U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Andrew Luger announced the unsealing of two indictments Wednesday charging 45 people with participating in organized crime offenses. Photo courtesy of U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota/Facebook
May 4 (UPI) — Dozens of people in Minneapolis have been arrested and charged with numerous felonies in a major crackdown on violent crime that prosecutors say marks a shift in how they will prosecute gangs to reduce their threat to the city.
A pair of indictments unsealed Wednesday charge 45 members and associates of two Minnesota-based gangs with charges ranging from racketeering conspiracy to use of a firearm in furtherance of murder and drug trafficking.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota Andrew Luger described Wednesday’s announcement during a press conference as a “fundamental change” in how gang violence will be addressed in the city.
“Starting with these charges, we are prosecuting street gangs as the criminal organizations they are,” he said. “The charges we announce today are a significant step forward in our effort to reduce violent crime in Minneapolis.”
Traditionally, gun violence is prosecuted one charge at a time and one case at a time, but with these indictments prosecutors are seeking to put the members of violent gangs behind bars by trying them together on racketeering charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which has been used to take down mafia organizations.
“We are addressing gang violence for what it is: organized criminal activity,” Luger said. “And to be clear, there will be more cases after this.”
The charges announced Wednesday target members of two of the city’s three major gangs of the Highs, the Lows and The Bloods.
By gang, 28 are either members or associates of the Highs, which is a street gang that was founded in around 2008. The remaining 17 are from the Bloods, a gang that has been active in Minneapolis for decades.
They were all arrested over the past 48 hours, Luger said, adding the pair of indictments link them to 20 shootings and seven murders.
One indictment targeting the Highs accuses its members of perpetuating a yearslong pattern of violence involving shootings and retaliatory gang violence as well as five murders between April and September of 2021.
The indictment against the Bloods similarly accuses them of perpetuating a pattern of violence, but that also includes a 2020 shootout and murder at Minneapolis’ 200 Club and a brutal attack on people outside of William’s Pub last year.
The announcement comes exactly one year after a new initiative was launched to address violent crime that included a gang unit.
“For too long, criminal gangs have wreaked havoc on our streets, leaving in their wake tragedy and trauma that threatens to destroy families, neighborhoods and communities,” Chief Brian O-Hara of the Minneapolis Police Department said in a statement.
“These arrests are just the beginning. For the first time ever, we have embedded Minneapolis police officers in the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and we will continue to develop future cases. Today, we are standing shoulder to shoulder with all of law enforcement and making clear that this behavior will not be tolerated.”