A Latino street gang has been accused of trying to eliminate black people from a southern California city through attempted murders and other crimes

Five indictments charged a total of 147 members and associates of the Varrio Hawaiian Gardens gang, and federal and local agencies arrested 63 of them, US attorney Thomas P O'Brien said at a news conference. He called it "the largest gang take down in United States history" but did not elaborate. The indictments detail attempted murder, kidnapping, firearms, narcotics and other charges related to attacks by the gang, which is predominantly Latino and mainly operates in Hawaiian Gardens, a city of about 15,000 in south-eastern Los Angeles county. "[Varrio Hawaiian Gardens] gang members take pride in their racism and often refer to the VHG Gang as the 'Hate Gang,'" the main indictment states. "VHG gang members have expressed a desire to rid the city of Hawaiian Gardens of all African-Americans and have engaged in a systematic effort to achieve that result by perpetrating crimes against African-Americans."