This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Rep. Maxine Waters on Wednesday requested that the U.S. Department of Justice investigate allegations that a violent gang of deputies called the Executioners runs operations at the Los Angeles County sheriff’s Compton station.

“I ask that the DOJ take two immediate actions: launch an independent investigation into the existence of the ‘Executioners,’ both at the LASD Compton station and within the greater LASD community, and launch a pattern or practice investigation into the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department for potential civil rights and constitutional violations,” Waters (D-Los Angeles) wrote in a letter to the Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland and Asst. Atty. Gen. Kristen Clarke.

Secret groups of deputies with matching tattoos — and names like the Vikings, Regulators, 3000 Boys and the Banditos — have plagued the agency for decades.

The Times first reported on the Compton clique in 2018, when a deputy admitted under oath to having a tattoo on his calf depicting a skull with a rifle and a military-style helmet emerging from flames. The letters “CPT,” for Compton, appear on the helmet.

Read the full story on LATimes.com.