8-State Raid Aims ‘Death Blow’ at Notorious Chicago Gang : Crime: 65 members of the El Rukn Nation, with roots in the ‘60s, are indicted. Charges include murder, kidnaping and narcotics trafficking.

Federal authorities, conducting raids in eight states, delivered what they hoped would be the “death blow” Friday to Chicago’s notorious El Rukn Nation crime organization, indicting 65 members on charges that included murder, kidnaping, racketeering and possession and sale of narcotics.

The organization, which the indictments describe as a major crime and terrorist group with links to the Libyan government, used murder and intimidation to control the cocaine and heroin trade in Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and other cities, authorities said.

The indictments allege that members of the group committed at least 20 murders and contract killings, including one in South Carolina at the behest of Chicago businessman Noah Robinson, the half-brother of the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

Robinson, who was arrested Friday morning at his home, was charged, along with two brothers and three associates, with racketeering, conspiracy to commit tax fraud, bankruptcy fraud and mail and wire fraud in connection with the alleged skimming of $650,000 in receipts from three Wendy’s restaurants he operated in Chicago from 1984 to 1989. Robinson’s brothers, George and John, also are half-brothers of Jackson.

The indictments allege also that Robinson supplied drugs to the El Rukns and hired them to commit two assassinations, only one of which was successfully carried out. He stood trial in South Carolina on a murder conspiracy charge but was released because of a hung jury. He was convicted in January in a related case of being an accessory after the fact in an attempted murder and was freed on bond.

U.S. Atty. Anton R. Valukas, who announced the indictments, said that for nearly a quarter of a century the El Rukns gang engaged in “a systematic program of murder, narcotics distribution, terrorism, robbery, extortion, bribery, kidnaping and obstruction of justice.”

He said the successful prosecution of the 65 people indicted would be the long-awaited “death blow” to an organization alleged to have brought millions of dollars worth of drugs into Chicago, committed 20 known murders, attempted seven others and planned but failed to carry out a number of others during its 24-year history.

During the course of the investigation, federal officials indicated that the sweeping indictments against the organization would be the modern-day equivalent of stopping legendary Prohibiton-era gangster Al Capone.

Robinson, the half-brother of Jackson, earlier had charged that he was being prosecuted in a government attempt to embarrass the former presidential candidate. Valukas denied this on Friday.

“He was not singled out” because of his relationship to Jackson, Valukas said. “I have nothing but respect for the stand that Jesse Jackson has taken on drugs, in connection with this scourge.”

The indictments grew out of a 1987 investigation that led to the conviction of Jeff Fort, 42, leader of the El Rukns. Fort, who is serving two consecutive sentences totaling 155 years for murder and conspiracy, was convicted of conspiring with other gang members in a terrorist-for-hire plot involving offers to destroy buildings and U.S. government property for Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi.

The terrorist acts, which never were carried out, were to be performed in exchange for $2.5 million. Libyan officials were not charged and denied any involvement with the organization.

Numerous El Rukn members have been convicted on murder, drug and other charges over the years. Fort, the undisputed leader of the organization and a co-founder, is alleged to have run the organization from prison while serving time on previous convictions.

Valukas said these indictments are different, however, in that they are a comprehensive attack covering a range of alleged crimes committed over the past quarter-century. They are designed to put all of the gang’s top-ranking members behind bars. In addition, Valukas said that Fort, imprisoned in Marion, Ill., is no longer allowed to use the telephone or have easy access to visitors.

Raids were conducted Friday afternoon at the El Rukns headquarters on Chicago’s South Side and also at sites in New York, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin and Mississippi, Valukas said. The raids were conducted by the FBI with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and local police.

The raid on “The Fort,” the former theater that served as the El Rukns’ Chicago headquarters, took place during the group’s weekly Muslim prayer service. Valukas said 17 of the people named in the indictments were arrested, along with 23 others, most of whom were held on charges of drug possession. Another 20 arrests were made in other cities.

The Fort is named after Jeff Fort.

The indictments allege that the organization, which grew from a teen-age street gang in the 1960s and that previously operated under the names Blackstone Rangers and the Black P Stone Nation, terrorized the people of Chicago and Milwaukee for more than 25 years. In 1976, Fort changed the name to the El Rukn Nation and directed all gang members to follow the Muslim religion.

The gang started dealing in PCP and marijuana and later grew to include amphetamines, cocaine and heroin, becoming one of the largest distributors of narcotics in Chicago, the indictments allege. Valukas said the El Rukns controlled 100 separate street-level drug distribution points in Chicago and other cities in which they operated.

“The El Rukns used to be originally called the Blackstone Rangers,” said Chicago Police Supt. LeRoy Martin. “I was a very young police officer when the gang came into fruition. Now I’m an old police officer when we’re seeing these guys finally come to an end.”

Officials said the El Rukns headquarters would be boarded up today. Martin said the city had decided to raze the building and erect a playground in its place.

Attorneys for the El Rukns could not be contacted Friday.

Researcher Tracy Shryer contributed to this story.

BACKGROUND

The El Rukn Nation has been described by law enforcement officials as “the ultimate street gang,” the most sophisticated in the nation. But in the 1960s the organization, which has had a number of names during its 24-year history, briefly had the support of white liberals and radicals impressed with its leaders’ talk of improving conditions on Chicago’s South Side. During this period, it was alleged to have swindled the federal government out of nearly $1 million in anti-poverty funds. In 1976, Jeff Fort, a co-founder of the group, proclaimed the gang a Muslim religious organization and adopted the new name, which means “The Foundation” in Arabic.