At the beginning of Oct 2024, around 68 suspected gang members with links to White supremacy were charged in the Los Angeles area in a domestic terrorism investigation, federal prosecutors stated. The Peckerwoods Gang members were arrested in a sweeping federal indictment, which included allegations of racketeering, gun trafficking, drug trafficking and financial scam, according to sources.
The US Attorney for the Central District of California stated:
“This group has as its mission to plan attacks against racial, ethnic, religious minorities. … We are not going to wait for the next tragedy to take action.”
More than 40 of the supposed members and associates of the Peckerwoods Gang were apprehended and were already in detention in what was
“one of largest operations in the history of the Department of Justice against a neo-Nazi, White supremacist, violent extremist association,”
officials said.
The detentions involved multiple federal and local law enforcement tactical officials, including the Joint Terrorism Task Force and resources obtained from the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team.
The Peckerwoods Gang is located in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley and is
“basically a local chapter of the Aryan Brotherhood,”
stated Akil Davis, the FBI’s assistant director. They hire in a wide variety of criminal movement, including drug trafficking, fraud, brutality and identity theft, the US attorney said.
As reported by official sources, the gang also aids from the Brotherhood’s alliance with the Mexican Mafia, offering them “greater freedom to commit crimes on the outside.
“What truly distinguishes them, what defines them is their hate and their animus toward racial, ethnic and religious minorities,”
the official said. A previously contained member made online threats against Jews and hateful letters were found at his home.
The gang assumes the name Peckerwoods, defined as a previously used derogatory name for Caucasians in the prison procedure. The group shows their affiliation with neo-Nazi ideology through tattoos, clothing and on social media, and gathers Nazi paraphernalia, including swastikas and Confederate flags.
