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Nazi Lowriders

Emblem of the Nazi Lowriders, based on the Reichsadler symbol
Founded	1970s
Founding location	Preston Youth Correctional Facility, California, United States
Years active	1970s–present
Territory	Primarily Southern California, with a smaller presence in numerous other U.S. states
Ethnicity	White American
Membership (est.)	1,000
Activities	Drug trafficking, extortion, armed robbery, assault, murder, identity fraud, money laundering, witness intimidation
Allies	Aryan Brotherhood Hells Angels MC Mexican Mafia Public Enemy No. 1 Sureños Vagos MC

The Nazi Lowriders, also known as NLR or the Ride, are a Neo-Nazi, White supremacist organized crime syndicate, and prison and street gang in the United States. Based primarily in Southern California, the gang is allied with the larger Aryan Brotherhood and Mexican Mafia gangs, and fellow peckerwood gang Public Enemy No. 1. The Nazi Lowriders operate both in and outside of prison.

History

The Nazi Lowriders (NLR) originated as a skinhead gang in the California Youth Authority during the early-to-mid 1970s, and later established itself as a gang for young white inmates. It was created by members of the Aryan Brotherhood (AB), the leading white gang in the California prison system. In the late 1970s or early 1980s, Aryan Brotherhood leader John Stinson began recruiting skinheads incarcerated in the California Youth Authority at the Preston Youth Correctional Facility in Ione, and at the Youth Training School in Chino, to act as middlemen in the AB's criminal operations.

The gang did not come to the attention of law enforcement until the early 1990s, by which time authorities in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation had began supressing the Aryan Brotherhood's activities. As opposed to other white criminal gangs in California prisons, the NLR gained a reputation for being very violent. They are labeled as a prison gang by the California Department of Corrections. They are strong in numbers in such California communities as Oildale, Bakersfield, Lancaster, Inland Empire, Rosamond and Orange County. The "Nazi" part of their name is more a sign of a racist belief in white supremacy than anti-Semitism, while "Lowriders" is a play on the term used for Hispanic gangs.

The gang eventually progressed from being muscle for the Aryan Brotherhood to a fast-growing gang in their own right. Unlike other white supremacist gangs in the US, they appear to be well organized and have developed links with other white organizations throughout the West Coast, including the Ku Klux Klan and Hells Angels. Paroled gang members have been known to move east to further spread the organization's reach.

On January 28, 1999, California prison officials recognized the Lowriders as a prison gang. Consequently, in an attempt to disrupt the gang's criminal activities, inmates known to be members can now be subjected to removal from the general population, as well as other restrictive treatments. To this, the Lowriders have responded by striking an alliance with Public Enemy No. 1, another white disruptive group, which has since taken over the reins on California's white mainline prison population. Where Aryan Brotherhood and NLR have left off, PENI or Public Enemy No. 1 (Pronounced 'PEE NYE') plan to continue the 'key holding'.

Organization and membership

In prison, the Nazi Lowriders have a three-tier hierarchy system consisting of senior members, junior members, and kids. The seniors typically lead the gang. For senior status, gang members must have been active for at least five years and been elected by at least three other senior members. Below them are juniors, who cannot themselves induct new members but can attempt to recruit potentials. Kids usually come from gangs like Public Enemy No.1, and the senior member who inducts them becomes their mentor. On the streets, the organization structure is not so clear, and appears to be more loosely connected.

Gang members may have tattoos and other body art depicting swastikas and SS sigrunes, although members are not necessarily required to bear them. A tattoo of the letters NLR (the acronym for "Nazi Lowriders") commonly appears on members' stomachs, backs or necks. Other popular tattoos include "Nazi Low Riders" written in Old English script or the runic alphabet. The logo of the NLR is a skeletal eagle holding a Nazi swastika, with the letters of the group based on the Reichsadler symbol.

According to the SPLC, "Despite the NLR's avowed racism, Latino last names and Latino wives and girlfriends are OK, but, experts say, members are supposed to be at least half Caucasian.". In fact, much of the NLR's upper echelon is composed of Hispanics. Due to their extreme underground ties with other hardcore, racial organizations (such as Combat 18 or Blood and Honour), experts say, "you must be at least half white blood but no black blood", meaning accepted Latino members must be only of Spanish descent, or be at least half Caucasian. All must show loyalty to the white race and subscribe to an ideology of hatred, especially against blacks and "race traitors".

The Nazi Lowriders are active primarily in Southern California, with a smaller presence in other states, including Arizona, Colorado, Florida and Illinois.

The gang took its name from the phrase "lowrider", which is associated with Hispanic gangs, as an "act of one-upsmanship".

Methamphetamine abuse is common among members of the group.

