Alex Sanchez's Arrest | The Nation   Alex Sanchez's Arrest    •
Share   • Decrease text size Increase text size  As a state
legislator Hayden was a leading proponent of gang peace efforts,
including Homies Unidos, and testified for asylum in the Alex
Sanchez case.  For more on the Alex Sanchez case, go to Tom
Hayden's website.  About the Author  Tom Hayden  Also by the
Author      In more immediate terms, the Sanchez case repeats
the history of a decade ago, when the same charges were hurled
by the LAPD and a federal antigang task force, that Sanchez's
community-based violence prevention work was only a "front" for
ties to Mara Salvatrucha, the feared immigrant street gang that
arose after the 1970s Central American wars.  The Rampart
scandal, named after a police precinct in the immigrant Pico-
Union neighborhood, erupted in the late 1990s when a corrupt
police officer, Rafael Pérez, began testifying to widespread
police criminality after being caught selling cocaine out of his
locker room. The US Justice Dep