CA - Aryan Brotherhood Prison Gang targeted in one of largest capital cases ever

[PrayersForMaura]

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) -- The inmates had to heat the letter to draw out the message, written in invisible ink. When they did, their orders were clear.

Within hours, prosecutors say, members of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang sneaked into a nearby cellblock and killed two black inmates with handmade shanks as part of an order to "go to war" with blacks.

The deaths are two of the 32 murders and attempted murders detailed by federal prosecutors in a sweeping case against the Aryan Brotherhood, a violent white supremacist prison gang that has infiltrated nearly every federal and state prison since its beginnings in San Quentin in 1964.



Prosecutors hope to dismantle the gang -- nicknamed the "Brand" -- in a series of trials that together make up what's believed to be the biggest capital murder case in U.S. history. Of the 40 men initially charged, as many as 16 could face the death penalty for crimes that reach back 30 years.


More: http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/03/06/news/state/3506181627.txt

 

[PrayersForMaura]

History of the Aryan BrotherhoodHistory of the Aryan Brotherhood as detailed in federal indictments of members:

1964: White inmates at San Quentin state prison in Northern California form the Aryan Brotherhood.

1973: The group spreads to federal prisons.

1980: Federal prisoners in the gang form a three-member group with authority to approve killings, assaults, drug deals and other activities.

More: http://www.wbz.com/topic/ap_news.php?story=AP/APTV/National/a/a/AryanBrotherhood-Expl-aa