MS-13 Gang

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The History Channel has a good special on right now about MS-13, a gang with far reach and a concentration in Virginia. Just thought it would be a good discussion if anyone has any thoughts.

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Yup I work about a quarter mile from what I've been told is the second largest concentration of MS-13 in the US.

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They are thick around my hood. And before HankT asks "How do you know they are MS-13"? I'll say it. They are the guys with the Mara tattoos hanging out all over the place down the street from me. They all know I carry, I walk right past them all the time while OC'ing. The few times we have passed on the sidewalk they go out of the way to avoid me.

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They are talking about Brenda Paz now. Horrible case.

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And now showing Culmore the area I was talking about.

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I was thinking about all of you out in N. VA -- and I was asking myself why there aren't more who carry!?

Obviously the show was showing a lot of the most graphic stuff, or at least what I would call very violent, I woulnd't want to live close to these individuals at all.

I am about 15 miles from Chicago, apparently they said there is a high concentration there as well, but I have never heard of it.

I found the Brenda Paz part very frustrating. She had everything set up for her, and they gave her chance after chance, if she wanted friends that bad, why wouldn't she make some in Minnesota. Minnesota, N. & S. Dakota were the only 3 states they had on the map not yellowed out, I am sure she could have made it up there if she kept her mouth shut.

Does anyone happen to know if the MS-13 people are typically illegal, or have a high concentration of illegals / guest workers?

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Yeah, I was watching this, too. We actually have a recent law in Virginia that bans concealed machetes because of these clowns! And there is gang activity within walking distance of my house. Fairfax County has nice neighborhoods and not-so-nice neighborhoods placed within blocks of each other, so you're never likely far from the fun. All the more reason to carry. Even still, the crime rate here is much lower thanit is across the river.

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Tomahawk wrote:

Yeah, I was watching this, too. We actually have a recent law in Virginia that bans concealed machetes because of these clowns! And there is gang activity within walking distance of my house. Fairfax County has nice neighborhoods and not-so-nice neighborhoods placed within blocks of each other, so you're never likely far from the fun. All the more reason to carry. Even still, the crime rate here is much lower thanit is across the river.

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As far as OC goes -- in your immediate area of course, say 5-10 miles around you and this activity, how many people are ocing?

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Not enough but for the most part the gang seems to confine themselves to within their community. Fairfax is actually one of the safest counties in the us.

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openryan wrote:

Tomahawk wrote:

Yeah, I was watching this, too. We actually have a recent law in Virginia that bans concealed machetes because of these clowns! And there is gang activity within walking distance of my house. Fairfax County has nice neighborhoods and not-so-nice neighborhoods placed within blocks of each other, so you're never likely far from the fun. All the more reason to carry. Even still, the crime rate here is much lower thanit is across the river.

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As far as OC goes -- in your immediate area of course, say 5-10 miles around you and this activity, how many people are ocing?

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I haven't seen any OC'rs in my immediate neighborhood, but I have spotted CCr's around who obviously weren't concealing very well. I do know of one or two OCr's on this board who live very close to me, though.

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Tomahawk wrote:

openryan wrote:

Tomahawk wrote:

Yeah, I was watching this, too. We actually have a recent law in Virginia that bans concealed machetes because of these clowns! And there is gang activity within walking distance of my house. Fairfax County has nice neighborhoods and not-so-nice neighborhoods placed within blocks of each other, so you're never likely far from the fun. All the more reason to carry. Even still, the crime rate here is much lower thanit is across the river.

Click to expand...

As far as OC goes -- in your immediate area of course, say 5-10 miles around you and this activity, how many people are ocing?

Click to expand...

I haven't seen any OC'rs in my immediate neighborhood, but I have spotted CCr's around who obviously weren't concealing very well. I do know of one or two OCr's on this board who live very close to me, though.

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I was thinking there would be quite a few permits issued out there if people are responsible for their own safety. With stuff like that going on you would be foolish if you couldn't protect yourself/family.

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longwatch wrote:

Not enough but for the most part the gang seems to confine themselves to within their community. Fairfax is actually one of the safest counties in the us.

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Do they tend to direct the aggression on other enemy gang members and people who antagonize them? The TV kind of made it sound like they do a lot of random criminal activity just for the sake of publicity and stiking fear into people.

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openryan wrote:

longwatch wrote:

Not enough but for the most part the gang seems to confine themselves to within their community. Fairfax is actually one of the safest counties in the us.

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Do they tend to direct the aggression on other enemy gang members and people who antagonize them? The TV kind of made it sound like they do a lot of random criminal activity just for the sake of publicity and stiking fear into people.

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Well, I think gangs are like drugs: the authorities and the media like to hype the danger and scare people. Gangs are very nasty, but they do tend to target certain people more than others, I think. Despite their known presence, most people in Northern VA do not worry about them in their daily life, as this is a very low-crime area overall.

