Latest news with #GraceMeng
Yahoo
11-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
AOC's 'Red Light' district ruled by violent migrant gang taken down by feds
Several members of a violent migrant gang accused of "unleashing terror" to maintain control of a notorious crime strip represented by progressive Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Grace Meng have been taken down by police in a major bust. Eight members of the ruthless 18th Street transnational gang are accused of carrying out several brutal beatings and stabbings to maintain their dominance of the Roosevelt Avenue commercial corridor in Queens. They also distributed fake passports and counterfeit currency, dealt drugs and trafficked firearms while extorting businesses for rent payments, prosecutors said. Seven of the eight gangbangers are in the country illegally, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office told Fox News Digital. They are all members and associates of the 18th Street gang, which was formed by Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles in the 1960s and today has members throughout the United States as well as in Mexico and Central America, prosecutors said. The suspects "are accused of unleashing terror onto Queens communities through brutal assaults, extortion, fraud, and drug trafficking," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. Aoc, Progressives Ripped For Ignoring 'Red Light' District As Prostitution, Filthy Streets Return Their turf spanned the two-mile commercial strip, which has been a crime and illegal prostitution hot spot for years and has been extensively reported on by Fox News Digital. Read On The Fox News App Locals have likened it to a "Red Light district" or a third-world flea market, given the sidewalks are often full of women soliciting sex as well as vendors selling all sorts of stolen or counterfeit goods and unregulated hot food. Fox News Digital witnessed at least 30 women soliciting sex on one block on the strip following Ocasio-Cortez's town hall recently. The indictment against the gangbangers, which was unsealed on June 16, follows a Fox News Digital report from April revealing that local leaders were sounding the alarm about the 18th Street Gang sweeping in to take control of the area. The gang had moved in to fill the territorial void left by groups like Tren de Aragua, which local leaders said was largely dismantled after a major winter police operation in the area which resulted in hundreds of arrests. The local leaders had called on the FBI and the DEA to help them crack down on the criminals who they said had turned their neighborhood into a festering "gangland." The 18th Street gang has been tagging their gang insignia around the area, marking their turf. Leaders In Aoc's 'Red Light' District Call On Kash Patel To Crush 'Worsening' Gang Crime And Prostitution The arrests appeared to show that the FBI heeded locals' calls, with those charged being hit with various charges, including racketeering charges. One of the defendants was separately charged with illegally possessing a semiautomatic pistol and ammunition as a non-citizen. FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office Christopher Raia said those arrested carried out a reign of violence that included assaults on innocent civilians and rival gang members in an effort to assert and maintain control over Roosevelt Avenue. "Those arrested… acted and behaved with callous and cruel disregard for those around them," Raia said of the multi-agency takedown operation. "Our actions today represent yet another example of the FBI's commitment to crushing the violent transnational gangs plaguing our communities." None of the suspects are accused of being involved in prostitution. Former Democrat state Senator Hiram Monserrate, who was part of the group calling for a federal intervention, praised the takedown. "As our Restore Roosevelt Avenue coalition stated months ago, what was and is still happening on Roosevelt Avenue is international organized crime involving human trafficking, shoplifting syndicates and the distribution of narcotics," Monserrate said. "Many stood silent, we didn't. Thank you to the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI. Still much to do!" The 18th Street gang is divided into several "cliques," with the eight suspects being part of the "54 Tiny Locos" faction of the gang, prosecutors said. Prosecutors pointed to three brutal assaults where the gang showed its muscle to assert influence in the area. In a December 2021 case, three suspects assaulted two victims outside a bar on the strip after being asked if they were members of a gang. The gangbangers allegedly smashed a victim's head open with a glass bottle of tequila, leaving him with severe lacerations to his face and nerve damage. In a January 2022 attack, two suspects held a victim down outside a bar while another