Jamiel Shaw, the high school athlete whose murder has provided a new rallying cry for the right in the immigration wars, may have been killed because of his association with the Rollin 20s NHB gang, gang observer Alex Alonso says in a post at Street Gangs Journal. The revelation, if true, won't lessen the anger over Shaw's alleged killer being in the U.S. illegally, which has fueled calls for reform of Special Order 40 (calls dismissed by LAPD Chief William Bratton.) But it might change the story line pushed by FOX News' Bill O'Reilly and other on-air shouters. Alonso doesn't consider Shaw an active gang member, but quotes from MySpace posts where Shaw appears to self-identify with his neighborhood gang that has been in conflict with 18th Street, the gang of his alleged killer. "Anyone truly committed to mitigating the violence between the Bloods in Jamiel’s neighborhood and 18th Street should try to organize a truce between the two neighborhoods that have been feuding for over a decade," Alonso writes.

Previously on LA Observed:
Sheriff Baca: Yes, Latino gangs killing blacks