If you think that one person has all the answers, don't!

Welcome to Trust Me, the podcast about cults, extreme belief, and the abuse of power from

two broads who've actually experienced it, I am Lola Blanc, and I'm Megan Elizabeth.

Today our guest is, once again, Herardo Lopez, easy gang interventionist and former member

of the notorious gang MS-13. Maybe you've seen his TEDx talk or the short documentary about

his life called Clever, but if not, here's the deal. Last week we talked about how he joined

a gang in Los Angeles and what life was like as a member, getting arrested all the time,

and this week he's going to tell us about how he began attending a support group for former

gang members called Homiesunitos, which he still works with, and how the late Senator Tom Hayden,

one of the Chicago Seven actually, took him under his wing and showed him a new way that he could

get respect, power, and pride without committing any crimes, and the harassment he experienced by

the LAPD in the era of the rampart scandal, but then his story takes a wild turn. We'll learn about

how he started a new life in Colorado and began working with at-risk youth, only to be suddenly

arrested on a federal warrant accused of starting a new MS-13 chapter in Colorado and sent to prison.

Stay tuned also to learn how he fought to be released and how the charges were eventually

just suddenly dropped. Woo, that is quite an intro. So quick note here. The story sounds

kind of unbelievable when you're listening to it, but you can check out a whole list of news

sources that back the whole thing up on Herados page at homiesunitos.org. Thought I would shout

that out just to preface that. This episode is interesting because I feel like last week we started

out exploring the cult-like qualities of this gang, but by the end of it, it really feels like a

window into the cult-like qualities of the police. So we will, well, you guys will hear more about

that soon. But before we get into it, Megan, please, won't she enlighten us as to the cult-listing

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