perpetrator stabbed him in the lung. The 18th Street thugs then attacked a second victim with large wooden planks, causing lacerations that required sutures. In June 2024, the gang beat a victim with a bike lock and a metal chair, among other things, believing he was a member of a rival gang. PHOTOS: Swipe to see more images Meng praised law enforcement for working to combat gang violence in the area. Ocasio-Cortez's office did not respond to a request for comment. "As I've continued to say, public safety must always be a top priority in our communities and dangerous criminals who commit violent crimes must be held accountable," Meng said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "This includes ANYBODY responsible for these types of heinous activity." The troubled strip has been a magnet for crime for years. NYPD Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry told Fox News Digital in May that issues like prostitution have permeated the area for decades and he remembers it being a hot spot for prostitution in the '90s. Daughtry said the migrant crisis exacerbated the situation as many migrants were drawn to the area, given that it already has a large Latin American population. In October, Mayor Eric Adams spearheaded a heavy police clampdown called Operation Restore Roosevelt, which consisted of more than 200 additional police officers that reduced crime by 29% in the area, Daughtry said. Daughtry said 15 brothels were raided out of 30 court filings made by the police. For instance, days after Ocasio-Cortez's town hall, authorities shut down a notorious brothel dubbed the "bodega brothel" by locals, which was operating above a corner store near two schools in Ocasio-Cortez's district. Video from inside the cat house obtained by Fox News Digital shows squalid conditions, with five cramped, makeshift rooms sectioned off by wooden panels and shower curtains with just enough room to fit a bed in every one of them. Several other brothels have been shut down since then. The takedown was a multi-agency operation involving the FBI's New York Field Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of New York, the Queens District Attorney's Office with assistance from Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Secret Service and the Labor Department. The suspects are Felix Bonilla Ramos, 36; Uriel Lopez, 30; Refugio Martinez, 32; Margarito Ortega, 38; Orlando Ramirez, 24; German Rodriguez, 34; David Vasquez Corona, 29; and Marco Vidal Mendez, 36. Only Rodriguez has legal status in the United article source: AOC's 'Red Light' district ruled by violent migrant gang taken down by feds
Fox News
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
AOC's 'Red Light' district ruled by violent migrant gang taken down by feds
Several members of a violent migrant gang accused of "unleashing terror" to maintain control of a notorious crime strip represented by progressive Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Grace Meng have been taken down by police in a major bust. Eight members of the ruthless 18th Street transnational gang are accused of carrying out several brutal beatings and stabbings to maintain their dominance of the Roosevelt Avenue commercial corridor in Queens. They also distributed fake passports and counterfeit currency, dealt drugs and trafficked firearms while extorting businesses for rent payments, prosecutors said. Seven of the eight gangbangers are in the country illegally, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office told Fox News Digital. They are all members and associates of the 18th Street gang, which was formed by Mexican immigrants in Los Angeles in the 1960s and today has members throughout the United States as well as in Mexico and Central America, prosecutors said. The suspects "are accused of unleashing terror onto Queens communities through brutal assaults, extortion, fraud, and drug trafficking," Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement. Their turf spanned the two-mile commercial strip, which has been a crime and illegal prostitution hot spot for years and has been extensively reported on by Fox News Digital. Locals have likened it to a "Red Light district" or a third-world flea market, given the sidewalks are often full of women soliciting sex as well as vendors selling all sorts of stolen or counterfeit goods and unregulated hot food. Fox News Digital witnessed at least 30 women soliciting sex on one block on the strip following Ocasio-Cortez's town hall recently. The indictment against the gangbangers, which was unsealed on June 16, follows a Fox News Digital report from April revealing that local leaders were sounding the alarm about the 18th Street Gang sweeping in to take control of the area. The gang had moved in to fill the territorial void left by groups like Tren de Aragua, which local leaders said was largely dismantled after a major winter