| Founded | 1981[1] |
|---|---|
| Founding location | Eastside, Long Beach, California[1] |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Territory | United States (in roughly 16 US states)[2] andCanada[3] |
| Ethnicity | Predominantly Cambodian-American (but also found in Chinese, Korean, Taiwanese, Vietnamese and Laotian communities)[4] |
| Membership(est.) | 2,000+ active members (1999);[4] 5000–10,000 members and associates (2009)[5] |
| Activities | Drug trafficking, assault, arms trafficking, murder, theft[6] |
| Allies | 14K[7] Wah Ching[8] Wo Hop To[7] |
| Rivals | Asian Boyz[9] Bloods[10] Crips[11] Latin Kings[12] Sureños[13][14] Trinitarios[15] |
| Notable members | Run Chhoun |
TheTiny Rascal Gang, (abbreviatedTRG) is a primarilyCambodian-American gang based inLong Beach, California. During the 1990s, theMexican Mafia "green light" hit lists began including the TRG, andSureños were soon at war with them. The Mexican Mafia ordered the West Side Longo gang to put aside its rivalry with the East Side Longo and support their former rivals against the TRG.[16]
The gang was founded in 1981 for protection by Cambodian youth groups who had escaped theCambodian genocide. Gang members are as young as 12 years old.[17][18] A group left the gang and became theAsian Boyz (ABZ). The TRG, the Eastside's first Cambodian gang,[19] had an estimated membership of over 2,000 in 1999 and 5,000 to 10,000 "members and associates" in 2009.[5][4]
The United States began admitting its first Cambodian refugees in 1979 after theKhmer Rouge insurgency. Nearly 158,000 Cambodians were admitted by 1991, most of whom resettled in the states ofCalifornia,Massachusetts, andNew York. Like many refugee groups, lack of knowledge about the culture and society of the host nation and limited command of the English language erected a socio-cultural barrier. Individuals experienced post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, and Cambodian-American communities were deeply affected by poverty.
During the mid-1980s, aLatino student and a Cambodian student inLong Beach fought; this led to the formation of the Tiny Rascals[20] as Cambodian youths began to form street gangs to protect themselves. Gang hand-signs, graffiti, and fashion developed, and the TRG began committing extortion, murder, kidnapping, robbery, burglary, home invasion, and drug and weapons trafficking.[21] Members of the Tiny Rascals Gang had a violent rivalry with the Long Beach-based East Side Longos, who were predominantlyHispanic, during the early 1990s.[22]
The origin of Tiny Rascals Gang among some is sometimes considered to be a youth gang formed in Santa Ana in Orange County.[23]
It is also considered, around the war with the Longos a branch of TRG separated from the rest of the gang and formedAsian Boyz. This gang would later join with other gangs in California like Asian Boys Insanity and forming sets all around USA. The rivalry between TRG and Asian Boyz is quite prominent and has crossed interstate with murders on both sides.[24]
At its peak the TRG sets in Washington state nearly consisted of 200 members making it the largest Asian gang in the state. Unlike California a lot of the members did not join for protection from racist gangs but due to mainstream society not accepting the culture. Another aspect is the appealing lifestyle joining TRG and other gangs bring as opposed to routine lifestyle.[25]
In 2014 a documentary released byByron Q called Raskal Love was released. It follows the now Breakdancer/Actor, but also member of TRG, Vannu Fut. It looks at his origins of TRG in Santa Ana and how TRG moved to Washington State[26]
As of 2023 a thousand Cambodian-Americans have been deported to Cambodia and fifteen thousand South-East Asian-American face the potential of deportation including Tiny Rascal Gang members. The deportation is due to a wide range of crimes.[27] Yet in 2024 Cambodian government denied a thousand who were set to be deported.[28] It is unclear whether the deportation has resulted in TRG sets starting in Cambodia due to censorship of the press.
 | This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(June 2024) |
Members of other ethnic and cultural groups are known to have been recruited,[22] primarily on theWest Coast and in theSouthwest andNew England.[6]As with many other gangs, potential members must first be initiated in a "jump in" where they would have to fight other members or endure a beating for a specific amount of time.[21]
TRG members are in the US Army, but none were in the US Air Force, Navy, or Marines in 2011.[29] Members are in US prisons, including inSouth Carolina.[30]
The Tiny Rascals are involved in criminal activities which includeextortion, robbery, burglary, auto theft, gang protection, and murder. Although young gang members are mainly involved in street crime, some have engaged in organized criminal activities. Older subgroups maintain a working relationship with similar groups of theAsian Boyz. They have formed alliances with Chinese organizations such as the14K,Wah Ching andWo Hop To in California and theNew York City-basedGhost Shadows.[7][31] The Tiny Rascal Gang also works closely withVietnamese Drug Trafficking Organisations to import MDMA and high-grade marijuana in some states[32]
Cities such asAnchorage, Alaska andPortland, Oregon have had a TRG presence including gun and drug distribution.[33][34][35] Groups of non-Cambodian and non-Asian members are in smaller North Carolina towns, particularlyForest Oaks andPleasant Garden, which have reported car thefts and gunfire by the gang.[36][37]
Seven TRG members raped, robbed and strangled a mother in herTustin home in 1994. The woman, whose three-year-old son was home at the time, survived by playing dead.[38]
A 16-year-old gang member shot and killed aSacramento police officer in 2007.[39]
TRG members committed a mass shooting in 2019, killing three people and wounding nine; one woman was paralyzed from the chest down.[40]
The gang has a presence in the Cambodian-American community ofLowell, Massachusetts. According to local police, about a hundred members have lived in the Lowell andLynn areas. The gang has been connected to more than five homicides and several assaults in Lowell and Lynn between 1998 and 2021.[41]
Police consider the Tiny Rascal Gang one of the largest Asian gangs inPhiladelphia.[42] The gang has a South Philadelphia rivalry with theRed Scorpions, with sporadic shooting.[43]
In 1994,Spokane police found the bodies of a 27-year-old man and a 23-year-old woman who had been bound, shot and stabbed. The gang members responsible for the killings were identified by finger- and palm prints left at the scene.[44]