Gangs Chicago

Federal authorities, conducting raids in eight states, delivered what they hoped would be the "death blow" Friday to Chicago's notorious El Rukn Nation crime organization, indicting 65 members on charges that included murder, kidnaping, racketeering and possession and sale of narcotics.

Chicago moved to fight gangs Wednesday by hanging up the phones they use for drug deals. The City Council approved without discussion a measure to ban outdoor pay phones on vacant buildings and lots, outside liquor stores and bars and on residential streets. The ordinance will result in the immediate removal of about 500 phones, Revenue Director Judith Rice said.

Chicago gang members gathered at the Operation PUSH office to discuss restoring broken family relationships and rebuilding neighborhoods torn by gang turf battles. They were urged to build self-respect and take control of their own destinies. The weekend gathering is proceeding without the blessings of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, who criticized it as an attempt to legitimize street gangs through politics.

Public schools may prohibit male students from wearing earrings to classes, a federal court has ruled. U.S. District Judge Paul E. Plunkett on Tuesday refused to grant lawyers for 17-year-old Darryl Olesen, of Midlothian, a temporary injunction against the Bremen Community High School District. Supt. James E. Riordan has said the school district banned earrings on boys because they may symbolize youth gang affiliations.

Opening arguments in the trial of the El Rukn gang got under way in U.S. District Court in Chicago. Fourteen alleged members of the gang are being tried on narcotics conspiracy and racketeering charges after being accused of protecting a Chicago drug operation by intimidating and killing rival dealers, disloyal gang members and innocent bystanders. The trial is the first of six involving 35 alleged El Rukn members. It is being conducted under an unusually heavy security presence with U.S.

On South May Street, the first display of civic-mindedness on the part of the Gangster Disciples came a year or two ago. Members of the GDs--a vicious street gang best known for selling drugs, shooting rivals and extorting money--began sweeping the sidewalks and cleaning up vacant lots. "I was really shocked," said Angela Price, a resident of Englewood, the South Side community at the heart of the Black Gangster Disciple Nation.

Voters Tuesday turned down bids by two gang-linked politicians to win City Council seats and reelected Mayor Richard M. Daley to a third term. Chicagoans voted in paltry numbers as more than 1,000 police officers patrolled to keep a lid on Election Day harassment at polling places.

A policy that only ambulances rescue patients was changed Monday after workers failed to help a 15-year-old boy as he lay bleeding only steps from a Chicago hospital. Frustrated police officers who were waiting for an ambulance finally carried the wounded boy, Christopher Sercye, into Ravenswood Hospital Saturday night, but he died a short time later. Witnesses at the scene said that despite pleas, hospital emergency workers refused to come to Sercye's aid, quoting hospital rules.

The Supreme Court struck down a Chicago anti-loitering law Thursday that authorized police to sweep the streets of those who look like gang members, disappointing Los Angeles area prosecutors who had hoped for a new weapon in their war against street gangs. The 6-3 decision instead gave an unexpected endorsement to old-fashioned principles of civil liberties.