PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The man arrested for an alleged kidnapping and chase down I-205 has a white supremacist prison gang tattoo on his neck.
Brandon Gooding’s neck tattoo reads IPS – Insane Peckerwood Syndicate, “a white-supremacist prison based gang,” said PPB Sgt. Pete Simpson. “People that are affiliated with those gangs are often associated with violent crime.”
The 25-year-old allegedly kidnapped his girlfriend in Portland and took her to Vancouver. She managed to escape near Hazel Dell and called 911, setting off a chase down I-205 that ended with a crash at SE 92nd and Holgate.
Criminologist Randy Blazak, who has researched white supremacy gangs in Oregon, explained the significance of the IPS name.
“Peckerwood is associated with a prison term that means white inmate, it’s a term that goes back 40 years,” Blazak told KOIN 6 News. “A lot of it’s like an indigenous prison name, it came from the inside. It’ s meant to be intimidating, the notion of being crazy or unpredictable.”
Inmates ofen join IPS for protection, he said.
“What we’ve seen over the last several years is the rise in white supremacist prison gangs they’ve grown inside the prison,” he said. “They protect you in prison, but once they release you, the gangs expect you to operate outside the prison.”
The public, Blazak said, should be aware of what’s happening behind prison walls.
“They’re rivaling the traditional street gang that we have on the West Coast. We now have this new generation of gangs that were born in the prison,” he said. “All these gangs have a notion of blood in and blood out, so you have to do something to prove yourself to the gang.”