Cowboys and Rattlesnakes
A Tradition of Violence
A Tradition of Violence
4.7 • 540 Ratings
🗓️ 7 December 2022
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Most people think of Los Angeles as a progressive county. But the Antelope Valley has a long history of white supremacist violence, sometimes helped along by deputy gangs.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department issued this statement following the swearing in of Robert G. Luna: "In his inauguration speech on Saturday, Sheriff Robert Luna reaffirmed his commitment to eradicating deputy gangs from the Department, and stated that under his leadership, the Department will be guided by three overriding principles: integrity, accountability and collaboration. https://youtu.be/uxiH_fLtHwo
Earlier today (12/6/2022), he welcomed the Inspector General back to restore appropriate oversight at the Department.
https://lasd.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Transparency_BOS_letter_COC_Luna.pdf
In the weeks and months ahead, you'll hear more from the Sheriff about how the department will implement his zero-tolerance policy on deputy gangs.”
A Tradition of Violence is hosted and executive produced by Cerise Castle. She's an award winning journalist who wrote the first ever history of deputy gangs for Knock LA, available at lasdgangs.com
Music by Yelohill and Steelz.
For breaking news and updates on deputy gangs, follow @lasdgangs on social media.
To support Cerise’s reporting, and for exclusive bonus content, subscribe to the patreon.com/lasdgangs.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Warning, this podcast contains explicit language and details acts of violence. |
| 0:05.2 | Listener discretion is advised. |
| 0:07.9 | Los Angeles County has a reputation for being a pretty progressive area, but that's not really the case, especially up north. |
| 0:16.4 | The Analype Valley, which makes up the northern part of the county, is very desolate. |
| 0:21.4 | To get there from the city, you need to take a winding highway through jagged mountains |
| 0:25.6 | on one of the most dangerous freeways in the state. |
| 0:29.3 | On the other side, miles of desert with relatively new suburbs roll on and on. |
| 0:35.5 | From 1850 to 1950, the Anelope Valley was a sleepy collection of small towns |
| 0:41.3 | around the hubs of Palmdale and Lancaster. The population was nearly 90% white. Black |
| 0:48.5 | families were relegated to the Sun Valley area because of racist redlining, but in the 1980s, demographics changed. |
| 0:56.9 | In that decade, the AV's growth ballooned as white families from Los Angeles resettled in the desert |
| 1:03.4 | as part of white flight. A decade later, people of color chasing low real estate prices |
| 1:09.5 | and seeking an escape from the city followed behind them. |
| 1:13.9 | But some of the Ancelope Valley's new residents who moved in search of a quiet life were met with violent racism. |
| 1:22.1 | And some of the people behind those incidents were members of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. |
| 1:32.3 | This is a tradition of violence, a history of deputy gangs inside the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. |
| 1:43.3 | People working for the Los Angeles County Sheriff's stations in the Antelope Valley are often lifelong residents. |
| 1:50.6 | Parts of the valley are extremely remote, and the department uses what they call resident deputies, sworn personnel who live in the area, to patrol it. |
| 1:59.6 | In 1990, David Lynn, executive director of the |
| 2:04.1 | police misconduct lawyer's referral service, investigated a white supremacist deputy gang |
| 2:09.8 | called the Wayside Whites inside of the Pitchist Detention Center. He spotted a racist symbol |
| 2:16.3 | just outside of the jail. Right on the other side of the freeway |
... |
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