XPost: talk.politics.guns, mn.politics, talk.politics.misc   
   XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics   
   From: timmy.walz@lies.alot   
      
   https://alphanews.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bloods-630x420.jpeg   
   Desean Solomon, Michael Burrell, Leontawan Holt/Hennepin and Sherburne county   
   jails   
      
   Three Minneapolis Bloods gang members were found guilty by a federal jury on   
   Tuesday of racketeering (RICO) and firearms offenses in connection with a   
   years-long pattern of gang violence, including two murders, announced U.S.   
   Attorney Andrew Luger.   
      
   Following a weeks-long trial before Judge Susan Richard Nelson in U.S.   
   District Court, Desean James Solomon, aka Black, 34, Michael Allen Burrell,   
   aka Skitz, 44, and Leontawan Lentez Holt, aka Leon, aka Shotta, aka Shot Dog,   
   26, were found guilty on all    
   charges. Solomon was convicted on one count of RICO conspiracy and two counts   
   of using and carrying a firearm in furtherance of murder. Burrell and Holt   
   were each convicted of one count of using and carrying a firearm in   
   furtherance of murder.   
      
   The charges against the three were part of a federal crackdown on Minneapolis   
   violent crime that spiraled out of control following Gov. Tim Walz’s   
   pandemic lockdowns and the George Floyd riots.   
      
   The U.S. Attorney’s press release recapped the history and structure of the   
   Bloods gang, which was presented at trial:   
      
   “Since at least 2020, Solomon, Burrell, and Holt, have been members and   
   associates of the Minneapolis Bloods street gang. Historically, the gang’s   
   territory is located on the south side of Minneapolis, near Chicago Avenue   
   South and 38th Street East.    
   The hierarchy of the Bloods includes a head or leader of the gang, senior   
   leaders, street-level leaders, and other members or associates. New recruits   
   (called ‘YGs’ or young gangsters) must fight, shoot, or make money to gain   
   respect and increase    
   their position in the gang. The next level is ‘OG’ (original gangsters),   
   who are well-respected members of the gang, and the highest level is ‘double   
   OG.’ All OGs are equal in rank and can direct ‘shots’ or orders.   
   ‘Enforcers’ carry out    
   the OG’s ‘shots’ or orders by beating or assaulting the offender. If a   
   Bloods member is disrespected, other members are expected to retaliate. When   
   shootings break out with opposition gangs, Bloods members within proximity are   
   expecte   
    d to come to each other’s aid by firing their own weapons at opposition   
   gang members.”   
      
   Evidence presented at trial detailed two murders facilitated by Bloods gang   
   members, one in north Minneapolis in 2020, and one in Uptown in 2022:   
      
   On June 14, 2020, Solomon, Burrell, and other Bloods members went to the 200   
   Club, a nightclub in north Minneapolis, where they assaulted a rival gang   
   member in the men’s restroom. Following the assault, a shooting broke out   
   outside the club. Solomon    
   and Burrell both fired their weapons multiple times, resulting in the murder   
   of a rival gang member.   
      
   Part of the shootout was captured on video at the time, which showed at least   
   two people firing guns outside the pub.   
      
   On April 23, 2022, Solomon, Holt, and other Bloods members went to Williams   
   Pub, a bar in the Uptown neighborhood of south Minneapolis, to celebrate a   
   birthday. Inside the bar, Holt threw an unprovoked punch at a rival gang   
   member and the rest of the    
   Bloods members joined in. A large bar fight ensued. After several minutes, the   
   Bloods members exited the bar onto a nearby street, where Holt and a juvenile   
   member of the Bloods shot at and killed a rival gang member.   
      
   A search of court records following Holt’s arrest showed that he should have   
   been in prison at the time of the Uptown murder on another gun conviction.   
   However, despite Holt’s lifelong history of violent crime, his 5-year prison   
   sentence for being a    
   felon in possession of a firearm was reduced to just 36 months in a downward   
   departure from sentencing guidelines by Hennepin County Judge Tamara Garcia,   
   leaving him free prior to the murder.   
      
      
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