The gang started as "Peni Death Squad (PDS),a punk gang in the 1980s, the name being derived from the anarcho-punk

Anarcho-punk

Anarcho-punk is punk rock that promotes anarchism. The term anarcho-punk is sometimes applied exclusively to bands that were part of the original anarcho-punk movement in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s and early 1980s...

/deathrock

Deathrock

Deathrock is a term used to identify a sub-genre of punk rock incorporating horror elements and spooky atmospherics, that emerged on the West Coast of the United States in 1979.-Characteristics:...

 band, 'Rudimentary Peni

Rudimentary Peni

Rudimentary Peni are a British anarcho-punk/deathrock band formed in 1980.-Line-up:*Nick Blinko - guitar, vocals, artwork, lyrics*Grant Matthews - bass guitar, lyrics*Jon Greville - drums-History:...

'. Originally, PDS were mainly a loose-knit group of suburban kids, runaways and homeless kids. Other punk gangs, La Mirada punks, Vicious Circle, The HB's, FFF

FFF (gang)

Fight For Freedom, more commonly known as FFF, was a gang that was centered in the San Fernando Valley during the 1980s. Unique to this gang in its locale and time was that the group generally consisted of White Americans from middle class and upper middle class backgrounds...

 (Fight For Freedom), L.A. Death Squad (L.A.D.S.), Circle One, and Bakersfield's Zero-Core, were other examples of Southern California hardcore punk gangs. These groups were typically suburban counter-teenagers, skaters, surfers, etc.

The formation of the group was greatly influenced by members in the hardcore punk rock scene in Long Beach, California

Long Beach, California

Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...

 during the 1980s. However, by the 1990s, PEN1’s base of operations had partially been relocated to Orange County

Orange County, California

Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...

 where they began recruiting suburban adolescents. By the 2000s, the gang’s influence has spread throughout California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 and Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, with some members in Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

 and Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

. Their allies are the Aryan Brotherhood

Aryan Brotherhood

The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...

, Nazi Lowriders

Nazi Lowriders

The Nazi Lowriders or NLR or "The Ride" are a white supremacist criminal organization primarily based in southern California, although it is believed to have spread to other states. They are allies of the larger and more notorious gang, the Aryan Brotherhood. Their main rivals are the Bloods, the...

, and Armenian Power

Armenian Power

Armenian Power, also known as AP, is an Armenian criminal organization located in Los Angeles County, California. They are involved in drug trafficking, murder, assault, fraud, identity theft, illegal gambling, kidnapping, racketeering, robbery and extortion...

. Their main rivals are the Bloods

Bloods

The Bloods are a street gang founded in Los Angeles, California. The gang is widely known for its rivalry with the Crips. They are identified by the red color worn by their members and by particular gang symbols, including distinctive hand signs...

, Crips

Crips

The Crips are a primarily, but not exclusively, African American gang. They were founded in Los Angeles, California, in 1969 mainly by Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams...

, the Norteños

Norteños

The Norteños , also Norte, are affiliated with Nuestra Familia , are a coalition of traditionally Latino gangs in Northern California A member of these gangs is a Norteño or Norteña based on Spanish usage...

, Nuestra Familia

Nuestra Familia

Nuestra Familia is a criminal organization of Mexican American prison gangs with origins in Northern California. While members of the Norteños gang are considered to be affiliated with Nuestra Familia, being a member of Nuestra Familia itself does not signify association as a Norteño...

, Black Guerilla Family.

Identity theft

PEN1 seems to specialize in identity theft, not a crime usually associated with gangs, although most of the income from this is allegedly used to finance various operations. Originally their methods for this were raiding mailboxes and trash cans for personal information, but the gang later used contacts inside of banks, mortgage companies and state motor vehicle departments in order to gain access to credit profiles. This has led to law enforcement officials requesting that their personal information be removed so that it can't be used by gang members to identify home addresses of police officers.

Well-known criminal cases

On February 3, 1996 Erik Anderson and Michael Steven Eckert were involved in the stabbing of Indian George Mondragon in Huntington Beach, CA. He was then stabbed approximately 7 times. Erik Anderson and Michael Eckert were both convicted of the attempted murder. Anderson received a life sentence and Eckert was sentenced to 9 years in state prison. Anderson was found guilty of the additional charge of conspiracy and Eckert was not. Both of these men had ties to PEN1, IWB and other punk rock groups. Michael Allen Lamb was sentenced to death in 2008 for the killing PENI founding member Scott "Scottish" Miller.

Hostility towards law enforcement

In 2007, police forces in Orange County arrested 67 alleged PEN1 members after learning of an extensive "hit list" that included five police officers and a gang prosecutor. Those arrested in the raid were charged with conspiracy to commit murder, possession of illegal weapons and identity theft.