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California Senator Behind Violent Game Bill Arrested on Gun Trafficking Charges
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
Democratic California State Senator Leland Yee was arrested by the FBI on Wednesday on charges of "conspiracy to traffic in firearms without a license and to illegally import firearms, as well as with participating in a scheme to defraud citizens of honest services." Yee, who was an advocate of gun control, is charged with conspiring to traffic in firearms and traded favors in Sacramento for bribes in return for campaign money to vie for a Secretary of State position. Unbeknownst to Yee, he was part of a five-year sting operation by the FBI.
The FBI found Yee and 25 others connected to the Ghee Kung Tong, a Chinatown brotherhood association headed by "reformed" gangster Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow. Six defendants, including Chow, are charged with laundering US$2.3 million for undercover agents between March 2011 and December 2013. Most of the funds were raised through crimes like illegal gambling, drug dealing and growing marijuana.
Attention turned to Yee in 2011 when former San Francisco school board member Keith Jackson, an associate of both Yee and Chow, allegedly approached an undercover agent to contribute to Yee's previous campaign to to become San Francisco mayor. When his campaign failed, he reportedly solicited bribes from undercover agents to retire his debt and lobby on their behalf. In 2013 he allegedly asked an undercover agent to provide a campaign donation in exchange for coordinating a meeting with an arms dealer so the agent could purchase a "large number of weapons to be imported through the Port of Newark, New Jersey."
"People want to get whatever they want to get. Do I care? No, I don't care. People need certain things," Yee said, according to the FBI's complaint.
Lee introduced Assembly Bill 1179 in 2005 which would have banned the sale of violent video games to minors. Former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it into law that same year. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on in 2011 that video games qualify for First Amendment protection in the case in a 7-2 vote. The court upheld the rejection of the law by earlier, lower court rulings in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association.
Thanks to Daniel Zelter for the news tip
