Gang strike paralyses El Salvador, Long Island Man arrested, defending against MS-13 Gang

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11253408

Soldier escorting commuters on a truck in San Salvador. The army has been using trucks to help people get to work

Public transport in El Salvador has been severely disrupted for a third day by a strike enforced by street gangs, angry at a new law making gang membership a criminal offence.

The Mara 18 and Mara Salvatrucha gangs told transport operators to observe the shutdown, or face the consequences.

Thousands of troops have been deployed to protect bus drivers and commuters.

The anti-gang law was introduced in July after gang members set fire to a bus, killing 17 people.

The BBC's Eric Lemus in the capital San Salvador says most bus companies there and across the country appear to have given in to the gangs' threats.

He said about 80% of public transport was suspended, although some private drivers in pick-up trucks had been carrying passengers for much higher fares.

Many businesses also shut down for fear of reprisals after the gangs circulated leaflets telling them to close or "face the consequences".

Police and soldiers have been escorting the vehicles that have been carrying passengers, and the army has also been using trucks to help people get to work.
Continue reading the main story
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As we close in on the gangs, they are reacting”

End Quote Mauricio Funes El Salvador president
'State of rebellion'

The street gangs - known as Maras - ordered the shutdown to put pressure on president Mauricio Funes not to sign a new law which would make membership of a gang a criminal offence.

The law, which has been approved by El Salvador's parliament, makes the Mara 18 and Salvatrucha proscribed organisations, and describes them as "social extermination groups".

But Mr Funes said his government would not be moved by intimidation and threats.

"I affirm that I will sign the law," he said on Wednesday.

"We saw this coming. As we close in on them, they are reacting."

Mr Funes says the law is aimed at gang leaders and those who finance them.

Unlike previous anti-crime laws, it includes measures to stop young people joining the gangs and to help them escape from a life of crime.

The protest has extended to El Salvador's prisons, where hundreds of jailed gang members have declared themselves in a "state of rebellion".

Masked gang members interviewed on Salvadorean television said they had called the strike because they felt the government was excluding them from a national debate on how to reduce violent crime.

"We want to start a transparent process of dialogue aimed at finding a solution to the violence," the Mara 18 gang member said.

The gangs also want improved conditions for prisoners.

El Salvador's gangs have their roots in immigrant street gangs of the US.

Over the years they have grown to become powerful trans-national criminal organisations with thousands of members.

They are heavily involved in drug trafficking and extortion, and have a reputation for ruthless violence.

El Salvador has one of the highest murder rates in the world, with around 10 killings a day in a country with a population of just over seven million.

Related:

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2010/09/07/long-island-man-arrested-for-defending-home-with-ak-47/

Long Island Man Arrested For Defending Home With AK-47

UNIONDALE, N.Y. (CBS 2) — He was arrested for protecting his property and family.

But it’s how the Long Island man did it that police say crossed the line.

He got an AK-47 assault rifle, pulled the trigger and he ended up in jail, reports CBS 2’s Pablo Guzman.

George Grier said he had to use his rifle on Sunday night to stop what he thought was going to be an invasion of his Uniondale home by a gang he thought might have been the vicious “MS-13.” He said the whole deal happened as he was about to drive his cousin home.

“I went around and went into the house, ran upstairs and told my wife to call the police. I get the gun and I go outside and I come into the doorway and now, by this time, they are in the driveway, back here near the house. I tell them, you know, ‘Can you please leave?’ Grier said.

Grier said the five men dared him to use the gun; and that their shouts brought another larger group of gang members in front of his house.

“He starts threatening my family, my life. ‘Oh you’re dead. I’m gonna kill your family and your babies. You’re dead.’ So when he says that, 20 others guys come rushing around the corner. And so I fired four warning shots into the grass,” Grier said.

Grier was later arrested. John Lewis is Grier’s attorney.

“What he’s initially charged with – A D felony reckless endangerment — requires a depraved indifference to human life, creating a risk that someone’s going to die. Shooting into a lawn doesn’t create a risk of anybody dying,” Lewis said.

Grier said he knew Nassau County Police employ the hi-tech “ShotSpotter” technology in his area and that the shooting would bring police in minutes. Cops told Guzman he was very cooperative.

Grier also said he was afraid the gang outside his house was the dreaded MS-13. And Nassau County Police Lt. Andrew Mulraine, head of the gang unit, said MS-13 has 2,000 members in the county.

“They’re probably the most organized. They almost have a military hierarchy within the gang, so they are the most organized gang we encounter on a daily basis,” Mulraine said.

You may think a person has the right to defend their home. But the law says you can only use physical force to deter physical force. Grier said he never saw anyone pull out a gun, so a court would have to decide on firing the gun.

Police determined Grier had the gun legally. He has no criminal record. And so he was not charged for the weapon.

That ShotSpotter technology pinpoints where a gun has been fired within 35 feet. Police said it also detected two other shootings in nearby Roosevelt that night.