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Its the classic immigrant crime pattern very insular to the overall community like say the early days of the mafia. Except without the benevolent side. They operate alot within the walls of the illegal alien community so its hard to say what they have done. I think its because most of their victims cannot really go to the police being in jeopardy of deportation if they do.

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A few years ago MS-13 randomly murdered a couple out for a walk in Herndon, Va. right next to a restaurant I go to weekly. They wanted people to fear the gang. They also have murdered several other people in Fairfax County over the last several years. It's a problem for sure, but more people carrying would solve it. Three years ago I lived in an apartment building that went Hispanic overnight. Most of the folks were fine,actually quite politejust really heavy drinkers that had the police in the complex constantly.Two days afterI signed a two year lease renewal (three months free rent, same monthly rate) a MS-13 member moved next door. Soon 10 people were living in that three bedroom apartment, all MS-13 tattooed imbeciles. They scared the management/ rental agentinto ignoring all complaints music, drug dealing etc. One night I heard a dog barking and looked out the window to find a police k-9 andthe Fairfax County Tactical team staging. They entered the building with M-4's and m-p5s and served a warrant on the MS-13 apartment, took two members away. A week latter they areback in business, same crap. I called the cops on those clowns 10-12 times. They suspected me and started giving me dirty looks. One night some idiot just starts kicking my door at 2am. I grabbed my Sig off the nightstand and loaded a 30 round clip into my Ar-15 as I dialed 911. The call taker actually heard me loading up (probably a slide click) and asked if I was armed. When I said yes, she asked me to lock myself in the bathroom,"if anyone is shooting lay down in the tub".The MS fool was locked out of his apartment, drunk and thought his roommates were just not letting him in. The 4 officers promptly arrested him (they were there in like 3-4 minutes) and then called and asked me to leave the weapons inside and step out. I went to the front door and answered the questions and thanked them. He noticed the Ar-15 on the coffee table and said, "someone would have had a big surprise if that deadbolt didn't hold. He sure picked the wrong door." That is when I started open carrying.Even with a great police department that has exceptional response times, in 3-4 minutes you can still be dead.Never be intimidated by these gang-punks, just carry a extra magazine.

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That's a good story. "MS-13 < AR-15."

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The best part is the ending, I was able to stabilize my businesses cash flow and move when the lease ended. After 9/11 and that snipper my sales were off 62% I'm actually blessed to still be in business, it was a tough time. Going from a home in a nice subdivision to an apartment is bad enough, but when the complex starts to resemble someinner -city ghetto - things get depressing fast. I did learn a lot about myself during that time. Like I really like SIg, Glock, Colt and Beretta. Every room needs a gun tucked away somewhere. When I lived in that apartment I had one on top of the fridge hidden in a empty cereal box. One on the nightstand, one in the closet (rifle) and one hidden under the vanity/sink in the bathroom. Well armed equals safe.



Live in a bad neighborhood for a while and you will beare pro gun for life.

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I remember in 2003(ish) when I lived in Burke we had a large concentration of MS-13 that live in what we called "poor-town", back near the railroad tracks by the post office off of Old Burke lake road.

Then almost overnight, they all vanished. I asked a cop I knew if it had been an ICE sting or INS raid? he said that some joker had spray painted "Sombra Negra" over some MS-13 grafitti and they all flipped out and ran. Doing a search I found out the group is made of former military and government officals who target and hunt down MS-13 members as they feel the official government is too corrupt to do anything about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sombra_Negra

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Do you have to be an ex-cop or can we all sign up ? :celebrate

I mean this board should have some form of representation in that group. Maybe we could volunteer LEO 229 ?

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ChinChin wrote:

I remember in 2003(ish) when I lived in Burke we had a large concentration of MS-13 that live in what we called "poor-town", back near the railroad tracks by the post office off of Old Burke lake road.

Then almost overnight, they all vanished. I asked a cop I knew if it had been an ICE sting or INS raid? he said that some joker had spray painted "Sombra Negra" over some MS-13 grafitti and they all flipped out and ran. Doing a search I found out the group is made of former military and government officals who target and hunt down MS-13 members as they feel the official government is too corrupt to do anything about it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sombra_Negra

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That is one reason they are so dangerous in the US. The roaming state supported death squads are rare.

MS-13 has nothing to lose here in the US, while they would most like be killed if returned to Salavador. There has been a recent surge in membership since they have started to accepted members not from Salavador.

They are a group to be feared. I just finished my gang related training material at work and it is amazing what they have done in this area already that the media has not shown.

Virginia even passed a "Machete" law because it is the weapon of choice (http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+coh+18.2-282.1+404901).