Sessions Reiterates Commitment To Defeating MS-13 As Fear Spreads On Long Island
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Their motto is 'kill, rape, control', on Monday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump administration's goal is to demolish the MS-13 street gang.
It comes in the wake of another teen body found on Long Island. The victim's classmates think he was lured and killed by MS-13.
As CBS2's Jennifer McLogan reported, 24 hours after human remains found during a grim search in woods off the Southern Parkway were positively identified as those of 16-year-old Angel Soler.
"I'd like to say to his family that I am sorry that this happened to you, and I feel sympathy," Soler's classmate, Elizabeth Capellan said.
Soler's mother told detectives she brought him to the U.S. 4 years ago to flee gang violence in their native Honduras.
The teen's body is still with the medical examiner and it's unclear if he was a victim of gang violence, but students are worried.
"In the north side we have a lot of gang affiliated members that go to school. I don't think being in a gang is right, your life can be in danger," Andres Rastrepo said.
There have been 22 people deaths in Nassau and Suffolk counties linked to MS-13 in the past year.
"This case is still under investigation, and our detectives are looking into all avenues of the cause of death and who may be attributable to it," Nassau County's acting police commissioner said.
Among those deaths -- 15-year-old Nisa Mickens and 16-year-old Kayla Cueves of Brentwood.
"I can't even explain how emotional the threat is, because like, everyone gets involved, and if there is like one person everyone starts joining and joining," Annsa Siddiqui said.
On Monday, in Philadelphia U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that taking down the brutal MS-13 gang remains a priority.
"Just like we took Al Capone off the streets with our tax laws, we will use whatever laws we have to get MS-13 off our streets," he said.
In Freeport, members of the military visited Soler's former school -- students said that's the kind of recruitment they support, not gangs.
"When you say no to them, you just hurt their pride because you refuse them. It's like they don't take no for an answer, they get their way or it's the highway," Carolina Argueta said.
Classmates in Freeport claim two other youths went missing a year ago. Nassau cops said all missing persons cases are being provided with exceptional investigative resources -- working alongside the Department of Homeland Security.