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SAN FRANCISCO—The preliminary court hearing for an alleged MS-13 gang member accused of a triple-murder began Monday, June 15.
Edwin Ramos, 22, was charged with three counts of murder for the fatal shootings of Tony Bologna and his two sons, Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16, in San Francisco’s Excelsior District last year.
Ramos has been affiliated with La Mara Salvatrucha, a street gang in Los Angeles which originated in Los Angeles by immigrants from El Salvador and now has roots throughout areas of Central America and Mexico as well as several other states in the U.S. One member, who wishes to remain anonymous, initially declined to speak on behalf of Ramos. He wrote a message stating, “We can not speak of any of the problems of the case, we are one family and one who speaks is dead.”
The MS-13 was named as "The Most Dangerous Gang in America" in a Newsweek journal back in 2005, and claimed that approximately 33 states held 8,000 to 10,000 members, adding up to around 700,00 in the U.S. alone.
The member later told Canyon News that the gang builds itself by recruiting individuals, usually at a young age and who don’t have families.
“U don’t know why u join the gang. They recruit u like nothing to them, ur just a soldier,” he writes.
The Mara members don’t usually search for specific individuals to recruit but instead they are discovered by people searching for a group to belong to.
“…its like ur in school u always want to hang out with the popular people. la mara looked like a tough mean gang i was right about that.”
He shared that each member must prove that he is worthy to be initiated into the gang, and that his own initiation was executed by letting a group of people physically beat him for 30 seconds.
Although the member said he would not consider himself close to Ramos, he did say that "he was a good man."
“Yea, (Ramos) is a criminal but all the homeboys are like that, I don’t know why he killed all three of them but there is no questions, its not like u can refuse to do something,” he said.
In regards to the arrest of Ramos, the member claimed that when an affiliate is taken in and refuses to reveal any information, they are given more respect. They are expected to serve their time and wait to get out.
“...
i do not know if edwin was assigned to kill them but if he was, the victims must have done something to the (Mara Salvatrucha) to get killed in those actions. It dont matter if he owed the mara 5 bucks u dont do wat we say and ur dead as simple as that no questions asked.”
Other charges against Ramos include one count of attempted murder, an allegation that the crime was committed in furtherance of participation in a criminal street gang, an allegation that the crime involved personal use of a firearm, and two special circumstance allegations for multiple murder and a murder committed in furtherance of participation with a criminal street gang, according to a press release from the San Francisco District Attorney’s office. |
