Tiny Rascal Gang

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The "Tiny Rascal Gang", (also known as "TRG") is the largest Asian American street gang in the United States.^[1] The gang originated among Cambodian refugees living in Long Beach. It emerged in the 1980s after a massive wave of Cambodian refugees entered the United States fleeing Cambodia's violent Khmer Rouge insurgency. For these South East Asians, living in America turned out to be as hard as arriving there. Because of the way they spoke and looked, young Cambodian kids faced discrimination.^[2]

TRG has since spread to other parts of South America, North America, including North Carolina, Philadelphia, Seattle, Northern Virginia, Dallas and Lowell, Massachusetts,^[3] and some of the founders of TRG are now in Cambodia having been deported from the US following felony convictions^[4] – see Deportation of Cambodian Americans for details.

The gang now allows non-Cambodians to join. The age of a TRG member can range from 8 to 50. Gang membership is predominantly male, but women may join as well. Female members are collectively known as the "Lady Rascal Gang", or LRG.

[edit] Gang markings

TRG members usually have tattoos on most of their upper body, including the arms and face, with lettering done predominantly in Old English style. Distinguishing insignia include "TRG" or "Rascal" tattoos, which are almost always present on a member. Reportedly due to such, law enforcement action has resulted in the arrest and detention of many juveniles for illicit association based entirely on the fact that they are wearing tattoos associated with gang membership.^{[citation needed]} Different factions of TRG use gray and blue as their colors.^[5]

Currently their main rival is an Asian faction of the Crips known as the Asian Boyz.^{[citation needed]}