Tiny Rascal Gang
| Founded | 1980s |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Long Beach, California, and Santa Ana, California, United States |
| Years active | 1980s-present |
| Territory | California, other US states,Canada, and Australia. |
| Ethnicity | Predominantly Cambodian |
| Membership (est.) | 10,000 |
| Criminal activities | Extortion, racketeering, drug trafficking, arson, assault, murder, robbery, theft, fraud, and illegal gambling, |
| Allies | Ghost Shadows, Wah Ching |
| Rivals | Asian Boyz,Crips, Bloods,Menace of Destruction,Sureños |
Tiny Rascal Gang (or frequently spelled as Tiny Raskal Gang) is a Long Beach, California, based Cambodian street gang and organized crime group. The gang originated among Cambodian immigrants to the United States. TRG is considered to be the largest Asian American street gang in the United States. Most members are of Cambodian descent, but some are of other ethnic groups.
In 1975, after the fall of Phnom Penh, California started receiving its first Cambodian refugees. As with many refugee groups, lack of knowledge concerning the culture of the host nation and limited command of the English language, helped create a barrier that isolated the newly arrived Cambodians. These groups initially are not well accepted by the established street gangs and are often viewed as community outcasts by the general population.
In the mid-1980s, a fight occurred between a Latino student and a Cambodian immigrant in Long Beach, an event which led to the formation of the Tiny Rascal gang. As a means of protection, other young Cambodian immigrants began forming several street gangs. The Tiny Rascal Gang originated from these street gangs. Adopting grey as their representative "colors", members could be recognized by their gray "rags". Members of the Tiny Rascal gang began committing several forms of violent crime. Some of the Tiny Rascal gang members were originally members of the Asian Boyz, a rival gang, and transferred gangs due to friction between other fellow Tiny Rascal members.
Tiny Rascal Gang has had a long rivalry with the Long Beach Hispanic gang East Side Longos MUIE.
A more recent rivalry which has been relevant over the past decade is the clashes between Insane Boyz Gang and Tiny Rascal Gang in Seattle. .
Originally a Cambodian gang, they eventually allowed the recruitment of other ethnic groups. There are about 10,000 members nationwide. Also in the 1990s, females were also allowed to represent the gang and an all-female branch of the gang formed called "LRG (Lady Rascal Gang)". This set was later disbanded.
As with many other gangs, potential members must first undergo an initiation called the 'jump in' where they have to fight other members of the gang or endure a beating for a specific amount of time.
The Tiny Rascal Gang is involved in a wide range of criminal activities: extortion, robbery, home invasion, burglary, theft, protection, and murder are some of the more publicized criminal activities of the gang. While young members of the gang are mostly involved in street crimes, older members of the gang have progressed to serious organized criminal activities. The older sets maintain a working relationship with similar sets of a fellow Southeast Asian gang called Asian Boyz. They have formed alliances with Chinese Triad organizations such as the New York City-based Ghost Shadows. They are part of the On Leong Tong. In alliance with the traditionally organized Triad gangs, the Tiny Rascal gang and the Asian Boyz have been involved in organized criminal activities such as large scale drug trafficking operations, weapon trafficking, prostitution and illegal gambling.
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