Police, district attorney announce dozens of arrests in violent feud in Milwaukee
More than 60 members of a loose connection of feuding groups of people in Milwaukee, which is responsible for an outsized portion of the city’s gun violence the last several years, have been arrested and criminally charged.
Not to be confused with gang violence, which can center around territory or criminal enterprises, law enforcement officials characterized the groups as “cliques” who feud with each other over petty disagreements and disrespect, often over social media.
The announcement was made Monday by Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm and Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman.
Of the 61 individuals who were identified by law enforcement Monday, about half are juveniles. Eleven of them face charges of homicide or have been convicted and sentenced already, while others have been accused of anything from illegal gun possession, to car theft and recklessly endangering safety.
Chisholm said the feud stems from the 2020 homicide of a 17-year-old. Since then, more than 100 shootings and at least 25 homicides have been attributed to the conflict.
The scope of the problem was made all the worse by the effects of the pandemic, easy access to automatic firearms, car theft and social media, officials said.
“The damage done to this community is substantial,” Chisholm said.
Here’s what to do know about the issue:
How did it start?
Chisholm attributed the beginning of the feud to the shooting death of 17-year-old Lorenzo Williams in November 2020.
In the aftermath, various cliques appeared to form around the idea of honoring Williams and other victims of violence. Police have said they can be motivated by thrill-seeking and gaining clout from social media posts.
Over time, conflict developed between the cliques. Disagreements and disrespectful posts on social media led to real-life violence, which could lead to retaliation.
At that time, Milwaukee and the rest of the nation were dealing with a pandemic still in its early stages, along with a historic increase in gun violence. Chisholm said the county’s ability to keep tabs on, and provide resources for, at-risk individuals fell apart at that time.
How is a clique different from a gang?
Gangs are typically centered around a criminal enterprise – such as drug dealing – while they have a specific hierarchy, claim territory, emphasize loyalty and may identify themselves by wearing certain colors.
Cliques, in contrast, are not involved in an enterprise, do not claim territory and lack hierarchy. Membership between the groups can change “at the drop of a hat,” Norman said.
“These are simple cliques that engage in violent and petty crime over petty disagreements, including social media banter,” he added.
Cliques can include around two or three dozen people, police have said.
What is the current state of the feud?
The amount of violent activity between the various groups has fluctuated over time, but on Monday, Chisholm and Norman did not describe the current state of things.
They did, however, argue that the 61 people charged represented a large chunk of the conflict. Chisholm singled out six people, between the ages of 17 and 20, who are in custody after being “central” to driving the feud.
Prosecutors first began filing criminal charges against suspects in 2021. That has continued into 2023.
What other factors have impacted the conflict?
Law enforcement and other officials have identified a range of them:
Easy access to automatic firearms: Gun sales in Wisconsin skyrocketed at the outset of the pandemic while reports of stolen guns in Milwaukee have nearly doubled from 2019 to 2022. Federal data indicates that guns bought from retailers in Wisconsin are showing up at crimes scenes much faster since 2019. Officials have also called attention to the ease at which a handgun can be converted into a fully automatic gun and the proliferation of those weapons in Milwaukee. Many of the 61 people charged in connection to the feuding are accused of illegal gun possession.
Car theft: After car thieves began exploiting a security flaw in Kia and Hyundai cars in Milwaukee in 2020, car thefts in the city ballooned. Car theft is generally seen as something that helps facilitate other crimes, such as robberies and shootings. Officials in Milwaukee have noted an increase in shootings from vehicles in recent years, and the cliques discussed Monday have also been associated with car theft.
Disruptions from the pandemic: Chisholm said Monday that proactive measures to prevent violence “really just went away” during the initial disruptions of the pandemic, as the feud formed. He repeatedly emphasized that it took police and other partners “incredible amounts of energy” to identify suspects and how they were all connected, especially considering allegiances between the cliques change rapidly. The pandemic also interrupted school, employment and social service outreach for millions of Americans. Norman said Monday that violence interrupters have since engaged with people involved in the conflict.
Social media: In general, violence prevention and police officials in Milwaukee have said that people can sometimes be motivated to make social media posts about car theft, reckless driving or gun theft in an effort to obtain some kind of credibility. Social media is repeatedly identified as a place where disagreements that spill over into real-world violence can begin.
Contact Elliot Hughes at elliot.hughes@jrn.com or 414-704-8958. Follow him on Twitter @elliothughes12.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee police, district attorney announce arrests in violent feud
