Yesterday the NYPD and the Brooklyn DA announced the indictments of 49 people believed to be involved in two feuding East New York gangs who used Facebook to taunt and torment each other. (Murderous thugs—they're just like us!) The alleged members of the Rockstarz and the Very Crispy Gangsters, also known as VCG/Weez, were indicted on charges including murder, conspiracy, and attempted murder. According to NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly, one defendant went so far as to post a picture of himself on Facebook wearing the belt and watch of a man he allegedly shot. The caption read, "I can’t give it back. You can’t walk no more."
Another Facebook comment was posted immediately after the murder of Very Crispy Gangster (VCG) member Johnny Santiago. After he was beaten to death in June 2011, Rockstarz Facebook users allegedly posted comments including, “Rockstarz are up 3-0” on Facebook. The gang members also posed for photos outside their rival's residences, then shared the photos on Facebook with captions saying "I know where you live."
The NYPD attributes 10 shootings over the past three years to the Rockstarz/Very Crispy Gangsters rivalry. In one incident, the Times reports, a stray bullet hit a 10-year-old boy who was sitting in his apartment watching TV. The alleged gang members—none older that 23—also used Facebook to friend their enemies so they could threaten each other more easily.
But their anti-social social networking was also their downfall. “Because of these individuals’ insatiable desire to brag about what they did, these investigators were able to draw a virtual map of their activities and bring them to justice,” Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes told reporters yesterday. The NYPD recently issued its first set of guidelines for undercover officers using social media during investigations, but the NYCLU has serious concerns "about the ease with the police can use deceit on the Internet to monitor private communications."
