The Satanas Gang (aka Ese Te Ese or STS) is a

Filipino American Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New ...

street gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collective ...

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, founded in 1972. It is believed to be the oldest Filipino-American street gang in Los Angeles.

History

Satanas was a clique from Temple Street since the 1920s that went off solo in the 1970s. In 1972, a car club group started in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

area by some

Filipino Americans Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New ...

who had formed a cultural bond where they were a minority. At first the club was exclusively for

Filipinos Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or other ...

. Other

came to socialize with this club. They soon branched out to other

cities including

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, La Puente, Cerritos, Oxnard

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, Eagle Rock, Norwalk, San Fernando,

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, Chino,

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, Santa Ana, San Gabriel, El Monte, Delano,

Palmdale Palmdale is a city in northern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. The city lies in the Antelope Valley region of Southern California. The San Gabriel Mountains separate Palmdale from the Los Angeles Basin to the south. On Aug ...

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, Vallejo, and San Jose and have reached other states out in the east coast like

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Some other Filipino gangs such as the Demonios and Diablos (not the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

gang of the same name) claim their roots to Satanas, having originated amongst second generation STS members and younger siblings of individuals who were members of STS; and the founders of many other

gangs were originally members of Satanas. Since there were cultural similarities between the

and

Mexicans Mexicans ( es, mexicanos) are the citizens of the United Mexican States. The most spoken language by Mexicans is Spanish, but some may also speak languages from 68 different Indigenous linguistic groups and other languages brought to Mexi ...

, many of Ese Te Ese's older members and leaders allied with

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

gangs in its early years within their surrounding neighbors. Accounts of Los Angeles gang history often placed both Filipinos and Mexicans side by side with each other during various street wars.

Notable crimes

Francisco Gamez and Luis Silva

In December 1982, eight members of the Satanas gang were found guilty in a trial for the killing of Francisco Gamez and Luis Silva who were not gang members but were mistaken as ones. Gamez and Silva chased two cars each carrying four members of Satanas. Gunshots had been fired from the two cars just behind the Gamez home. Gamez and Silva gave chase for at least two miles. At the end of the chase, Gamez was shot in the head and Silva was shot in the back, shoulder and head as he tried to escape.

Manuel Rodriguez

In November 1989 Manuel Rodriguez, a member of the Lemonwood Chiques gang, was shot and killed by Arnell Salagubang, a member of the Satanas gang. Salagubang and Manuel Rodriguez had been arguing in front of

Channel Islands High School Channel Islands High School (CIHS) is a secondary school located in Oxnard, California, United States. The school is part of the Oxnard Union High School District. CIHS had a student population of 2,596 during the 2018–19 school year. History ...

. Salagubang pulled out a small caliber handgun and shot Rodriguez in the head. Salagubang fled the scene, but a witness was able to get his license plate number. The witness turned the information over to the police who arrested Salagubang the next day.

History

Notable crimes

Francisco Gamez and Luis Silva

Manuel Rodriguez

References

See also