La Opinion played big on its front page Saturday a story that says the shadowy Mexican Mafia is behind recent racial gang attacks on African Americans. This angle was screaming to get explored somewhere. The story cites a report by the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which relies heavily on the research of Tony Rafael. Meanwhile, less than two days after a supposed "peace treaty" was signed between blacks and Latinos in Harbor Gateway and after FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III himself showed up on South Harvard Boulevard to announce a crackdown on the 204th Street gang, another apparently race-related shooting happened in the area at 2 a.m. on Saturday. Here are some excerpts from La Opinion's story that I've translated:
A resident of 205th Street, where on Dec. 5 Arturo Mercado, 34, was killed, said, on condition of anonymity to avoid reprisals, that the night of the murder a group of African Americans approached a group of Latinos, and after screaming, "Fucking Mexicans!", fired their guns.
In response, he added, Latino gang members from the area fired at a group of African Americans on Harvard, between 206th and 207th.
[...]
Charlene Lovett, mother of Cheryl Green, said she had no resentment or hate toward Latinos, despite the murder of her daughter. Instead, she said: "Latinos and African Americans have to unite because we have a lot in common, and once we realize that we can start enjoying each other's cultures."
The story has no local law enforcement sources, though. The paper has started a new War on Gangs section online. Is it just me, or is this shit getting scary? (* Art by La Opinion.)