Tiny Rascal Gang
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| Tiny Rascal Gang | |
| In | Mostly all over America |
|---|---|
| Founded by | Unknown at this time |
| Years active | 1980 - present |
| Ethnicity | Cambodian and Laotian |
| Membership | 300,000 (estimated) |
| Criminal activities | Drug trafficking, Murder, Home Invasion, Kidnapping, Burglary, Robbery, Others |
| Allies | Wah Ching |
| Rivals | East Side Longo Gang, Asian Boyz, Vietnamese Boyz, Crazy Brothers Clan, Armenian Power and some blood sets and crip sets |
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The Tiny Rascal Gang (also known as the TRG) is the largest Asian American street gang in the United States. 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 genocide. For the Cambodians, 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 from the Latino community. Many original members have been deported back to Cambodia due to an agreement between the U.S. and Cambodian governments following the events of 9/11. Many are also recruited in Cambodia.
[edit] History
In Long Beach, a milestone event occurred in the mid-1980s, police say, when a Latino student threw a punch at a newly arrived Cambodian immigrant. That punch led to formation of the first local Cambodian gang, the Tiny Rascal Gang, in 1985. Years of attacks and killings have followed. Today the "TRG" is considered the largest Asian gang in the United States, closely followed in origin and size by the Asian Boyz gang. Gang experts say Latino gang members may have considered Cambodians vulnerable, with their slight builds, fear of authority and unsteady grasp of their new country. Often, Southeast Asians were attacked on their way to and from school. The Khmer youth fought back by adopting the traits of their assailants - the jargon, the graffiti, the dress, the tattoos and the ruthlessness. Unlike other ethnic gangs, most Asian gangs aren't tied to a particular territory and are mobile. TRG does claim territory, but it is also mobile, a development never seen before the formation of TRG. In recent years, other gangs in Long Beach, both Hispanic and black, have begun to copy the trend set by TRG, police say. But TRG earned status as an official gang from law enforcement's perspective, with a 1989 attack on their long-time enemies, the East Side Longos. It was in October of that year when a carload of Tiny Rascal Gang gang bangers pulled alongside another filled with Latinos, many of them East Side Longos. It happened near Cherry Avenue and Anaheim Street, the heart of the inner-city area where both groups claim territory. The people in the two cars traded insults and rude gestures. The Cambodians pulled guns, opened fire and killed 16-year-old Oswaldo Carbajal. Carbajal was the only Hispanic gang member to be killed by an Asian gang that year, but it marked the start of a bitter rivalry that exists between the two groups today.
The Tiny Rascal Gang has since spread throughout the United States, and has been labeled as the largest, most dangerous Asian-American street gang in America. The Tiny Rascals have also allied with the Wah Ching XXIII gang a deadly and feared Triad based gang originally from Chinatown, San Francisco. The Tiny Rascal Gang has also formed strong rivalries with the Asian Boyz (ABZ) and the Vietnamese Boyz (VBZ) gang.
In early 1990s, the gang has allowed non-Asians to join. The age of a Tiny Rascal Gang member can range from 8 to 50. Gang membership is predominantly male, but women may join as well. Women gang members are collectively known as the Lady Rascal Gang or LRG. Since the original Long Beach set started, rascals have spread through many cities of California including Pomona, West Covina, Stockton, Fresno, Los Angeles and many more.
Tiny Rascal members can be identified by wearing gray clothing, representing gang membership. As of today, two different sets have been identified as the "Grey Rags" and the "Blue Rags".