Criminal activity

The organization is involved in criminal activity both in and out of prison, notably in the production and distribution of methamphetamine, and has become a distributor of the drug in Southern California.

This gang is responsible for dozens of assaults, attempted murders, and murders around Southern California and is considered an extremely dangerous and violent gang.

Notable crimes

In August 2001, Trevor David Thompson, a member of the World Church of the Creator and an alleged Nazi Lowrider from California, wounded Ashley McNeil, a 14-year old African American girl, in a drive-by shooting in Indianapolis. McNeil was targeted because of her race, according to police. In May 2002, Thompson was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder.

Investigations and prosecutions

On March 29, 2001, NLR members Marcello Castellano and Scott Kuhn were arrested after Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD) deputies seized 73 firearms, including assault rifles, as well as hand grenades, body armor and a silencer, during raids on three locations in Los Angeles County. A a sheriff's uniform and Nazi paraphernalia were also recovered.

In 2002, a dozen members and associates of the Nazi Lowriders were charged in a 17-count indictment alleging extortion, conspiracy to distribute drugs in prison, witness tampering, robbery, attempted murder and murder. All twelve defendants pleaded guilty to federal racketeering charges, including a senior member of the gang who was sentenced to nearly 23 years in federal prison in 2003.

In popular culture

• In the 2017 crime film Shot Caller, Jacob "Money" Harlon briefly has a cellmate named Ripper (played by Keith Jardine) who is a member of the Nazi Lowriders, sporting an "NLR" tattoo across his forehead.

See also

• List of California street gangs

References

1. ^ Nazi Low Riders Anti-Defamation League (January 1, 2005) Archived October 14, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
2. ^ "Special Issue: Gangs in the United States" (PDF), Narcotics Digest Weekly, vol. 4, no. 40, National Drug Intelligence Center, 2005-10-04, archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-05-24, retrieved 2009-11-14
3. ^ Nazi Low Riders boast over 1,000 members, most in prison Archived 2021-04-22 at the Wayback Machine Camille Jackson, Southern Poverty Law Center (July 20, 2004)
4. White Power Gangs: The NLR (Nazi Low Riders) Story B. Belt and G. Doyle, National Criminal Justice Reference Service (March 1998) Archived January 31, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
5. ^ Rosenzweig, David (August 3, 2000). "Federal Prosecutors Target Prison Gang in Drug Crackdown". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014.
6. McCleskey, O'Neill, Claire (November 29, 2012). "The allies sureños have are "Skinheads" or "Nazis"". InSight Crime. Archived from the original on May 23, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2022.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
7. Bigots on Bikes Archived 2019-11-12 at the Wayback Machine Anti-Defamation League (September 2011)
8. ^ Jackson, Carmille (July 20, 2004). "Nazi Low Riders Boast Over 1,000 Members, Most in Prison". Intelligence Report. No. 114. Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on March 28, 2011. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
9. "Nazi Low Riders Boast over 1,000 Members, Most in Prison". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
10. Finnegan, William (November 24, 1997). "The Unwanted". The New Yorker. No. December 1, 1997. p. 60. Archived from the original on March 27, 2018.
11. ^ Valdemar, Richard (February 1, 2008). "The Rise and Fall of the Nazi Low Riders". Police: The Magazine for Cops. Archived from the original on September 10, 2011.
12. Morales, Gabe (ndg) "Gang Profiles: Nazi Lowriders" Archived 2017-08-29 at the Wayback Machine Criminal Justice Solutions, LLC
13. Hayes, Dade (October 28, 1997). "Man Pleads Guilty to Racial Assaults". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 1, 2015.
14. Rosenzweig, David (June 8, 1999). "Skinhead Gang Member Sentenced in Hate Crimes". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 11, 2013.
15. Larrubia, Evelyn (October 29, 1997). "Supremacists Charged With Racial Murder". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 14, 2010.
16. Valdez, A. (March 1999). "Nazi Low Riders". Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine (abstract). Vol. 23, no. 3. pp. 46–48. NCJ Number 177437. Archived from the original on 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2017-08-29 – via the National Criminal Justice Reference Service.
17. Spreading Hate Michael Koryta, The Hoosier Times (August 18, 2002) Archived February 8, 2023, at the Wayback Machine
18. "73 Firearms Seized, 2 Men Arrested". Los Angeles Times. March 31, 2001. Archived from the original on December 23, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2017.
19. "Reputed prison gang members take plea deal". Los Angeles Times. June 15, 2007. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2017.

External links

• Anti-Defamation League - The Nazi Low Riders
• California Department of Justice - Organized Crime in California 2004 Annual Report

• Organizations established in the 1970s
• 1970s establishments in California
• Prison gangs in the United States
• Street gangs
• Aryan Brotherhood
• Peckerwood
• White nationalism in California
• Gangs in Los Angeles