Crime & Safety

Gilroy: Are Gangsters Terrorists?

Gangs cause violence and fear in Gilroy. Is it fair to call them local terrorists?

I recently watched a segment on CNN in which several pundits were debating the following question — Are gangsters terrorists?

The central argument to the idea is that violent gangs are essentially domestic terror cells operating within our cities, hurting and scaring locals daily. When they are foreign with Arab names, we call them terrorists. When they are local with English or Spanish names, we call them gangs. 

Watching this debate, I immediately thought of Gilroy and Watsonville, two cities I cover daily where gang crime is a serious issue.

In early April, a man was shot to death in a gang-related incident in Gilroy. Since then, police have responded to multiple violent gang-related acts in the the city limits. Click here for a glimpse of the stories Gilroy Patch has covered about local gang crime

CNN columnist LZ Granderson wrote about this topic last month, comparing lackluster response to gang crime in Chicago with the extreme manhunt in Boston. See what I found to be his three most interesting points below:

"How do we explain our habit of greeting terrorists with 24-hour news coverage and relentless wrath while overlooking the gangs that terrorize our streets daily?"

"If the name attached to all of this violence were al-Qaeda instead of Gangster Disciples; or if instead of 'gang violence' the bloodshed were called 'terrorism' or if instead of calling the people spreading fear and mayhem gangs we were to call them what they really are — terrorists — the nation would demand more be done."

"More Americans were murdered in the south and west sides of Chicago than there were U.S. servicemen killed in Afghanistan last year, and yet for some reason we don't view those neighborhoods as terrorized."

On Tuesday morning, over on the Gilroy Patch Facebook page, we asked for your opinion on the debate. Here is a sample of the responses: 

Nin Ja: They strike terror into some hearts and follow by territory. There is really no difference on a world level of terrorism. ... They have a belief system in their own organization, they kill to prove that point, they terrorize communities, bring forth attention to their groups, use unlawful means of funds, they protect and retaliate for their own, and communicate on a national level through jail systems.

Michael: Calling them gangsters is giving them too much credit. Most are scared kids trying to fit and will do anything for acceptance. Some are to be careful of, but how many have died in shootouts with the police here? None. They all give up instead of fulfilling their 'gangsta' promises.

So what do you think? Are gangsters terrorists? If we called them terrorists would we take it more seriously and actually fix the problem in our community? Tell us in the comments!


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.