, federal and local law enforcement officials in Boston unsealed conspiracy charges against what they said were “two dozen leaders, members and associates of the Trinitarios gang – a violent transnational criminal organization.”
From the February 19 press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts:
It is alleged that the Trinitarios employ a written “Magna Carta” that defines the structure and rules of the organization, as well as slogans, symbols, colors and practices. This includes a green logo that consists of two crossed machetes and embellishments of “The Green Nation” and “Trinitarios Hasta La Muerte,” which translated from Spanish means, “Trinitarios Until Death.” It is alleged that the Massachusetts Trinitarios have particularly embraced this logo and have created custom t-shirts bearing this logo and each member’s gang name printed in green.
The Massachusetts Trinitarios allegedly recruit new members among communities of legal immigrants and illegal aliens from the Dominican Republic – specifically juveniles in local high schools in Lawrence and Lynn. To curry favor with these new recruits, the Trinitarios allegedly appeal to their shared Spanish language and culture, Dominican patriotism and use the appearance of prosperity and brotherhood.
It is further alleged that members are generally initiated into the gang after a period of observation or probation and are often inducted following the completion of a “mission” – which is generally a substantial act of violence such as shootings, beatings, or fist fights with rival gang members that were the same age or stature. According to the court documents, upon induction, new members are formally “blessed” into the organization during a formal ceremony, are administered oaths by the State Supreme and are awarded with ceremonial beaded necklaces. Younger members are allegedly tasked with lesser roles during many violent “missions,” including standing lookout during a shooting, holding or concealing weapons on behalf of full members and transporting weapons after their use in shootings.
I’m not such a fan of conspiracy charges—there’s actually a fairly strong case for repealing the RICO statute and focusing instead on the underlying crimes rather than the thought crime of “conspiring.” The prosecutors’ allegations are, at this point, just allegations and relate here to Lawrence and Lynn, not Revere.
Yet even with those caveats, for the Times to attribute high school violence to cellphones, while ignoring a transnational gang recruiting new members in Massachusetts high schools, is pretty breathtaking. It’s almost as if the Times would rather make villains out of the technology company executives than inform readers about the transnational gangs. The Times doesn’t appear to have deemed the new conspiracy charges fit to print.
There’s some social media video of the new U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, Leah Foley, at a press conference talking about the case. She is worth keeping an eye on; William Weld was U.S. attorney in Massachusetts before becoming a Republican governor of the Bay State. Said Foley: “The anarchy ends today.”
Elliott Abrams on Trump’s Gaza plan: “Trump is right: Many, many Gazans would dearly love to leave, but they have been trapped. If visas to almost anywhere were available, how many would jump at them? A third of the population? Half? Three-quarters? More?” Elliott Abrams writes in Commentary.
My best estimate of the answer is “more,” especially if Israel makes well known the reality that it’s going to be at least a few years before the electricity and water fully come back on, and especially if there were some incentive payment to help with moving and transition expenses.
Some people will argue against such payments on the grounds that they “reward terrorism,” but the alternative is keeping up a flow of humanitarian aid that also rewards terrorism while leaving the Gazans in the way of Israeli anti-Hamas fighters.
While some Gazan emigration could push the outer limits of the definition of “voluntary,” it arguably stops short of the “forced displacement” or “expulsion” that critics say violates international law.
Anyway, let the lawyers argue about whether the departures are voluntary or forced. What’s surely forced is the present situation of Egypt keeping the Gazans trapped in Gaza with no exit. One way to test whether leaving is voluntary or forced is to provide the option of leaving and then watch and see who volunteers to take that option. You needn’t take my word for it or Elliott Abrams’s. The Wall Street Journal news section had an article about it and found:
Leena Ahmed, 29, a mother of two, who “plans to leave Gaza for Spain when the war ends.”
Noha Saadawi, 34, a mother of three, who “said the level of destruction and likely delays in rebuilding are making it inevitable that she and others think about migrating.”
Enas Ahmed, 29, who had just made it back to her home in Gaza City after a year of displacement in the south, and said she didn’t mind Trump’s plan to get people out. “The situation here is so dire,” she said. “Even if we rebuild all of this, it will be demolished again. We are really fed up.”
Khaled Mohammad, 35, who said, “I don’t care about land. I want to leave so I can protect my children.”
More detailed survey of Gazans wanting to emigrate in
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-841120
"There goes the neighborhood" for any country that receives them.