Satanas (gang)
The Satanas gang is a Filipino American street gang in Southern California, founded in 1972. It is believed to be the oldest Filipino-American street gang in Los Angeles.
History
Satanas was a clique from Temple Street since the 1920s that went solo in the 1970s. In 1972, a car club group started in the Los Angeles area by some Filipino Americans who had formed a cultural bond in a city where they were a minority. At first the club was exclusively for Filipinos. They soon branched out to other California cities including San Diego, La Puente, Cerritos, Oxnard Long Beach,Norwalk, North Hollywood, West Covina, Chino, Chino Hills, Santa Ana, San Gabriel, Buena Park, Delano, Palmdale, Anaheim, Vallejo, and San Jose and have reached other states on the east coast like New Jersey and New York, and the Philippines.Some other Filipino gangs such as the Demonios and Diablos claim their roots to Satanas, having originated amongst second generation STS members and younger siblings of individuals who were members of STS; the founders of many other Filipino American gangs were originally members of Satanas.
Since there were cultural similarities between Filipinos and Mexicans, many of Ese Te Ese's older members and leaders allied with Chicano gangs in its early years within their surrounding neighborhoods. Accounts of Los Angeles gang history often placed both Filipinos and Mexicans side by side with each other during various street wars.