 Satanas gang logo | |
| Founded | 1972 [1] |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Territory | Los Angeles and Ventura counties |
| Ethnicity | Filipino American |
| Activities | Gang violence, murder, drug trafficking, theft |
| Rivals | Avenues Bahala Na Gang [2] |
The Satanas Gang (aka Ese Te Ese or STS) is a Filipino American street gang in Southern California, founded in 1972. It is believed to be the oldest Filipino-American street gang in Los Angeles. [3]
Satanas was a clique from Temple Street since the 1920s that went off solo in the 1970s. In 1972, a car club group started in the Los Angeles area by some Filipino Americans [4] [5] who had formed a cultural bond where they were a minority. [6] At first the club was exclusively for Filipinos. Other Filipinos came to socialize with this club. They soon branched out to other Southern California cities including San Diego, La Puente, Cerritos, Oxnard [7] Long Beach, Eagle Rock, Norwalk, San Fernando, West Covina, Chino, Chino Hills, Santa Ana, San Gabriel, El Monte, Delano, Palmdale, Antelope Valley, Vallejo, and San Jose and have reached other states out in the east coast like New Jersey and New York. [8]
Some other Filipino gangs such as the Demonios and Diablos (not the Mexican gang of the same name) claim their roots to Satanas, having originated amongst second generation STS members and younger siblings of individuals who were members of STS; and the founders of many other Filipino American gangs were originally members of Satanas. [9] [10] [11]
Since there were cultural similarities between the Filipinos and Mexicans, many of Ese Te Ese's older members and leaders allied with Chicano gangs in its early years within their surrounding neighborhoods. Accounts of Los Angeles gang history often placed both Filipinos and Mexicans side by side with each other during various street wars. [12]
In December 1982, eight members of the Satanas gang were found guilty in a trial for the killing of Francisco Gamez and Luis Silva who were not gang members but were mistaken as ones. Gamez and Silva chased two cars each carrying four members of Satanas. Gunshots had been fired from the two cars just behind the Gamez home. Gamez and Silva gave chase for at least two miles. At the end of the chase, Gamez was shot in the head and Silva was shot in the back, shoulder and head as he tried to escape. [13]
In November 1989 Manuel Rodriguez, a member of the Lemonwood Chiques gang, was shot and killed by Arnell Salagubang, a member of the Satanas gang. Salagubang and Manuel Rodriguez had been arguing in front of Channel Islands High School. Salagubang pulled out a small caliber handgun and shot Rodriguez in the head. Salagubang fled the scene, but a witness was able to get his license plate number. The witness turned the information over to the police who arrested Salagubang the next day. [14]
Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from 191,719 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Los Angeles County and the 24th-largest city in California. It is located about 10 miles (16 km) north of downtown Los Angeles.
The 18th Street Gang, also known as Calle 18, Barrio 18, Mara 18, or simply 18 in North America, is a multi-ethnic transnational criminal organization that started as a street gang in Los Angeles. It is one of the largest transnational criminal gangs in Los Angeles, with 30,000-50,000 members between the United States, Mexico, and Central America and is also allied with the Mexican Mafia, another US-based crime organization. A United States Department of Justice report featured the following statement regarding 18th Street and rival gang MS-13, "These two gangs have turned the Central American northern triangle into the area with the highest homicide rate in the world."
Historic Filipinotown is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles.
Havoc is a 2005 American crime drama film starring Anne Hathaway and Bijou Phillips, with Shiri Appleby, Freddy Rodriguez, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Channing Tatum, Michael Biehn, and Laura San Giacomo appearing in supporting roles. The film is about the lives of wealthy Los Angeles teenagers whose exposure to hip hop culture inspires them to imitate the gangster lifestyle and engage in slum tourism. They run into trouble when they encounter a gang of drug dealers, discovering they are not as street-wise as they had thought.
Wah Ching is a Chinese American criminal organization and street gang that was founded in San Francisco, California in 1964. The Wah Ching has been involved in crimes including narcotic sales, racketeering, and gambling.
Andre DeSean Wicker, better known by his stage name Gangsta Dresta, is an American rapper. He is best known for collaborating with Eazy-E on the 1993 single "Real Muthaphuckkin G's".
Luis Javier Rodriguez is an American poet, novelist, journalist, critic, and columnist. He was the 2014 Los Angeles Poet Laureate. Rodriguez is recognized as a major figure in contemporary Chicano literature, identifying himself as a native Xicanx writer. His best-known work, Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A., received the Carl Sandburg Literary Award and has been controversial on school reading lists for its depictions of gang life.