police operation in the area which resulted in hundreds of arrests. The local leaders had called on the FBI and the DEA to help them crack down on the criminals who they said had turned their neighborhood into a festering "gangland." The 18th Street gang has been tagging their gang insignia around the area, marking their turf. The arrests appeared to show that the FBI heeded locals' calls, with those charged being hit with various charges, including racketeering charges. One of the defendants was separately charged with illegally possessing a 9mm semiautomatic pistol and ammunition as a non-citizen. FBI Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office Christopher Raia said those arrested carried out a reign of violence that included assaults on innocent civilians and rival gang members in an effort to assert and maintain control over Roosevelt Avenue. "Those arrested… acted and behaved with callous and cruel disregard for those around them," Raia said of the multi-agency takedown operation. "Our actions today represent yet another example of the FBI's commitment to crushing the violent transnational gangs plaguing our communities." None of the suspects are accused of being involved in prostitution. Former Democrat state Senator Hiram Monserrate, who was part of the group calling for a federal intervention, praised the takedown. "As our Restore Roosevelt Avenue coalition stated months ago, what was and is still happening on Roosevelt Avenue is international organized crime involving human trafficking, shoplifting syndicates and the distribution of narcotics," Monserrate said. "Many stood silent, we didn't. Thank you to the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI. Still much to do!" The 18th Street gang is divided into several "cliques," with the eight suspects being part of the "54 Tiny Locos" faction of the gang, prosecutors said. Prosecutors pointed to three brutal assaults where the gang showed its muscle to assert influence in the area. In a December 2021 case, three suspects assaulted two victims outside a bar on the strip after being asked if they were members of a gang. The gangbangers allegedly smashed a victim's head open with a glass bottle of tequila, leaving him with severe lacerations to his face and nerve damage. In a January 2022 attack, two suspects held a victim down outside a bar while another perpetrator stabbed him in the lung. The 18th Street thugs then attacked a second victim with large wooden planks, causing lacerations that required sutures. In June 2024, the gang beat a victim with a bike lock and a metal chair, among other things, believing he was a member of a rival gang. PHOTOS: Swipe to see more images Meng praised law enforcement for working to combat gang violence in the area. Ocasio-Cortez's office did not respond to a request for comment. "As I've continued to say, public safety must always be a top priority in our communities and dangerous criminals who commit violent crimes must be held accountable," Meng said in a statement to Fox News Digital. "This includes ANYBODY responsible for these types of heinous activity." The troubled strip has been a magnet for crime for years. NYPD Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry told Fox News Digital in May that issues like prostitution have permeated the area for decades and he remembers it being a hot spot for prostitution in the '90s. Daughtry said the migrant crisis exacerbated the situation as many migrants were drawn to the area, given that it already has a large Latin American population. In October, Mayor Eric Adams spearheaded a heavy police clampdown called Operation Restore Roosevelt, which consisted of more than 200 additional police officers that reduced crime by 29% in the area, Daughtry said. Daughtry said 15 brothels were raided out of 30 court filings made by the police. For instance, days after Ocasio-Cortez's town hall, authorities shut down a notorious brothel dubbed the "bodega brothel" by locals, which was operating above a corner store near two schools in Ocasio-Cortez's district. Video from inside the cat house obtained by Fox News Digital shows squalid conditions, with five cramped, makeshift rooms sectioned off by wooden panels and shower curtains with just enough room to fit a bed in every one of them. Several other brothels have been shut down since then. The takedown was a multi-agency operation involving the FBI's New York Field Office, the U.S. Attorney's Office Eastern District of New York, the Queens District Attorney's Office with assistance from Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Secret Service and the Labor Department. The suspects are Felix Bonilla Ramos, 36; Uriel Lopez, 30; Refugio Martinez, 32; Margarito Ortega, 38; Orlando Ramirez, 24; German Rodriguez, 34; David Vasquez Corona, 29; and Marco Vidal Mendez, 36. Only Rodriguez has legal status in the United States.
