“For at least four years, these gangs waged a campaign of violence simply for the sake of violence,” Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said.
Dozens of reputed gang members were arrested in Harlem on Wednesday in what authorities are calling the biggest gang-related crackdown in the city’s history.
About 500 officers in full body armor stormed two housing projects on 125th Street on Wednesday morning. In all, 103 people ranging in age from 15 to 30 have bee indicted, although law enforcement officials are still seeking 23 of the suspects, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said. Authorities said the suspects are accused in at least two homicides, 19 nonfatal shootings and another 50 shooting incidents.
Some of those arrested were smirking and mouthing off as they were being led away by police, CBS 2?s Dick Brennan reported.
Prosecutors say there has been an ongoing blood feud between gangs at the Grant and Manhattanville houses that turned the projects into war zones. The gangs mentioned in the indictments are the Make It Happen Boys, Money Avenue and 3 Staccs.
“They’re not fighting over drug turf,” NYPD Commissioenr Bill Bratton told reporters, including WCBS 880?s Alex Silverman. “It’s just mindless, senseless violence.”
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