Murder by Surfer "Gang"

Can a group of surfers be a gang?

California attempts to answer this question as a group of five young men in their 20s are being charged as a gang in the murder of a local La Jolla surfer last May.

Neighbors reported the brutal beating the night of May 24th, which is described in detail in this New York Times story. The young men have pleaded not guilty and claimed the death was an accident. Prosecutors have asked the men not be prosecuted as a gang, which would warrant harsher punishment under a set of strict state rules.

The men called themselves the Bird Rock Bandits and their mark could be seen around town, spray painted as "BRB" on walls. The Times reported that more than a dozen people said they were assaulted by the group in the past.

California penal code defines a gang as a group of three or more people, a symbol, and with the primary activity of committing a crime. The defense and prosecution are battling over what sorts of criminal activity and what level of organization constitutes a gang.   

Territoriality defines certain breaks, and groups can become violent to protect the waves from outsiders. La Jolla is not immune from this, despite the multi-million dollar homes and upscale shops that define it. It's the brutal side of surfing, and it exists in idyllic places.

This crime was committed away from the breaks, and the victim, Emery Kauanui Jr., was a local. So the death may not speak directly to the violence on the breaks, unless there was tension from the waves that spilled over. That will be for the prosecution and defense to argue, in addition to the semantics of how to define a gang.

--Joe Spring

Comments

[somethin2say]

If these idiots have a history of harrassing and intimidating people, which it sounds like they did - it sounds like a gang to me. They demonstrated a pattern of behavior which predictably could end in someone's death.
I also read something that said Seth Craven's parents described him as a "good person with a good heart." Seth was the one accused of delivering the fatal blow. For a parent, unconditional love is one thing - but come on, in what world is someone who harrasses people and follows them home to fight a "good person with a good heart."? If they really believe that - they were most likely enablers to his behavior and a BIG part of his sociopathic behavior to begin with.
I hope they are found guilty, that the gang law applies to them, and that they get the maximum possible sentence. None of them are fit for society.

[Ridg]

I buy the gang reference in this case and here are the reasons why. Localism and intimidation go together in both street gangs and surf "gangs" for the sole purpose of controlling turf. Street gangs may want to regulate who sells drugs in an area and will intimidate or kill anyone who steps into that territory. Surfers who demonstrate localism are doing the same thing by trying to control who goes out in "their" water by ganging up on the "trespasser". Ganging up is exactly how it is done. One guy can't chase you out of the water but 3-5 guys will make your experience out there impossible. They can even hound you on the beach. These "local" gangs do not own the ocean as the law states that coastal access is allowed to the mean high tide zone. Locals who try to chase others out are breaking the law and, under the simplest definition, are a gang. I think localism should be considered an assault and prosecuted as such. There are rules of the waves but localism ain't one of them.

[Tiffan]

If they were black there would be no question as to whether they were a gang or not! If the definitions fit for one race of people then it should fit for these privileged white boys.

[Mark]

Why does "surfers" have anything to do with this? NO ONE is saying they are a gang because they surf, although it's not a bad assumption in many areas. They are accussed of being a gang because they were a group, acted like a gang, and engaged in violent criminal behavior.

Truly pathetic that some want to to make this a surfer vs everyone else issue.

Then again, maybe surfers are the problem?

Beyond that, just because the surf area is adjacent to a wealthy area does not change the behavior of surfers.