United States | Anybody’s thing

America’s federal government has ruthlessly crushed organised crime

But there are some unintended consequences of this success

CHICAGO, IL - FEBRUARY 14: Police investigate the scene of a shooting where a two-year-old child, and a man in his twenties were killed and a pregnant woman was wounded in the Lawndale neighborhood on February 14, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. Another child, an eleven-year-old girl who was shot in the head last weekend, also died in the city today. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Nov 22nd 2022|CHICAGO

THE CORNER of Archer and Kedzie, on Chicago’s South West side, is far from being the city’s prettiest intersection. What it does have, however, is wide streets, which in the early hours of October 23rd made it a perfect place for a car meet. These, which are especially popular among young Mexican-American men, involve a caravan of fast cars and huge modified trucks known as “rammers” taking over a road junction to perform tricks. Mobile-phone footage shot by an attendee shows a sports car spinning doughnuts at high speed, tyres screeching, while onlookers hold up their phones to record it. And then the camera suddenly dips, as the sound of gunfire cracks out, followed by screaming. Five people were shot. Three died.

This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “Anybody’s thing”