If these entertainers are so intent on making the world a better place, Florida is a great place to start teaching their gullible fans that there are two sides of the story,
especially when protesting "double standards".
Personally I think Stevie Wonder is wasting a huge opportunity to instruct young people in their own front yard....
"NBC2 Investigates: Gangs in Southwest Florida
Posted: Apr 25, 2013 3:36 PM EDT
Updated: Apr 25, 2013 6:30 PM EDT
By Dave Elias, NBC2 Investigator
FORT MYERS -
The City of Fort Myers has been plagued with violence and murder. NBC2 Investigator Dave Elias dug deeper and found that drugs, crime and gangs are the common elements between those killings.
Lee County Sheriff Mike Scott says the three go hand-in-hand and all appear to be playing a big role in the city's crime problem.
"They're punks. They're criminals. And in most cases – cowards," said Sheriff Scott.
He also explained that gang members live by a much different set of rules.
"We're at a more violent time right now than at any time I recall," said Sheriff Scott. "You're talking about an area that - per capita - is on par with Detroit Michigan, in terms of homicides."
There were 25 murders in Fort Myers alone last year. And Sheriff Scott says all of the killings have those three things in common – drugs, crime and gangs.
"In most every case this is criminal killing criminal. This is bad guy on bad guy," he said.
Sheriff Scott says the killings are also drug related and happening in the Dunbar area - a section of the city unfortunately known for violence and gangs.
Abel Cuellar is a former gang leader in Lee County.
"I was known as 'the Octopus.' Don't mess with the Octopus; or if you need something, go to the Octopus," he said.
He says he knows many people killed by gang violence.
"Believe it or not, all of my friends right now are dead or in prison," Cuellar told NBC2. "It starts out simple. We click together, let's go steal cupcakes from the store at the age of nine; but it just gets more and more serious."
The Florida Attorney General reports nearly 50,000 gang members statewide.
It's estimated that about 1,400 live in Collier County. And Lee County is estimated to have about the same.
"We have members of all your bigger gangs - Latin Kings, Surf 13, Bloods and Crips. We have members of them here. They're loosely organized," said Commander Matt LeClair, with the Lee County Sheriff's Office Gang Unit."
NBC2 Investigates: Gangs in Southwest Florida - NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida