Ghost Shadows
{{Short description|Chinese American street gang (1971–1990s)}}
{{more citations needed|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox Criminal organization
| name = Ghost Shadows
| image =
| caption =
| founded = 1971{{cite web|url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/02/18/Ghost-Shadows-to-be-arraigned-today/7241477550800/ |title=Ghost Shadows to be arraigned today |publisher=United Press International |date=February 18, 1985 |access-date=May 26, 2018}}
| founding location = New York City
| founded by =
| years active = 1970s–1990s
| territory = New York City, Houston Texas, Providence, Rhode Island
| ethnic makeup = Cantonese and Taishanese{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257771119_Transnational_activities_of_Chinese_crime_organizations|title=(PDF) Transnational activities of Chinese crime organizations|website=ResearchGate}}
| membership est =
| criminal activities = Racketeering, extortion, illegal gambling, assault, murder, armed robbery and kidnapping
| allies = On Leong Tong, Big Circle Gang, Tiny Rascal Gang{{Cite web|url=http://www.policemag.com/338717/the-tiny-rascal-gang-big-trouble|title=The Tiny Rascal Gang: Big Trouble|last=Valdez|first=Investigator Al|website=www.policemag.com|date=31 December 1999 |access-date=2019-07-15}}
| rivals = Flying Dragons
}}
The Ghost Shadows or GSS ({{zh|t=鬼影幫|s=鬼影帮|first=t|j=gwai2 jing2 bong1}}) was a Chinese American street gang that was prominent in New York City's Chinatown from the early 1970s to the mid 1990s.
History
Formed in 1971 by immigrants from Taiwan and Hong Kong, the gang was affiliated with the On Leong Tong. They adopted the colors black and white as their clothing to match the name of the set. Throughout the 1980s, the gang was often engaged in bloody turf wars with other Chinatown gangs such as the older Flying Dragons, affiliated with Hip Sing Tong and the Division Street Boys affiliated with Tung On Association.
Their activities included extortion, kidnapping, murder, racketeering, drug trafficking and illegal gambling. The Ghost Shadows' influence was widespread, having links to Chinatowns in other cities, as well as links to Sicilian-American Mafia families. The organization is defunct due to Federal RICO crackdowns during the 1990s.
Members
=Wing Yeung Chan=
Wing Yeung Chan (born Jan 6, 1945) was president of On Leong Tong and for a decade the leader of the Ghost Shadows. Charged with murder and racketeering, he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.{{Cite news |last=Weiss |first=Murray |date=April 17, 2003 |title=Cig-Stab Suspects' Dad Led C'Town Mob |url=https://nypost.com/2003/04/17/cig-stab-suspects-dad-led-ctown-mob/ |access-date=2021-10-23 |work=New York Post|language=en-US}}{{Cite news |date=June 2, 1995 |title=Feds say Chinatown crime run like Mafia |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1995/06/02/Feds-say-Chinatown-crime-run-like-Mafia/6536802065600/ |access-date=2021-10-23 |work=United Press International |language=en}}
=Applehead=
{{cite-section|date=July 2023}}
Shui Ping Wu (born 1956), also known as Applehead (pronounced Apo with silent-L), was one of the original founders of Ghost Shadows and a leader of breakaway factions of Ghost Shadows[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19780831&id=t_VNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=DYsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6391,4767052&hl=en "Youth gang leader isn't smiling anymore" ], 1978, Peter Arnett, AP Bayard Boys during the late 1970s, up to his indictments on RICO statutes in the mid-1980s.
In 1977, Wu was charged with four others for extorting money from a restaurant employee in Montgomery County, MD.{{cite news |date=December 29, 1977 |last=Katz |first=Barbara J. |title=Five Men Indicted in Chinese Restaurant Extortion Attempt |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1977/12/29/five-men-indicted-in-chinese-restaurant-extortion-attempt/7c3e2565-512a-4e3d-8102-ebe2dc0478f3/ |access-date=2023-07-21 |work=Washtington Post}} He pled guilty in a re-trial in 1983, suspending the final few years of his original 5 year sentence.{{cite news |first=Alma |last=Guillermoprieto |date=January 11, 1983 |title=2 Plead Guilty In Retrial in Extortion Case |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1983/01/11/2-plead-guilty-in-retrial-in-extortion-case/fb57614f-839c-411b-841e-46f2e49444b0/ |work=Washtington Post |access-date=2023-07-26}}
=China Mac=
Raymond Yu (born 1981), a rapper known professionally as China Mac, joined the Ghost Shadows gang at age 12. He was born in Brooklyn to Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong, and lived in a group home from age 8. As a gang member he says he dealt drugs, committed robberies, and served as a lookout at gambling houses. He served 3 years in jail for his gang crimes starting in 2000 at age 18. In 2003, shortly after release, he shot another rapper in an altercation and was imprisoned for 11 years.
Yu later built a career as an entertainer. He became an activist against anti-Asian racism, notably in response to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic racist incidents in the U.S.{{Cite news |last=Vyas |first=Karishma |date=October 16, 2020 |title=Ex-prisoner-turned-rapper fights for justice for Asian Americans |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/10/16/china-mac-prisoner-turned-rapper-fights-for-justice-for-asian-americans |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201017013418/https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/10/16/china-mac-prisoner-turned-rapper-fights-for-justice-for-asian-americans |archive-date=2020-10-17 |access-date=2020-11-01 |work=Al Jazeera|language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Meet an Ex-Member of One of the Most Violent Chinese-American Gangs in the U.S. |url=https://nextshark.com/china-mac/ |date=2018-04-15 |website=NextShark |language=en-US |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924165451/http://nextshark.com:80/china-mac/ |archive-date=2015-09-24 |access-date=2020-02-18}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.mafianj.com/asian/tongs.shtml Chinese – Asian Organized Crime Groups: Tongs and Street Gangs]. Information on Ghost Shadows from MafiaNJ.com.
- http://www.nychinatown.org/articles/voice19770131.html
- {{cite news
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/01/06/nyregion/hong-kong-boy-a-college-student-and-a-ghost-shadow.html
|title='Hong Kong Boy': A College Student, and a Ghost Shadow
|newspaper= The New York Times
|date=January 6, 1991
|quote=Armed with a .357 Magnum revolver that he says he bought for $400 in a Roy Rogers restaurant in Queens, he guards the street from the encroachment of rival gangs. With more than 40 fellow Ghost Shadows, he says he offers protection to the store owners along the street, in exchange for money. Gang members also guard illegal gambling halls. The police say they rough up clients who do not pay.
|access-date=2009-10-01
| first=Donatella
| last=Lorch}}
- {{cite news
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/07/22/nyregion/wider-chinatown-gang-warfare-feared.html
|title=Wider Chinatown Gang Warfare Feared
|newspaper= The New York Times
|date=July 22, 1992
|quote=After months of relative peace in the violent and murky world of Asian-American gangs, the fatal shooting of a high-ranking Chinatown gang leader Monday has renewed concerns about warfare among rival groups.
|access-date=2009-10-01
| first=James
| last=Dao}}
{{Organized crime groups in the United States}}
{{Organized crime groups in New York City}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ghost Shadows}}
Category:Chinese-American organized crime groups
Category:Chinese-American culture in New York City