A DOJ lectern is shown at a press conference at the Department of Justice on April 18, 2019, in Washington, D.C. | Source: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / Getty
Dozens of members of a violent white supremacist street gang in California were hit with federal indictments for their alleged roles in criminal enterprises under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
Nearly four dozen members and associates of the curiously named San Fernando Valley (SFV) Peckerwoods have been arrested, according to a 76-count federal grand jury indictment in which they are accused of various crimes ranging from drug trafficking to COVID-19 fraud over a period of years, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Wednesday.
The Peckerwoods members were joined by 22 others in being accused in the federal indictment.
More from the DOJ:
The indictment unsealed today charges a total of 68 defendants with a score of federal crimes: conspiracy to violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances, bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon, and possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Peckerwoods were working with the Aryan Brotherhood, which the Southern Poverty Law Center describes as “the nation’s oldest major white supremacist prison gang and a national crime syndicate.”
“The Justice Department has dealt a decisive blow to the San Fernando Valley (SFV) Peckerwoods, a violent white supremacist gang that we charge is responsible for trafficking deadly fentanyl and other drugs, committing robberies, and perpetrating financial fraud to fund both their criminal enterprise and that of the Aryan Brotherhood,” Garland said in a statement. “With today’s charges and arrests, the Justice Department, together with our state, local, and federal partners has targeted the heart of this gang’s operations, and we will continue to zero in on the criminal enterprises that endanger our communities.”
The indictment against the Peckerwoods and their affiliates marks the latest federal criminal charges brought by the DOJ involving a white supremacist group.
Last month, the DOJ indicted two alleged leaders of the white supremacist “Terrorgram” chat group on charges they were trying to start “a race war” via the Telegram online platform.
Like the Peckerwoods, the alleged white supremacist “Terrorgram” leaders were based in California.
“The defendant’s goal, the indictment charges, was to ignite a race war, accelerate the collapse of what they viewed as an irreparably corrupt government and bring about a white ethno state,” Kristen Clarke, the Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, said at the time the indictment was announced. “As the indictment lays out, defendants use the internet platform Telegram to post messages promoting their white supremacist accelerationism.”
Federal authorities have recognized white supremacists as being among the top violence threats in the U.S. in recent years.
Citing the infamous Jan. 6 insurrection and riots at the U.S. Capitol, Garland testified before the Senate Appropriation Committee in 2021 that “those who advocate for the superiority of the white race” are “specifically” the greatest domestic threat facing the nation.
This is America.
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