*** Rapper 40 Glocc a/k/a Lawrence White protests that he is not a Colton City Crip after being included in a civil gang injunction brought by the San Bernardino County district attorney in California. The rapper argues that his previous references to a gang affiliation simply was to enhance his image and sell records:
"I am an entertainer trying to make a name for myself in the rap industry where image is everything. It is common in the rap industry to make music with violent lyrics and gang references. However, this in no way represents reality. It sells records, which is why rap artists say what they say."
*** The jury has convicted three members of the Crips gang -- Tracy Harris, Clinton Knight and Chester Randall -- on federal racketeering charges in Wichita, Kansas:
The jury of eight women and four men delivered the verdicts after nearly four days of deliberation. The trial lasted nearly three weeks and is the first in a series of trials linked to federal charges against gang members. The defendants were among 28 people charged with participating in a "pattern of racketeering activity" that dates to December 1990. Wichita police said all are Crips gang members.
The sentencing hearing for the three men is scheduled for January 29, and the trial against the next group of gang members charged in the indictment is set for February 24.
*** The prosecutor made her opening arguments yesterday against Chad Wilson and John Midmore, two alleged members of the Hells Angels, on trial for attempted murder in connection with the shooting of five Outlaw Motorcycle gang members at Custer State Park during the 2006 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally:
Two men affiliated with the Hells Angels waited for 40 minutes in a heavily armed pickup truck before one of them fired into a group of rival Outlaws, a prosecutor said Wednesday as their trial got under way in Sioux Falls. Chad Wilson, a member of the Hells Angels, and John Midmore, a recruit, are on trial for five counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of using a firearm while committing a felony. Wilson, 33, of Lynnwood, Wash., allegedly fired several shots near the Outlaws' campsite during the 2006 Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, injuring five people. Midmore, 35, of Valparaiso, Ind., drove the pickup. In her opening statement, Custer County State's Attorney Tracy Kelley gave no indication of any confrontation or words exchanged before the shooting at Custer State Park; Wilson got out of the passenger side of the truck and began firing, hitting three men and two women, she said. "After emptying the gun, the defendant Wilson gets back in the pickup truck, and they flee," she said. The defendants later dumped guns and ammunition and abandoned the truck after driving off-road to avoid capture, Kelley said.
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