Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced on April 29 that an alleged local leader of the Latin Kings street gang and eight inmates allegedly under his command in various correctional facilities – including Northern State Prison in Newark and New Jersey State Prison in Trenton – have been charged with forming a “hit squad” within the prison system to commit assaults on behalf of the gang.
They are specifically charged with engaging in conduct including a brutal attack on one inmate in New Jersey State Prison, a planned assault on another inmate in Northern State Prison that was prevented by the New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC), and possession of makeshift blades called “shanks,” according to the statement.