Tag: gang

(BETHPAGE, N.Y.) — Describing gang violence inflicted by MS-13 members in chilling and gruesome detail, President Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to make “radical” changes to U.S. aid practices by withholding government assistance from countries whose criminals slip into the United States. “We’re going to work out something where every time somebody comes in from a certain country, we’re going to deduct a rather large amount of money from what we give them in aid — if we give them aid at all,” Trump said during a roundtable discussion on MS-13 on New York’s Long Island attended by federal and local officials. Trump defended his references to MS-13 gang members as “animals” as he and others recounted a litany of hackings, decapitations, bludgeonings and other gruesome crimes that law enforcement authorities blame on the group. “I called them animals the other day and I was met with rebuke,” Trump said, referencing Democratic criticism. He specifically mentioned House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi as saying even gang members are people. During a similar roundtable last week at the White House, Trump used the word “animals” to describe some people who enter the country illegally, in response to a comment about MS-13. He later said he will continue to use the term when referring to the gang. MS-13, or the Mara Salvatrucha, is believed by federal prosecutors to have thousands of members across the U.S., primarily emigrants from Central America. It has a stronghold in Los Angeles, where it emerged in the 1980s as a neighborhood street gang, but it also has wreaked violence in cities and suburbs across the U.S., including Long Island. Trump in February threatened to cut off aid and slap sanctions on countries that refuse to accept nationals the U.S. tries to deport, saying, “If they don’t take ’em back, we’ll put sanctions on the countries, we’ll put tariffs on the countries.” He has also threatened to cut off aid to the countries, which include China and Sierra Leone, as well as countries that produce illegal drugs, saying they’re “not our friends.” Sitting at the table with Trump was Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, a frequent target of the president’s fury because he is overseeing the special counsel’s investigation into Russian election meddling.

As he rallied for the Democratic candidate Ralph Northam on Thursday night, Obama mentioned that he and his wife, Michelle Obama, have seen Republican Ed Gillespie’s commercials airing on television in their D.C. home. “Look, we all have valid concerns about crime,” Obama said. But the fact is crime and illegal immigration are as low as they’ve been in decades. What he really believes is if you scare enough voters, you might score just enough votes to win an election,” Obama said. After this summer’s deadly clashes in Charlottesville instigated by white nationalists rallying to protect a Confederate statue, Northam called on localities to relocate such monuments to museums and promised to be a vocal advocate for such an approach. How come we can’t get things through the state House?