Elgin Gangs: Chicago Suburb Battles Street Gang Members In Civil Court

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CHICAGO -- One suburban Chicago community wary of street gang activity is flexing some legal muscle and facing off against the group in an uncommon venue: civil court.

The city of Elgin, in a lawsuit recently filed on its behalf by the Kane County prosecutor, is seeking an injunction that would bar 25 reputed members of the Maniac Latin Disciples from associating with each other.

The 38-page suit also asks a judge to prohibit members from engaging in a lengthy list of other activities, from showing gang hand signs and carrying spray-paint cans to wearing hats emblazoned with the letter `D.'

"When there are criminal penalties, we can pressure gangs in criminal court," Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon told The Associated Press in a phone interview Wednesday. "The civil suit is another tool that's available."

Chicago remains the regional hub of street-gang activity, but gangs have increasingly moved into surrounding suburbs like Elgin as demographics shift and gangs bid for new drug markets.

Prosecutors typically go after gangs using criminal drug, gun or racketeering statutes. But Elgin, which has a population of about 100,000 people, is using Illinois' 1993 Streetgang Terrorism Omnibus Prevention Act, meant to thwart gangs via civil injunctions.

The law is rarely used, though several other counties have occasionally deployed it. Kane County has used it twice before – in 2010 against Latin Kings in Elgin and in 2012, against Aurora's Latin Kings.

There's a lower threshold of proof in civil cases. And defense lawyers criticize the 1993 civil law, saying it unfairly provides prosecutors a backdoor to curtail someone's freedom of movement and association.

"You are taking away rights without the due process we get in criminal courts," said Elgin-based criminal attorney, Liam Dixon, who has represented gang members in the Kane County cases.

To win in court, attorneys for the city must demonstrate that each defendant has been previously convicted in criminal court for gang-related crimes and that they remain part of the gang.

But Dixon says court-ordered prohibitions can end up applying to people only casually affiliated with gangs or to one-time members who have long since left their gang life behind.

McMahon, the state's attorney, said the civil law had previously survived constitutional challenges, though he expected similar challenges from defense attorneys again.

If Elgin prevails, a gang member engaging in one of the prohibited activities can be charged with a misdemeanor. Once stopped, they also can be searched, potentially leading to more serious charges.

Previous cases filed by the county specified areas where the gang members were barred from meeting, but the latest suit does not – opening the door to the possibility the prohibitions would be statewide.

The suit also seeks unspecified monetary damages for the gang's past illegal activities.

An initial hearing in the case is set for Oct. 8.

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Bloodhound Gang's Russia Concert Cut Short After Officials Boot Band For Defiling Country's Flag Onstage

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MOSCOW — The American rock group Bloodhound Gang was kicked out of a Russian music festival and pelted with eggs after videos emerged of its bass player shoving a Russian flag down his pants at a recent concert in Ukraine. Russian prosecutors are even considering whether to open a criminal case in the matter, which comes amid a rise in U.S.-Russian tensions.

Videos posted online of Wednesday's concert in the Ukrainian city of Odessa show bass player Jared Hasselhoff pushing the Russian white, blue and red flag down the front of his pants and pulling it out the back. He then shouted to the audience: "Don't tell Putin," a reference to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The incident outraged the Russian government. Maria Minina, a spokeswoman for the weeklong Kubana festival in southern Russia, said Saturday that the band's headlining performance the previous evening had been canceled because of its treatment of the flag.

The American band is known for its sexually explicit songs, including "The Bad Touch," with its unforgettable lyrics: "You and me, baby, ain't nothin' but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel."

Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky tweeted Friday night that he had spoken with officials in the southern Krasnodar region, known as Kuban. "Bloodhound Gang is packing its bags," he said in the Twitter post. "These idiots will not perform in Kuban."

Hasselhoff was questioned Saturday by police, according to the Russian Interior Ministry, which said prosecutors have been asked to decide if the musician could be charged with defaming the Russian flag.

The bass player apologized late Friday at a news conference held at the music festival in the city of Anapa, the local Yuga.ru news portal reported. He was quoted saying that he had meant no offense and explaining that it was a band tradition for everything thrown from the stage first to be passed through his pants. Hasselhoff said he decided to throw the flag because some fans had seemed disturbed to see it hanging on the stage.

The scandal caused by the American band in Russia comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two countries over National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden, who was given temporary asylum in Russia last week to help him evade prosecution in the U.S.

As the Bloodhound Gang members were driving to the Anapa airport on Saturday, activists from a pro-Kremlin youth group threw eggs and tomatoes at their vehicle, Yuga.ru reported.

The band members were taken off their afternoon flight to Moscow after they had already boarded the plane, Russian news agencies reported, citing airline officials. After being questioned by transport police, they took a later flight, the reports said.

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