Venezuela’s “Little Devils” gangsters in New York have been arrested more than 240 times, yet they are constantly released back to the streets, New York Police Assistant Chief Jason Savino told New Yorkers.
During his press conference, Savino said officers have arrested 37 members of Los Diablos de 42 — or Little Devils of 42nd Street — hundreds of times and that they are also part of the dangerous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
“Of those 37, we have over 240 arrests of those 37 individuals. That’s almost six [arrests] apiece,” Savino said.
Savino also noted the gang specifically recruits very young people in an attempt to skirt the justice system.
“Now, we’re seeing that structure. There’s actually kick-ups where people are recruiting these younger members as young as 11, and they’ve been described as some of these robbery incidents as young as 8-years-old,” Savino said.
New York Councilwoman Vickie Paladino was disgusted by the statistics and pointed out that “all are here illegally” and that “none turned over for deportation despite hundreds of arrests and releases”:
Savino’s comments came after members of this dangerous gang blatantly attacked several NYPD officers in broad daylight in Times Square.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch reported the officers were targeted in a “wolfpack-style robbery” and were “ambushed, pelted with scooters, basketballs and other makeshift weapons. This was a targeted attack,” CBS News reported.
Democrat Mayor Eric Adams excoriated the attackers. “When someone openly assaults a police officer, you are attacking our symbol of safety, and it cannot be tolerated,” Adams said.
Officials credited the NYPD’s gang database for helping to identify the gangsters who attacked police and that information helped officials identify many of the attackers in short order.
However, many councilmen are joining local migrant activists in calls to have that database discontinued and barred from use.
Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams, for one, has called for an end to the gang database and has called it a tool of harassment.
Legal Aid Society activist Matthew Brodwith went further and called the gang database a “racist tool” that “disproportionately targets young people of color with little to no evidence of criminal involvement.”
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