Worker with L.A. anti-violence group was active member of 18th Street gang, feds claim

Michael Angel Alvarez, 41, was arrested in Los Angeles for illegal possession of body armor by a convicted felon. Federal authorities accused him of continuing as an active member of the 18th Street gang while working for a city-funded gang intervention nonprofit as a “peace ambassador.” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said Alvarez had previously been convicted of murder as a gang member. On May 18, two officers approached Alvarez in MacArthur Park after initially mistaking him for a vehicle theft suspect. Alvarez told authorities he acquired body armor plates for an art project for local youth and identified himself as “CRT,” referring to Mayor Karen Bass’s Crisis Response Team. Alvarez has not entered a plea, and court records listed no attorney for him.

"“There is no indication Alvarez has ever stopped associating with the 18th Street gang,” Essayli said in a post on X. “The hardworking tax payers of Los Angeles deserve better than to see their money shelled out to a convicted gang murderer.”"

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