FBI arrests 42 alleged members of violent California-based white supremacist gang in domestic terrorism investigation – East Bay Times

Federal officials on Wednesday announced the arrest of 42 alleged members and associates of California’s violent white supremacist SFV Peckerwoods gang, charging them with a range of crimes including racketeering, gun and drug trafficking, bank fraud, identity theft and other crimes.

They were among a total of 68 people charged in a 76-count indictment unsealed Wednesday as those arrested were arraigned in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

All but 13 of the survivors were arrested or were already in custody on Wednesday, California’s Victorville Daily Press reported.

The group is considered a domestic terrorist organization linked to the Aryan Brotherhood.

The SFV Peckerwoods are affiliated with other organized crime groups in California prisons, including an alliance with the Mexican Mafia prison gang, the law firm said. They use “Nazi tattoos, graffiti and iconography to signify their violent white supremacist extremist ideology,” including swastikas and the “88” symbol indicating allegiance to Adolf Hitler.

“What really sets them apart, what defines them, is their hatred and hostility toward racial, ethnic and religious minorities,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California said in a statement, calling the group a “serious threat to our community”. and ‘a destructive force’.

The gang also focused on making money, both by selling drugs and by stealing identities and defrauding banks. They robbed drug dealers and conducted “smash and grab” merchandise robberies, prosecutors said.

Law enforcement officers investigating the gang’s alleged activities also seized “large quantities” of illegal firearms, as well as dozens of pounds of fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin, the indictment said.

Originally published: October 7, 2024 at 7:40 am