White Supremacy Gangs Clout Rising

Public Enemy No.1 is a white supremacist gang that began two decades ago as a group of teenage punk-rock fans from upper middle class communities in Southern California.

According to authorities, this violent gang is dealing in drugs, guns and identity theft and gaining clout across the West. Their clout rose after they forged alliance with the Aryan Brotherhood.

The Aryan Brotherhood originated in California's San Quentin Prison in the 1960s. It has since spread to prisons throughout the United States. The Aryan Brotherhood is affiliated with the paramilitary hate group Aryan Nations. The Aryan Brotherhood is not known to be as systematically organized as other prison gangs, like the Bloods, Crips or the Mexican Mafia, but its reputation for violence is well documented.

As a sign of just how bold Public Enemy has become they have compiled a "hit list", that is targeting five officers and a gang prosecutor.

"They make police officers very, very nervous," said Cpl. Nate Booth, a gang detective with the Buena Park Police Department.

Public Enemy's rise in clout comes as another white supremacist gang loses its foothold. The Nazi Low Riders have acted for years as foot soldiers on the outside for drug dealing and identity theft for the Aryan Brotherhood. But in 2000, officials reclassified the Nazi Low Riders as a prison-based gang. This new classification now has Nazi Low Riders gang members being sent to solitary confinement as soon as they are imprisoned.

The Nazi Low Riders originated inside the California prison system just like the Aryan Brotherhood, but also have active members beyond the walls of the prison. The Aryan Brotherhood aligned itself with the Nazi Low Riders in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Nazi Low Riders remained a separate gang but had helped promote the Aryan Brotherhood's interests within the prison system.