Fox News
09-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
AOC, progressives ripped for ignoring 'Red Light' district as prostitution, filthy streets return
QUEENS, N.Y. – The red lights are back flashing along a notorious prostitution strip in New York City represented by progressive Democratic Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Grace Meng. Along the crammed, grimy sidewalks of Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, sex workers are once again openly soliciting clients while vendors grill meats and hawk suspected stolen or counterfeit goods – despite police waging a months-long crackdown to stop the chaos. It's become a way of life – and a years-long blight – for residents in the migrant-dense neighborhood who say they have grown tired of calling on Ocasio-Cortez and Meng to act and liken conditions to a "Red Light district" or a third-world flea market. Others have nicknamed the strip the "Avenue of the Sweethearts," given its reputation for women purportedly turning tricks. "All the criminal activity has reverted to the way it was last year," Ramses Frias, a local activist and Republican City Council candidate, told Fox News Digital. "Our residents feel like prisoners in their own homes while criminals walk freely, preying on helpless victims." He said gangs like the 18th Street gang and Tren de Aragua are suspected of operating in the area since various spots are graffiti-tagged with their insignia. Fox News Digital visited Roosevelt Avenue after Ocasio-Cortez's town hall last month and witnessed as many as 30 women on one block appearing to offer sex for money to Friday night revelers while parents and children walked by. The women were jostling men and enticing them for sex despite a visible police presence nearby. Most women operate on Meng's side of the strip; the majority of vendors are on Ocasio-Cortez's side, with their district border running through the center of the street. PHOTOS: Swipe to see more images Hours before the town hall, other sidewalks were jammed with vendors flogging counterfeit Apple headphones and watches and tools. Food vendors sizzled meats at vendor stalls and kept juices in massive, unlabeled canisters under the gritty subway underpass – devoid of any labels or apparent sanitation or health and safety standards. Fruit and ice-cream stalls also permeated the busy strip. Fox News Digital returned to the neighborhood on Friday and witnessed much of the same rampant prostitution and illegal vending. Additionally, several women were threading eyebrows along a sidewalk on a commercial street just off Roosevelt Avenue, while men were selling sneakers from cars and other food vendors were seen dumping wastewater down drains. Residents have warned for months that Operation Restore Roosevelt – a 90-day enhanced police crime crackdown on the area which started in October – needed to be made permanent and that the warming weather would likely see more scantily-clad women appear on the streets. NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry told Fox News Digital that the boots-on-the-ground operation, which consisted of more than 200 additional police officers, reduced crime by 29% in the area so far this year and significantly reduced criminal activity. "There has been a notable difference," Daughtry said. "Robberies are down 23%, felony assaults are down 33%, burglaries are down 47%, and grand larceny is down 30%." Daughtry said he wants the work to have "a real, lasting difference," while saying that a lot still needs to be done. He said 15 brothels were raided out of 30 court filings made by the police. For instance, days after Ocasio-Cortez's town hall, authorities shut down a notorious brothel, dubbed the "bodega brothel" by locals, which was operating above a corner store near two schools in Ocasio-Cortez's district. Video from inside the cat house obtained by Fox News Digital shows squalid conditions, with five cramped, makeshift rooms sectioned off by wooden panels and shower curtains with just enough room to fit a bed in every one of them. On Tuesday, two brothels were raided by police on Meng's side of Roosevelt Avenue, the same block where Fox News Digital observed 30 alleged prostitutes. Frias said a large crowd gathered to watch the sweep, some heckling the alleged johns as they were cuffed and taken into custody while suspected prostitutes were led out with their heads covered in shower curtains to shield their identities. Frias said the crowd reaction proved the neighborhood is fully aware of the illicit activity and is fed up, but that three to four other brothels are operating on that same block. Frias added that residents are terrified to walk the streets and would rather stay home than step outside. "Our laws need to become stricter, and it's time to elect representatives who have the best interests of the community and its safety as a priority," said Frias, who's looking to oust City Council member Shekar Krishnan in District 25. He blasted Ocasio-Cortez in particular, saying she has never used her massive social media presence to address the dire