Apex & Moomba

I was chuffed to be mentioned in a John Derbyshire column at Vdare last month. The column was about the closure of a festival in the American Midwest because of black violence. John Derbyshire rejected the idea that such violence could be explained by the lingering effects of slavery and Jim Crow laws on the black population. He noted that the Moomba Festival here in Melbourne had been similarly affected by black gang violence (the Apex gang), despite the fact that the members of the gang are from families which have only recently migrated here from Africa. The pattern is the same in both Australia and America, so blaming slavery or Jim Crow laws doesn't seem all that plausible.

American readers might not be aware that the emergence of the Apex gang is big news here in Melbourne. The gang often makes it to the front page of the papers, as it is something we haven't seen much of before (we have had organised crime gangs, but they were mostly involved in trafficking drugs, and they committed violence against rival gangs rather than against members of the public). The Apex gang has carried out violent carjackings and home invasions, which the public here aren't used to.

Typical of news reports  (this one appeared just two days after John Derbyshire's column was published) is this Herald Sun front page story:

EXCLUSIVE: POLICE are bracing for a new wave of youth crime to sweep the state with the imminent release of dozens of notorious Apex gangsters from custody.

Up to 30 Apex members and associates - some considered leaders of the feared outfit - are now due to be released.

The worst Apex offenders were last year and earlier this year sent to youth detention and adult prisons for serious violent crimes including home invasions and carjackings.

But most were sentenced in children’s courts meaning their lockup terms ran over months rather than years and are now due to be freed into the community.

One is suspected of being a founding member of Apex.

The member has been involved in car-jackings and armed robberies in the southeastern suburbs and is regarded as influential among younger associates.

Senior police have told the Sunday Herald Sun they mark the release dates of jailed juveniles in their calendars in anticipation of a crime spike.

More recently a female offshoot of Apex has formed, called the "Aces". There is a video of members of this gang attacking a house somewhere in Melbourne: