East Bay Gangs Are Recruiting 7-Year-Olds

“It used to be really hard to get into gangs, but not anymore,” ex-gang member Fernando Cruz told workshop attendees at the 2008 Neighborhood Summit held last Saturday at Laney College. “These days, they’re taking kids as young as seven, eight, and nine” – and those kids “go around aimlessly shooting people,” Cruz said, “just to make a name for themselves.”