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RICO cases highlight generational violence
A federal criminal complaint connects decades of gang violence to a shooting at a Minneapolis house party in May 2004. Christopher Little, a member of the Lows street gang, was killed in the shooting, and the Lows and Highs have been feuding ever since.
The backstory:
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A federal criminal complaint connects decades of gang violence to a shooting at a Minneapolis house party in May 2004.
Christopher Little, a member of the Lows street gang, was killed in the shooting, and the Lows and Highs have been feuding ever since.
"Since this murder, there have been hundreds of shootings and murders between these two entities," a task force officer with the FBI wrote in 2023.
"The victims of these shootings and murders have been members or associates of the criminal street gangs, as well as innocent adults and children who have had nothing to do with street gangs."
Decades of gang violence connected to one shooting
What they're saying:
Outgoing U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger declined to talk about specific details of the Little murder because of upcoming federal trials for accused gang members.
However, he explained the significant role that one incident played in the following years.
"In any gang war … there are certain incidents that trigger both the conflict and the growth of the organization. And that is one of them," stated Luger.
Historically, the Lows and the Highs have been divided in a turf war, separated by West Broadway on the city’s northside.
"All it takes is attitude, anger and access to a weapon," said Rev. Jerry McAfee with the new Salem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. "And before you know it, it is one shot that can reverberate back and forth forever."
RICO dismantled the mafia. Will it work on Minneapolis gangs?
What happened?:
When veteran Minneapolis police homicide investigators Charlie Adams and Richard Zimmerman responded to the scene on 12th and Knox Avenues in May 2004, they couldn’t have imagined the shooting would trigger a generation of gang violence.
"All we knew, it was some kind of house party that kind of went wild," remembered Adams, who is now Inspector of the city’s Fourth Precinct.
"As I recall, it was some groups from another gang that showed up at the party. And of course, then they had their interaction and that is what sparked it," added Zimmerman, now a Minneapolis Police Commander.
Charging documents at the time detail a toxic mix of gang members at the large house party when gunfire erupted, creating chaos throughout the neighborhood.
Said Adams, "And that is what typically happens, somebody comes down to somebody else and one steps there and the other starts beefing and boom, yeah, we got violence."
Why you should care:
Over the last couple of years, nearly 100 alleged gang members in Minnesota have been charged or indicted under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. The RICO Act is best known for taking down the mafia in the 1980s.
Luger has used RICO to connect criminal enterprises to allegations of murder, retaliation, and drug trafficking.
"So, if four people are involved in three murders and I do it on behalf of the gang, that is the basis for a RICO," Luger said in a recent interview with the FOX 9 Investigators. "And that is what we have done over and over and over again."
Some defendants now facing RICO prosecutions were involved in the house party shooting twenty years ago.
Ashimiyu Alowonle, who is known on the streets as "Cash," was one of 11 Lows members named in a RICO indictment last October.
In 2004, Alowonle was shot in the leg at the house party, telling police he believed the gunfire erupted between feuding gang members who showed up at the house on Knox Avenue.
"He has been around. He has been a target at least 3 or 4 times in some of our cases where people end up dying," said Inspector Adams, about several murder cases he investigated over the years. "You know, he has got nine lives."
Alowonle was later convicted in 2014 of stockpiling weapons during escalating gang tensions in the city.
He is currently facing federal charges for dealing fentanyl on behalf of a criminal enterprise.
What's next:
Luger has said he will depart the U.S. Attorney’s Office in advance of a new Republican administration in Washington. But he believes the pending federal cases against the alleged gang members will continue under new leadership.
"One of the things that has to happen next and my team in place right now will be doing it with law enforcement until a new US attorney is in place, is figuring out where to focus all the resources going forward," said Luger. "And the question is, where does it go next to make sure that we in this office have the impact that this office can bring?"