13, the Mark of the Mexican Mafia (Feature article, lengthy, informative)

[Judi Lynn]

Wednesday, August 30, 2023
José Luis Sanz and Carlos Martínez

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This second chapter on the origins of MS-13 was published by El Faro in Spanish in August 2012.

Read chapter one in English here:

How Los Angeles Taught the Mara Salvatrucha to Hate

https://elfaro.net/en/202308/centroamerica/26933/how-los-angeles-taught-the-mara-salvatrucha-to-hate

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The helicopter roar is a blessing. Silence between each series of blows would have been more chilling, and the impact of each one even more brutal. If there had been silence, the onlooker would have filled it with the imagined sound of truncheons crashing on the knees, torso, and arms of this Black man rolling on the floor as three police officers beat him. One of them stands with his legs apart like a baseball player, lowering his center of gravity making him able to beat the man harder and with more control. One thump, then another, and another. A pause, then again, a succession of three more blows landing on the legs of this sack of meat as he tries to sit up, disoriented. Another pause for breath, then seven more hits.

In the television images there appears to be a total of 56 blows. Were it not for the helicopter in the recording, filling the silence with its deafening hum, one could even imagine the sound of bones grinding just before they break.

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The video of the attack on Rodney King began to circulate globally in 1991. A 25-year-old Black man, formally incarcerated for robbery, King had been drinking that night and refused police orders to stop his car, fearing a return to prison. The beating was recorded by a bystander and became news on five continents.

The clip was immediately held up as an example of the brutality and racism of the Los Angeles police, who had enjoyed political freedom to beat or shoot their victims since their successful clean-up of the streets in 1984. Fifteen officers were present as King was beaten for over ten minutes. Not one lifted a finger to stop what was happening, and only four of these officers —the one who used the truncheon, and the Sargeant immediately in charge— were brought to trial.

More:
https://elfaro.net/en/202308/centroamerica/27034/13-the-mark-of-the-mexican-mafia