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Federal officials have arrested and charged 16 people who belonged to a white supremacist group in Florida. Prosecutors said that the men engaged in numerous criminal acts, including murder, selling drugs and guns, and kidnapping, and were charged in a 12-count racketeering indictment.
Authorities accused the men of using "corrupt law enforcement officers and state employees to gather information about people, investigations, and prosecutions, and to smuggle contraband to incarcerated inmates."
Members of the group, called the Unforgiven, were required to study "Aryan Philosophy" and get tattoos, including swastikas, iron crosses, and SS bolts. In order to join the group, potential members had to carry out acts of violence. The indictment listed several instances in which members assaulted Blacks Lives Matter protesters and other people they viewed a "race traitors."
The group also built a political arm, which prosecutors said was meant to "disguise the white supremacist roots of its political activity."
Several of the suspects are facing decades in prison on charges of Assault in Aid of Racketeering and Kidnapping in Aid of Racketeering. Those charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars. Other members are facing charges that carry a maximum sentence of three to five years behind bars.