Ever since Pop Smoke‘s Meet the Woo debut, people have wondered exactly who are they meeting. New fans may not know, but the Brooklyn D.A. Eric Gonzalez does. And recently, he and NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea have arrested 34 alleged gang members under the suspicion of trading numerous guns connected to 13 shootings in Kings County.
According to WABC 7, New York City’s Local ABC affiliate, those that were arrested have been charged in a 122-count indictment, and the full list of crimes include attempted murder, conspiracy, assault, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless endangerment, and related charges in connection with nine attempted murder shootings and four reckless endangerment shootings.
The DA said in a press conference on Wednesday:
“This indictment reflects the commitment of my office and the NYPD to continue to work together to target those individuals responsible for senseless shootings that endanger innocent people… We allege that these gang members’ primary activity is to track rivals and to shoot at each other on sight on the streets of Brooklyn. This is outrageous and will not be tolerated. I am confident that this takedown, which is focused on drivers of violent crime, will have a measurable impact on public safety by targeting the offenders who commit the violence in our communities.”
What also seems won’t be tolerated in that there is an assertion that the gang members zero in on young and impressionable women, prompting them to move the guns for them.
Ranging from 17 to 27, these young men engage in this level of warfare with the same frivolity as checkers, consistently trying to one-up the other in the sport of banging, according to the NYPD’s Brooklyn North Gang Squad and the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau.
Many have no idea why Brooklyn hard-rocks ain’t get it yet. Between the swarm on Bobby Shmurda and Tekashi 6ix9ine, laying low seems to be the safest thing for crews in Biggie’s Brooklyn. Nowadays, the cloth of these street gangstas has been compromised. In 2012, in another bust, 43 alleged members of two feuding gangs in Brownsville, Brooklyn.
According to New York NBC 4, the way the police were able to link them to six killings, 32 shootings, 36 robberies, and numerous other crimes was through the bangers’ social media accounts. Their average age is 17, and thus being Gen Z’ rs are obsessed with everyone knowing everything that they have done… even street stuff. #MakingItHotForEveryone
Then police commissioner Ray Kelly revealed that the “gang members made the mistake of boasting on Twitter which NYPD officers used to help establish their complicity in murder and other crimes.” His force was able to break down the “lexicon” of their gang structures by Perry Masoning their Twitter, IG, Snapchat, and Facebook accounts.
According to an NBC report:
“When Hood Starz members shot a rival, they would say they ‘clapped him off the surfboard,’ and going into Wave territory was described as ‘going to the beach.’ Wave members called Hood Starz ‘actors’ and shooting them was ‘lining you out.’
“Woo” meant you were a Wave and “Chew” meant being a Hood Starz. Last summer [ Edit. Note. 2011], a 21-year-old man was visiting Brownsville and was asked by a Wave member if he was “chewing.” He did not understand and was shot in the face.”
It is surprising to note that the same gangs in question in 2012 seems to be the same gangs recently indicted. In this recent bust of 34, the average age is 20 and a half.
