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LOS ANGELES GANGSTERS REPORTEDLY FIGHTING IN SYRIA FOR ASSAD
TIME Magazine
March 4 2014
If true, it would be the first reported case of Americans fighting
for Assad
By Noah Rayman
A video posted online and shared Saturday by the media monitoring
group Middle East Media Research Institute purports to show two Los
Angeles gangsters fighting alongside the forces of President Bashar
al-Assad in Syria's civil war.
In the video, rife with cursing and gunfire, the two men claim to
be on the "front lines" of the fighting. One brandishes a tattoo at
the camera, and both fire guns at a supposed enemy off camera. It's
impossible to confirm the authenticity of the video or the claims
made by the supposed gangsters, or to know whether the two men are U.S.
citizens.
One man identifies himself as Creeper from the Surenos, a collection
of affiliated California gangs linked to the Mexican mafia, the
Washington Post reports. The other calls himself Wino and says he
is part of the Westside Armenian Power, an L.A. gang. The Armenian
minority in Syria is a major supporter of Assad.
MEMRI, a Washington D.C.-based organization that is considered
pro-Israel, identified Wino as Nerses Kilajyan. A Facebook page linked
to that name shows images of Wino dating back to Dec. 2012, some in the
garb of Hezbollah, the Lebanese group that has backed Assad in Syria.
Countries in Europe and the Middle East have seen waves of young
men join the fighting in Syria, and about 50 Americans are believed
to have traveled to Syria to fight for the rebels, according to
congressional testimony by Director of National Intelligence James
Clapper last month, the Post reports. If real, the video would be
the first reported evidence of Americans fighting for Assad.
"I'm pretty sure that they're in Syria; I have no reason to believe
they're lying," MEMRI researcher Rafael Green told FoxNews.com. "The
pictures show [Wino] with guns and grenades and he's even photographed
in the Hezbollah uniform. It seems as authentic as it gets."
See the full video (NSFW) here: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/4170.htm
http://world.time.com/2014/03/03/los-angeles-gangsters-reportedly-fighting-in-syria-for-assad/
TIME Magazine
March 4 2014
If true, it would be the first reported case of Americans fighting
for Assad
By Noah Rayman
A video posted online and shared Saturday by the media monitoring
group Middle East Media Research Institute purports to show two Los
Angeles gangsters fighting alongside the forces of President Bashar
al-Assad in Syria's civil war.
In the video, rife with cursing and gunfire, the two men claim to
be on the "front lines" of the fighting. One brandishes a tattoo at
the camera, and both fire guns at a supposed enemy off camera. It's
impossible to confirm the authenticity of the video or the claims
made by the supposed gangsters, or to know whether the two men are U.S.
citizens.
One man identifies himself as Creeper from the Surenos, a collection
of affiliated California gangs linked to the Mexican mafia, the
Washington Post reports. The other calls himself Wino and says he
is part of the Westside Armenian Power, an L.A. gang. The Armenian
minority in Syria is a major supporter of Assad.
MEMRI, a Washington D.C.-based organization that is considered
pro-Israel, identified Wino as Nerses Kilajyan. A Facebook page linked
to that name shows images of Wino dating back to Dec. 2012, some in the
garb of Hezbollah, the Lebanese group that has backed Assad in Syria.
Countries in Europe and the Middle East have seen waves of young
men join the fighting in Syria, and about 50 Americans are believed
to have traveled to Syria to fight for the rebels, according to
congressional testimony by Director of National Intelligence James
Clapper last month, the Post reports. If real, the video would be
the first reported evidence of Americans fighting for Assad.
"I'm pretty sure that they're in Syria; I have no reason to believe
they're lying," MEMRI researcher Rafael Green told FoxNews.com. "The
pictures show [Wino] with guns and grenades and he's even photographed
in the Hezbollah uniform. It seems as authentic as it gets."
See the full video (NSFW) here: http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/4170.htm
http://world.time.com/2014/03/03/los-angeles-gangsters-reportedly-fighting-in-syria-for-assad/