We Cannot Tolerate Gangs in Our Society

As I was eating breakfast, I still had my wonderful Thanksgiving weekend memories in my head. Then I began reading “Families Reel in Wake of Senseless Shootings” (Dec. 1), about the deaths of two obviously great human beings. I suddenly became very angry. The shooters of these two great people are suspected gang members.

When are we as a society going to look at gang members and their wannabe associates as we do child molesters? We do not tolerate child molesters in our neighborhoods, which is evident by protests once it is discovered they live in our area. So why do we tolerate gang members? There must be a drastic change in how we (parents, civic leaders, law enforcement) address gangs in our society, because what we are doing now is a miserable failure.

Michael Barth

Chino Hills

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Your article used the word “foolishness” as part of the description of what happened when Nicole Williamson, age 19, was gunned down in a suspected gang drive-by shooting. The word “foolishness” is the description that would appropriately apply to teenage antics, not to the murderous thugs who terrorize some of Los Angeles’ communities and commit murder on such a large scale. If there were more public outrage directed against the activities of dangerous gangs, perhaps our public officials would do more to root these gangs out from our midst.

This incident just makes me furious, furious at the perpetrators and furious at anyone who describes this murder of a fine young person as “foolishness.”

Larry Cohen

Glendale