Trenton Makes Grillz, Gangs Take

According to an article in the Inquirer today, Trenton ranks somewhere between Fallujah and Baghdad in terms of lawlessness. The capital of New Jersey — yes, really, it’s the capital — has been overrun with gang wars, and there have been death threats to the mayor and the police director.

You won’t find that in Harrisburg. (Well, maybe. I don’t think I’ve ever actually been there.) Either way, if there’s one state that’s going to have its capital overrun by gang violence, it’s going to be New Jersey.

The fighting isn’t due to actual wars between gangs, but between rival sets of members of the Bloods over perceived slights. The other gangs — the Latin Kings and the Crips — had head members arrested last year and have pretty much been wiped out in the city.

Trenton has almost 1,000 gang members, nearly all of them Bloods. Although there is an obvious downside to the gang warfare, there is an upside for some shop owners:

Mike Bonilla, owner of Capitol Jewelry downtown, said he would welcome a more visible police presence to reassure customers who have begun shopping outside the city.

He said his business from the general public had dropped 40 percent. But a steady stream of gangsters now shops in his store, buying diamond earrings and gold dental caps called “grillz.”

Silly Inquirer. Don’t they know it’s spelled “gangsta”? They coulda even put it in quotes!

Gangs’ terror runs deep in Trenton