Hate-Crime Arrests Signal 'Victory' For California City : NPR: Azusa is a small, working-class college city along the train tracks in the San Gabriel Valley, just 25 miles east of Los Angeles. Federal prosecutors say for years, the Varrio Azusa 13 gang has monopolized sales of cocaine, heroin and meth here.'This gang has waged an insidious, two-decade campaign of violence, fueled not only by drug dealing but by racial animus and hatred,' U.S. Attorney Andre Birotte told reporters in L.A. 'They had an edict dating back to 1992 to basically get rid of African-Americans from Azusa.'
Last week, 51 alleged Azusa 13 members were arrested and charged with federal racketeering and also civil rights violations. Birotte says since 1992, they've terrorized Azusa's black residents.
'This gang made a decision: 'What are we gonna do about the African-Americans in this community? We need to get rid of them,' ' Birotte told NPR. 'They made no bones about it, confronting African-Americans in the community to get out: 'You're not welcome here.' They were explicit racial epithets, spray-painting graffiti with graphic terms of 'f—- the n——-s,' 'you n——-s are not allowed here.' '
