The NYPD’s undercover social media team tracked gang activity on Facebook, resulting in the arrests of 49 accused members of the East New York crews the Rockstarz and the Very Crispy Gangsters, authorities announced yesterday. At a press conference, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and Brooklyn D.A. Charles Hynes explained that the online boasting of the young men — including nine younger than 18 — led to charges of attempted murder, murder, and conspiracy stemming from a gang war that dates back to 2009. “There were 10 shootings over three years,” the Times reports, and “one bullet, officials said, hit a 10-year-old boy who was in his apartment watching cartoons.”
Kelly said one suspect posted a photo of himself wearing a rival’s belt after an attack, along with the caption, “I can’t give it back. You can’t walk no more.” The members reportedly “friended” one another to post taunting comments on each other’s pages. After one murder, for example, a suspect wrote, “Rockstarz are up 3-0.”
Game over now, hopefully.
