TRAPPED IN A MASONIC WORLD

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a reference to members of all Latino heritages [11] . They organised themselves as a vanguard for their
communities. Like the Black Panther Party an African-American revolutionary leftist group, who were
active in the US from the mid -1960‘s unto the 1970‘s.
The Black Panther Party achieved national and international impact through their deep involvement in
the Black Power movement and in US politics during this period, as the intense anti-racism of the time,
and is today considered one of the most significant social, political and cultural currents in US history [12] .
And then there are many other groups and gangs, such as The Young Lords which began as a Chicago turf
gang in the 1960‘s in the Lincoln Park neighbourhood [13] . When they realised that urban renewal was
evicting their families and saw police abuses, some became involved in June 1966, in the ―Division Street
Riots‖. So as I say, the origins of these sorts of groups that once struggled against social injustices and for
political empowerment began to lose touch with their roots and grew into some of the largest and most
infamous criminal gangs in America. The group‘s members became involved in crimes including murder,
drug trafficking, robberies and other organised criminal activities. [10]
The leader of the Latin Kings, Luis Felipe [a.k.a. King Blood], to avoid imprisonment for his criminal
activities in Chicago, moved to New York, where he was later convicted of killing his girlfriend, which he
claimed was a drunken accident. While in jail, he got permission from his ―superiors‖ in Chicago, and
what they term the ―motherland‖, to start the New York chapter of the Latin Kings which grew very
rapidly into the Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation [ALKQN]. He designated himself as Inca and
Supreme Crown of New York State. Whilst still in jail, using hand-written letters, he gave members
orders to kill enemies, as well as disobedient Latin Kings, in order to preserve discipline. In 1995 Antonio
Fernandez [a.k.a. King Tone] was designated Inca and Supreme Crown of New York State and New
Jersey, and the ALKQN once again began a transformation. Today the Latin Kings are the largest
Hispanic street gang, and the largest Chicago-based street gang, in the USA. Although the original
Chicago members were of Puerto Rican descent, most members are now Mexican-American whose great
portion of gang membership exists in Central and South America, unlike MS-13 Mara Salvatrucha
[commonly abbreviated as MS, Mara, and MS-13] a transnational criminal gang that originated in Los
Angeles and has spread to other parts of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America. [14]
The majority of the gang is ethnically composed of Central Americans and active in urban and suburban
areas. And the 18th Street gang, who are considered to be the largest criminal gang in Los Angeles,
California. It is estimated that there are thousands of members in Los Angeles County alone. There are
approximately 200 separate individual autonomous gangs operating under the same label.—the Latin
Kings have a heavier presence within the United States. The gang has over 25,000 members in the city of
Chicago alone and have organised ―chapters‖ in over 41 states and several Latin American and European
countries, including: Mexico, Spain, the Dominican Republic, Canada, Italy, Ecuador, Peru, Puerto Rico,
Chile, Brazil, United Kingdom and others. The Latin Kings are mostly of Latino descent, with some
Black, White, Asian and Middle Eastern members as well. Due to the organisation‘s blatant contradictory
history, it is often debated about whether they are strictly a criminal organisation or a positive force in the
community - as they have obviously taken on both roles at different points in time, as well as
simultaneously. But isn‘t the same said about the Cosa Nostra/Mafia with all their charity work for the
church.
Following raids back in 2009 by the FBI and other related agencies in Newburgh in the USA, which has
a population of about 29,000, gang violence has been responsible for all but two or three of the sixteen or
so murders in the city between 2007 and 2008, including five since January 2009. [10] George C. Venizelos,
acting assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.‘s New York field office, said it‘s going to take a dent out of
two gangs. - The Bloods and the Latin Kings who are considered by law enforcement officials to be the
most organised and dominant gangs in the city; the Bloods are the largest, with an estimated 160 members.
Potentially we can take out a third of their membership, Mr. Venizelos said of the Bloods. At a news
conference in White Plains, Mr. Bharara said; ―...the drug and gang problem in Newburgh had reached
crisis proportions. - The situation in Newburgh has, quite simply, become intolerable ...these gang
members are not wannabes, but die-hard, lifelong gang members‖, Mr. Bharara said. He added; ―We tried
to bring new hope to Newburgh‖. - The indictments, - one focusing on the Bloods, the other on the Latin
Kings, paint a detailed and disturbing picture of Newburgh‘s deeply entrenched gang culture.
The Bloods are broken into a number of subgroups, with names like Bounty Hunter Bloods, G-Shine
and 9 Trey. Ranking members could and did call meetings of all the Newburgh Bloods. Attendance was
mandatory, and at these meetings, ranking members organised their drug operations and ordered the