situation. Daughtry, too, called on Ocasio-Cortez and Meng to do more. He and the mayor's office said the pair did not collaborate with them in the police crackdown. "Never seen her," Daughtry said about Ocasio-Cortez. "She's never reached out to us. We would really love her assistance to help us, but at the end of the day, we have to do what's right and restore some law and order back to Roosevelt. I would like AOC to partner with us... use her platform to help us get funding or connect women to services." Daughtry said issues like prostitution have permeated the area for decades, and he remembers it being a hot spot for prostitution in the '90s. He said the migrant crisis exacerbated the situation as many migrants were drawn to the area, given that it already has a large Latin American population. Mayor Eric Adams spearheaded Operation Restore Roosevelt in collaboration with the NYPD and City Council member Francisco Moya, a moderate Democrat who has often been at odds with his party's progressive wing. Daughtry said Moya was a "huge partner" who physically walked Roosevelt Avenue with him and participated in raids, as did Adams. Adams' office said the operation underscored the administration's commitment to "making sure these crime and quality-of-life issues continue to improve." Meng, meanwhile, told Fox News Digital she is working with local law enforcement and Moya on the matter and described the situation as "concerning." Ocasio-Cortez's office told Fox News Digital that she has engaged with local stakeholders in the area and helped fix lights in the neighborhood. The situation on Roosevelt Avenue was not raised by Ocasio-Cortez at her town hall, nor by constituents who spoke in a question-and-answer portion. Residents Andrew Sokolof Diaz and John Szewczuk told Fox News Digital outside the event that the Roosevelt Avenue problem is a long-standing issue and that local lawmakers must do more to address it. Resident Mark LaVergne pinned much of the blame on Ocasio-Cortez for not doing more and said he felt many of the women were likely trafficked into that murky underground world. "I feel very sad… There's a Dunkin' Donuts I frequent on Roosevelt and 82nd Street and I noticed that above that there is some sort of thing going on, and I see the look in the eyes of these sex workers," LaVergne said. "I really feel sorry for them. Some of them are here, probably under difficult situations. Maybe they were forced here, maybe they're forced to do this kind of work. You've got to take care of the people that'll get you elected. I mean, that just seems like the most just thing. That's justice. Taking care of the people who got you elected."
South China Morning Post
05-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
No US tariffs on ‘unavailable natural resources', commerce chief tells lawmakers
US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Thursday said Washington would refrain from imposing tariffs on natural resources the country does not hold in abundance amid tough questioning by House lawmakers about American consumers facing rising prices. 'In our trade deals, our expectation is … we will not have tariffs on unavailable natural resources, but we will have market access for our farmers and our ranchers,' said Lutnick in testimony at a budget hearing of the House Appropriations Committee. Pressed by both US congresswoman Grace Meng of New York about the rising cost of 'anything from basmati rice to the burdock root to different sauces' used by Asian-Americans and US congresswoman Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania about the higher price of bananas, Lutnick named bananas, spices and roots as examples of items that would be exempt from duties as trade negotiations continue. 'Our chicken and pork and beef are treated horribly around the world, horribly,' the commerce secretary added. 'That has to end.' 'And if we use that by saying, 'you can export coffee to us, but you need to treat us better' … I think that is fair trade,' he said. Play
The Guardian
02-06-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Half of Asians Americans and Pacific Islanders faced hate in 2024, study finds
Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders faced chilling levels of hate in 2024, a new survey has found, reflecting the impact of a divisive presidential election year that included historic representation and rampant anti-immigrant rhetoric. The report by Stop AAPI Hate, shared exclusively with the Guardian ahead of its release, shines a light on underreported incidents largely overlooked in government data and national news media. The coalition conducted its second annual survey with Norc at the University of Chicago, a nonpartisan research organization. Fifty-three percent of respondents said they experienced a race-based hate act in 2024, a small rise from 49% in 2023. Incidents ranged from bullying at school and workplace discrimination to harassment and physical violence. Four out of every 10 people who faced a hate act said they did not tell anyone, including friends or family. Of those who experienced