President Trump coming to LI to discuss MS-13, Rep. King says
President Donald Trump arrives tp speak at the 2017 National Scout Jamboree in Glen Jean, W.Va., Monday, July 24, 2017.
President Donald Trump will visit Suffolk County on Friday to discuss the violent and often deadly MS-13 street gang, Rep. Peter King said Monday night.
King (R-Seaford) said the president will discuss law enforcement issues with a focus on the notorious MS-13’s deadly Long Island component, which is responsible for 11 killings in the past year, authorities have said.
“MS-13 is why he’s coming,” King said. “It’s why he picked this location.”
Trump in the past has referred to MS-13 members as “bad people” and a “prime target” to eliminate.
King declined to say where Trump will be in Suffolk out of security precautions.
White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci and other officials did not respond late Monday to requests for comment about Trump’s visit.
Suffolk’s gang problem jumped into the national spotlight in April when four young men were hacked or bludgeoned to death and dumped in a Central Islip park. Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that nine of the dozen or so MS-13 gang members believed to be responsible are now behind bars.
Trump’s expected appearance comes three months after Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave a speech at the Central Islip federal courthouse where he vowed the Trump administration would “demolish” MS-13.
Trump has regularly referenced MS-13 as a brutal blight on the United States.
“As promised, our campaign against the MS-13 gang continues,” Trump remarked in a tweet last month with a link to an online story about a federal roundup of nearly 40 members.
David Schwartz covers environmental issues. A native Long Islander, he's worked at Newsday since 2013.
