April 21st, 2008
SPOKANE Ц Gang members here are increasingly using the Internet, cell phones and other technology to intimidate foes, take credit for crimes and recruit members, police say.
УThey used to use graffiti, but now they do it in text messages and on MySpace,Ф said Spokane County sheriffТs Sgt. Mike Kittilstved, a member of the Spokane Gang Enforcement Team. УThey are like society, and changing with times.Ф
Frank Harrill, an FBI special agent here, agreed.
УWeТve seen threats wrapped up in music. The higher technology is far more detailed and modifiable than spray painting graffiti,Ф he said.
In one case, court records say, a Feb. 17 gang-related shooting in north Spokane stemmed from a message posted on the MySpace page of Rashjel Cage, a self-professed member of the Murder 1 Crips gang who was convicted of riot.
The message insulted a rival gang, the Blocc Hustler Crips, and boasted of a shooting in March 2007 that targeted the Blocc Hustlers, according to court files. Cage and his family were then the targets of the Blocc Hustlers in the Feb. 17 shooting in north Spokane, authorities say.
Pierre Davis, 19, was arrested in the investigation of that shooting but denies involvement.
Davis said heТs no longer a member of the Blocc Hustlers. УI ainТt done nothinТ,Ф Davis told The Spokesman-Review in a jailhouse interview. УI just know IТm here being falsely accused of a crime. I just wish the truth would come up.Ф
Investigators remain convinced Davis is one of seven people linked to the Feb. 17 shooting. HeТs charged with five counts of attempted murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder.
DavisТ MySpace page claimed affiliation to the Blocc Hustler Crips and asked that those arrested in the shooting be freed. According to information on his page, Davis last logged in on April 9, the day he was arrested.
УThe online communication is increasingly becoming the marketplace for the criminal element,Ф Harrill said. УIt creates a challenge for law enforcement because we have to become equally technologically capable. But we have been able to use technology with some success to investigate data derived from online communication.Ф