a potentially unlawful hate act, including explicit threats, physical harm or institutional discrimination, 66% did not report the incident to authorities, often due to the belief that the act wasn't significant enough or that reporting wouldn't make a difference. Grace Meng, a New York Democrat who chairs the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, said the coalition's report helps fill a critical data gap, which she regarded as the largest barrier to government leaders taking action. Awareness of anti-Asian bigotry had increased since a wave of high profile hate crimes during the Covid pandemic, Meng said, but since the general election, perpetrators seem empowered to openly express bigotry. The coalition's survey of nearly 1,600 Asian American and Pacific Islander adults took place from 7-15 January, days before Donald Trump's inauguration. Over 80% of respondents expressed concern about the racial climate. 'Honestly, after this president was elected, many of us were nervous again,' Meng told the Guardian. Just over four months into Trump's second term, Meng is ringing the bell on a slew of anti-immigrant actions from Marco Rubio last week announcing he will carry out revocations of Chinese students' visas, to Trump's attacks on birthright citizenship since his first day in office, and widespread funding cuts for a host of institutions. Meng said she expects the administration's rhetoric and actions against immigrant communities to translate into more anti-Asian hate and violence this year. In addition to the annual survey, Stop AAPI Hate manages a reporting center to gather data about incidents targeting Asian American and Pacific Islander communities. Stephanie Chan, director of data and research at Stop AAPI Hate, said perpetrators appear to have drawn inspiration from Trump's comments on the campaign trail and echoed his sentiments across the US at schools, public transit stations, restaurants and more. Some perpetrators have approached Asian Americans and said Trump would have them deported or arrested once he was back in office, according to the center. In one reported incident the day after the election, an Asian girl at school was handed a piece of paper scribbled green that read 'green card' and 'dog-eater', an apparent reference to baseless slurs by Trump and other Republicans that Haitian immigrants in an Ohio city were eating pets. At a big-box store in Washington state this year, a woman said someone called her a 'Chinese peasant' – similar to comments made by Vice-President JD Vance – and said she should go back to her country. Chan also noted that the prominence of Kamala Harris and second lady Usha Vance in the political spotlight has placed a target on south Asian communities. 'South Asians are now in these prominent places of leadership in the business world and in the political world now, and there's this sense that, 'Oh, now they're taking over,'' Chan said. 'And so there has been that backlash to the rise in prominence and leadership in the country, in various sectors, by south Asian people.' Stop AAPI Hate and other nonprofits recently filed a class-action lawsuit against the justice department over what they allege is an unlawful termination of over $810m in public safety grants previously awarded to hundreds of organizations. The group, which was formed in 2020 amid a spike of pandemic-era bigotry, lost a $2m grant it had earmarked for violence prevention, survivor support and the reporting center's data work. A copy of the DoJ's brief termination letter obtained by the Guardian says the grant 'demonstrates that it no longer effectuates department priorities'. A justice department spokesperson declined to comment on the litigation. 'We have a very, very strong indication of what the Trump administration is trying to do,' said Cynthia Choi, co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, which includes trying to stop any institution from getting in the way of his anti-immigrant agenda, including nonprofits, universities, law firms and the courts. Choi noted some upsides from the 2024 survey, which found that 82% said they were optimistic about their community's ability to combat racism – about the same percentage of people who expressed concern about the racial climate. Two-thirds of respondents said they participated in activities to reduce or resist racism, with Democrats, south-east Asians and those who had experienced hate more likely to get involved. Over 85% of respondents said they believed in the importance of cross-racial solidarity. 'We are organizing and really leaning into the fact that we have to fight back collectively, consistently and with determination, because the more that we allow Trump and the administration to roll back our rights, you know, there'll be a point where there will be nothing that we can do about it,' Choi said. 'That's the part that is, I think, most frightening.' 'We know from history that overnight, democracies can become very fragile, and we know that overnight, once we lose our ability to speak out, to defend, to protect, we'll have nothing left.'
