ADL Applauds Indictment of Aryan Brotherhood
Los Angeles, CA October 18, 2002…..The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) applauds the work of federal and state law enforcement, whose investigation has led to the indictment of 40 alleged members and associates of the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent white supremacist prison gang, on racketeering charges. "ADL has monitored and reported on the dangers of this gang. We stand shoulder to shoulder with law enforcement in the continued pursuit of justice and the eradication of violent racist conspiracies," said Bruce J. Einhorn, President of ADL's Pacific Southwest Region.
"Particularly in the last several years, ADL has provided expertise to law enforcement and the media concerning the threat of the Aryan Brotherhood, the Nazi Low Riders, and other gangs whose vicious acts have engendered fear for years in the prison population and beyond," stated Amanda Susskind, ADL's Pacific Southwest Regional Director.
ADL's publications, From the Prisons to the Street: Nazi Low Riders Emerge in California, Bigotry Behind Bars, and Dangerous Convictions trace the history of racist prison gangs and report on their current activities. John Stinson in particular, one of the defendants named in the indictment, is recognized in ADL's Nazi Low Rider report as an instrumental organizer of the Nazi Low Riders gang.
The indictment, unsealed yesterday by federal officials, stems from a six-year nationwide federal and state investigation, led by the Los Angeles office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, into the activities of the prison gang. The investigation centered on a number of murders and attempted murders allegedly ordered by the gang's leaders in order to expand their power in prison. In addition, the indictment alleges violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), a law that has increasingly been used as a tool to combat the criminal activities of prison and street gangs. Thirty of the forty people indicted are already in the prison system on unrelated charges; eight were arrested, and two remain fugitives. The Aryan Brotherhood, founded in the mid 1960s in California, has built a reputation based on violence and intimidation. The gang is involved in drug trafficking, extortion, gambling, and protection rackets in federal and state prisons across the country. It is also associated with other violent prison gangs, including the Nazi Low Riders and the Mexican Mafia.
Although the Aryan Brotherhood primarily operates as a criminal gang, many members of the group espouse a white supremacist ideology that has resulted in racially motivated killings both in and outside of prison. In October 1994, Aryan Brotherhood member Donald Riley was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of a black Marine in Houston. In July 2002, Leo Felton, a member of the Aryan Brotherhood and other white supremacist groups, and an associate were found guilty of plotting to blow up Jewish and black landmarks in Boston in an attempt to ignite a racial war.
The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.
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