The Nazi Lowriders, also known as NLR or the Ride, are a neo-Nazi, white supremacist organized crime syndicate, and prison and street gang in the United States. Primarily based in Southern California, the gang is allied with the larger Aryan Brotherhood and Mexican Mafia gangs, and fellow peckerwood gang Public Enemy No. 1. The Nazi Lowriders operate both in and outside of prison.
The Avenues, also known as Avenidas or AVE's, is a Mexican/Mexican American criminal street gang mostly in Los Angeles County, California. They originally started as a social club for local Latino youths to protect themselves from other violent youths. The Avenues, like most Mexican gangs in Los Angeles, are under the direct control of the Mexican Mafia when sent to State, County, or Federal prisons.
The murder of Stephanie Kuhen in Los Angeles, California created significant media attention in the United States and led to crackdowns on Los Angeles street gangs.
The San Rafael Hills are a mountain range in Los Angeles County, California. They are one of the lower Transverse Ranges, and are parallel to and below the San Gabriel Mountains, adjacent to the San Gabriel Valley overlooking the Los Angeles Basin.
Fight For Freedom (FFF) was a gang that was centered in the San Fernando Valley during the 1980s. Unique to this gang in its locale and time was that the group generally consisted of White Americans from middle class and upper middle class backgrounds. The gang was founded by members of a punk rock band of the same name.
The Asian Boyz, also known as ABZ, AB-26, or ABZ Crips, are a street gang based in Southern California. They were founded in the late 1980s to protect Cambodian refugees from other American gangs. According to the FBI, the gang has about 12,000 members, who are predominantly Southeast Asian and especially Cambodian. Many Asian Boyz are also members of the U.S. military, some of whom use their position to traffic drugs. According to the FBI's 2009 National Gang Threat Assessment, the Asian Boyz are active in 28 different cities in 14 different states across the U.S.
The Glendale Police Department responds to and records criminal acts in Glendale, California. Despite historic gang activity in the city that has decreased in frequency since the 1990s, as well as several incidents of arson, a 2022 report ranked Glendale as the fifth safest city in the United States.
Armenian Power 13, also known as AP, the Armenian Mob, or Armenian Mafia is an Armenian criminal organization and street gang founded and currently based in Los Angeles County, California. They are involved in drug trafficking, murder, assault, fraud, identity theft, illegal gambling, kidnapping, racketeering, robbery and extortion. They are believed to have around 200 members and hundreds of associates, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. They are also well known for their connections with the Mexican Mafia.
Timothy Joseph McGhee is a convicted serial killer and Toonerville Rifa 13 gang member from the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. He is alleged to be responsible for at least 12 homicides between 1997 and 2001, three of which led to convictions. McGhee is also suspected of at least ten attempted murders, four of which led to convictions. In 2018, the Los Angeles Times named McGhee one of the top 20 most notorious killers in the history of California, a list that included the likes of Charles Manson, the Golden State Killer, and the Night Stalker.
The Los Angeles metropolitan area has a significant Armenian American population. As of 1990, this single area holds the largest Armenian American community in the United States as well as the largest population of Armenians in the world outside Armenia.
Fashion and clothing for Filipino-Americans has been a symbol of political action since their arrival to the U.S. in the early 20th century. Dealing with U.S. occupation in the Philippines, both students and laborers adopted American styles of dress while also maintaining styles of dress that originated in the Philippines. Fashion remains an integral aspect for the Filipino-American community, with many cultural celebrations regarding fashion such as Canada Philippine Fashion Week in Toronto and other fashion weeks occurring in numerous global cities. Aside from partaking in fashion, the Philippines also produces clothing that is made for mass consumption overseas, in places such as the U.S., Europe, and Canada.
Michael Vincent O'Farrell, nicknamed "Irish", was an American outlaw biker and gangster who served as the vice-president and acting president of the Oakland, California, chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC). O'Farrell was alleged by law enforcement officials to be the second-in-command to Sonny Barger, the reputed international president of the Hells Angels. During the early-mid 1980s, he deputized for Barger, serving as the Oakland chapter president and de facto international leader of the Hells Angels, while Barger recovered from a throat operation for cancer. O'Farrell was murdered in a bar fight in 1989 shortly before he was due to start serving a prison sentence for conspiring to bomb the clubhouse of a rival motorcycle gang, the Outlaws.